Max Verstappen claims brilliant pole in Japan

Max Verstappen sent the Red Bull garage into raptures as he put in an astonishing lap to steal pole from the two McLarens, whilst his new teammate failed to deliver.

The Dutchman put in a brilliant final lap to squeeze ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, whilst Charles Leclerc came home P4 ahead of Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Hamilton, Albon and Bearman.

Speaking afterwards, Max said: "I am (surprised), we tried the best we could to get the best possible balance for the car but it wasn’t easy even in qualifying, but in every session, we just kept on making little improvements.

"I think that’s where we made the difference and the last lap was just flat out, I mean around here being on the limit and maybe even a bit over it at places is incredibly rewarding.

"This is a proper highlight for us to be back on pole here but we will look to tomorrow, there might be some rain around but we will do our very best."

Max's boss, Christian Horner was full of praise for him speaking to Sky Sports: "We did not expect that. Outstanding.

"He extracted every ounce of performance. He got the most out of it today and getting that pole was completely against the form we'd been seeing. It's a big lift for the team.

"That was one of his best laps in qualifying ever."

Meanwhile, Lando Norris said: "Congrats to Max. He did a good job. Hats off as you have to credit when he did a lap that good. I am happy. Max did an amazing lap. For us both to be up there fighting for pole is good, but not enough.

"My lap was very good. I feel like if I was to go again I wouldn't be quicker. We were on the limit."

Oscar Piastri, who had looked on course for pole at one point said: "I felt good through most of qualifying, especially at the start of Q3 it was a good lap but it was just the last lap didn’t quite come together as I had wanted but incredibly tight margins so I think it’s all to play for tomorrow.

"We’ve got a great car and a little bit more left on the table at the end of the day so we will try again tomorrow."

Red Bull once again took all the headlines, with Yuki Tsunoda finishing down in P15 on his Red Bull debut.

Yuki had looked quick in Q1, less than a tenth off Max, however, his high downforce setup looked to hold him back in Q2 as he faltered, finishing behind the man he replaced Liam Lawson.

Speaking about his setup to Sky Sports afterwards, Yuki said: "It was a bit different from Max, but at the same time it was the wing level I chose in the end.

"There was pace to go through to Q3 today, I just wasn't able to put it together in the end.

"I had the pace from FP3 so I didn't expect to end up like this today. It's a shame but at least the positive is I'm starting to understand the car.

"It's quite difficult to operate this car properly, it's more narrow than the Racing Bulls' car, but at least I feel confident in the car and I know what to do in the future."

Elsewhere, Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman impressed, with both making it through to Q3, Isack notably ahead of both Yuki and Liam for the second qualifying session in a row.

Also, Carlos Sainz was later given a 3 grid place penalty dropping him from P12 to P15, after he impeded Lewis Hamilton.

TOP TEN

1) Verstappen

2) Norris

3) Piastri

4) Leclerc

5) Russell

6) Antonelli

7) Hadjar

8) Hamilton

9) Albon

10) Bearman

Here's a recap of everything that happened across a pulsating qualifying session in Suzuka.

The opening session, was as expected, a tight affair, with both Sauber’s, Ocon, Doohan and Stroll out.

Lance Stroll was the marquee loss from Q1 after his good form at the start of this season. On his last and crucial run, Lance was caught out by a tailwind that saw him find the gravel at turn 6.

Elsewhere, Esteban Ocon wasn't able to push on from his P5 in Shanghai, as teammate Bearman out-qualified him for the second time this year.

Liam Lawson who already had a lot of pressure on him, faced even more on his final flying lap of the session but did just enough to squeeze out of Q1 for the first time this year.

His teammate, Isack Hadjar struggled throughout the session with a cockpit issue that appeared to be seatbelt related, however just like Lawson did enough to get through.

Yuki Tsunoda was the big story from Q2, as the story a lot were predicting came true as Liam Lawson out-qualified the Red Bull with Yuki in P15 and Liam P14.

Elsewhere, Alonso, Sainz and Gasly couldn't make it into the top ten.

On the first flying laps, Norris once again had the measure on his teammate, whilst Albon stood out with a lap good enough for P5.

Meanwhile Tsunoda put a lot of pressure on his final run, with a poor first run in the session, only good enough for P14.

It was a disappointing end to at times, a promising session for Yuki who may look at the extra downforce setup he ran as an explanation. He was only 0.024 off Verstappen in Q1, however, his mistake in Q2 meant he finished 5 tenths off the Dutchman.

The Red Flag was brought out for the second time of the day with another grass fire, however with 8 minutes to go and no one on a flying lap, it didn't hamper anyone.

Tsunoda was one of the first to go out for his second and final run, however a mistake at turn 2 cost him lap time as he was 2 tenths off Q3.

Liam Lawson managed to just get ahead of his former teammate however was still beaten by his teammate who was one of the stars of the session.

Isack Hadjar made it through to Q3 again with a lap good enough for P9, whilst Ollie Bearman impressed again in qualifying with P8 in a Haas that was of course knocked out in Q1 in the hands of the much more experienced race winner Esteban Ocon.

In the inter-team McLaren battle, Norris topped the session whilst Piastri was only P4.

The battle looked like it was going to be Norris vs Piastri once again in Q3, however on the first runs it was Oscar who came out on top ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc, with Norris only P5.

On the final runs, Lando took provisional pole however Max put in an incredible lap to take pole by less only 12 thousandths of a second.

Piastri who had been on provisional pole after the first runs, faltered in S1 to come home P3 despite putting in the quickest S2 and S3.

Leclerc put it together to finish an impressive P4, however, Ferrari teammate Lewis could only muster P8.

George on his crucial run, lost time in his first sector to put him out of contention, after he had looked on course to be the closest challenger to the McLaren's earlier.

Away from the battle for the pole, it was Isack Hadjar who took the headlines with P7 in qualifying for the second week running.

Albon once again finished ahead of Sainz and showed the consistent pace of the Williams to make it Q3 again, and will line up P9 for the race tomorrow.

Ollie Bearman couldn't quite make the same impression in Q3 as he did in Q2, however, Haas will still be happy to start one of their cars from P10.

So Max Verstappen starts on pole at a circuit notorious for being hard to overtake. With the two championship-fighting McLaren's behind, it sets up a grandstand Sunday in Japan.

Can Yuki make amends and fight through the pack? Will Max hang on out front and kick-start his title defence? What pace will the Ferraris have on race day?

There are a lot of questions heading into the race tomorrow so be sure to stay tuned to ShefF1 for coverage of the Japanese GP.