Formula One F1 – Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan – April 5, 2025 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen poses after qualifying in pole position with second placed McLaren’s Lando Norris and third placed Oscar Piastri. REUTERS/Manami Yamada
SUZUKA, Japan–World champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, stunning the McLarens with a late flying lap to lock up top spot on the grid for the fourth year in a row at Suzuka.
The McLarens of championship leader Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have dominated qualifying so far this season and looked like doing so again until Verstappen conjured up a lap record of one minute 26.983 seconds at the end of the session.
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Briton Norris was 0.012 seconds behind and will start on the front row beside the Dutchman, while Australian Piastri, who won in China two weeks ago,will be on the second row alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,” said the four-times world champion, who has won from pole at Suzuka for the last three years.
“The whole qualifying, we just kept on just trying to improve the situation a bit, and then the final lap was very good.
Formula One F1 – Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan – April 5, 2025 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates after qualifying in pole position. REUTERS/Issei Kato TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
“I think if you look at how our season started, even during this weekend, I think it’s very unexpected. I think that makes it a very special one.”
It was Verstappen’s 41st pole but a first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June last year, although he was fastest in qualifying later in the season in Qatar only to be handed a one-place penalty.
“Congrats to Max. He did a good job. It’s hats off. You have to credit someone when it’s a lap that good,” said Norris. “I feel I got everything out of the car. Just a tiny (margin) but Max did an amazing lap.”
READ: F1: McLarens on top as grass fires, crashes disrupt practice in Japan
George Russell will perhaps be disappointed with a spot on the third row in fifth place alongside his Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli after showing good pace in practice.
Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda qualified a disappointing 15th for his first race in the Red Bull car after replacing Liam Lawson last week. Lawson will start a spot ahead of him for Racing Bulls.
“I didn’t expect to be like this — how I ended up like that today,” said Tsunoda. “So it’s a shame but at least the positive is I started to understand about the car.”
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar overcame a seatbelt problem early in qualifying and will start the race from seventh on the grid alongside Ferrari’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton in eighth.
Another rookie to impress was Haas’s teenage driver Ollie Bearman, who got into the third qualifying session for the first time and will start in 10th place on the fifth row along with Alex Albon of Williams.
The action was disrupted for the fifth time in two days in the second qualifying session by a trackside grass fire despite preventative measures being employed by organisers.
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“I think with the rain overnight, I don’t think it will be as big a problem tomorrow,” said Piastri.
