Verstappen secures stunning Suzuka pole as Tsunoda exits early in Q2

Max Verstappen has secured pole for the Japanese Grand Prix after a blistering Q3 lap. The Dutchman set the Suzuka lap record in the process of pipping McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by the slightest of margins.

Grass fires, which have plagued the weekend so far, were back in qualifying. A fire at 130r in the second portion of qualifying caused a short delay. Yuki Tsunoda's first qualifying session with Red Bull was marred by a 15th-place finish after the home hero struggled to put a lap together. Liam Lawson managed to qualify in 14th place with his 'new' Racing Bulls car.

At the front of the grid, however, Lando Norris seemed unstoppable, showing incredible pace throughout the whole of qualifying. The Brit was on the provisional pole until Max Verstappen, seemingly from nowhere, Verstappen snatched the pole from McLaren's grasp. Expectedly, the four-time world champion was pumped with his effort.

How qualifying unfolded at Suzuka

The two Haas' in their special Sakura livery were both eager to leave the pitlane immediately as Q1 began. A gaggle of cars behind followed them out onto the circuit before lap times began to fill the timesheets. As widely expected, the McLarens set the early pace. An early challenge came in the form of George Russell, as the Brit split the papaya pair in Q1 with a lap good enough for second place.

Isack Hadjar seemed to have a bizarre and painful cockpit issue at the midpoint of the session. After setting a lap good enough for 19th place, the Frenchman complained of discomfort in the cockpit which hugely affected his running. Still, he managed to get himself out of the relegation zone and through to the second portion of qualifying.

Fernando Alonso, who was languishing in the bottom five, managed to get out of the session, as did Racing Bulls' returnee Liam Lawson. After his huge crash in FP2 yesterday, Jack Doohan was unable to get out of the session in his Alpine. Lance Stroll lost the rear end in sector one; ending up on the gravel and taking him out of the session.

The red flag returns and Tsunoda goes out

In Q2, Lando Norris and McLaren were once again the team to beat. Norris' first effort was a 1.27.146, over two and a half tenths faster than George Russell. Just a few minutes into the session, however, yet another grass fire caused a delay in the session, which was resumed after a short delay.

When the green flag waved, Norris maintained his first place. The most notable moment of the session came late on as Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson finished 14th, struggling. The shock, however, came with new Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese home hero was eliminated in 15th place after fighting the car in the first sector of his final lap.

Lewis Hamilton made it through safely, but complained of a blocking from Williams' Carlos Sainz. Elsewhere, Haas' Oliver Bearman impressed and made it through to Q3.

Oscar Piastri managed to break the lap record at Suzuka on his first lap in the final qualifying session. The Australian's 1.27.052 put him on provsional pole before teams released their drivers for the final runs of the session.

George Russell, like Yuki Tsunoda earlier, suffered a wobble in the first sectior which affected his chances of securing pole position. Norris also slid on his lap, but set a purple sector and managed to jump his teammate into pole. Max Verstappen, however, came out of seemingly nowhere to secure a stunning pole. The Dutchman was pumped with his pole on the team radio as he now aims to secure a fourth consecutive Japanese Grand Prix victory.

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