Verstappen picks McLaren’s pocket to steal Japanese GP pole

The Dutchman proved just 0.01s faster than Lando Norris at the end of Qualifying 3 to head the pack in a session most predicted would see a McLaren on pole.

Oscar Piastri will line up third, a mistake at the start of his final lap proving costly as he missed out on a second career pole by 0.044s.

Liam Lawson was 14th fastest, one place better than the man who replaced him at Red Bull, while Jack Doohan was 19th.

As the session began, the field looked to bank an early lap, presumably a move made in response to the grass fires that had interrupted practice earlier in the day.

Work had gone into wetting the grass around the track in the hour or so because qualifying, but the risk of flash fired remained all the same.

McLaren had emerged as favourites during practice with Norris and Piastri underscoring that with their initial laps.

The pair shot to the top of the timesheets, the papaya cars comfortably clear of the pack with the exception of George Russell who managed to split the pair.

Down at Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar reported a problem in the cockpit.

He’d had an issue during practice with his seatbelt, forcing him back into the garage where, to rectify the issue, mechanics.

Norris and Charles Leclerc both improved midway through the session to nose ahead, the McLaren fastest than the Ferrari by 0.075s.

Leclerc’s second lap came on a new set of tyres, while Norris had cooled his before a second effort lap.

In the bottom five ahead of the final runs were Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Antonelli, Hadjar, and Lance Stroll.

Hadjar was continuing to battle discomfort in his car, the team saying only that it was an “Unknown issue at the moment, he’s feeling some discomfort.”

Antonelli lifted himself to eighth inside the final minute, Alonso doing similar to extricate himself from the bottom five.

Doohan was unable to do the same and was eliminated with what proved to be the 19th-best time.

He was faster only than Stroll, who ran off the road on his final flying lap, with Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Esteban Ocon also eliminated from the session.

A last-gasp effort from Lawson saw him rise to 15th and just escape the cut by 0.016s as the last car on track.

In the break between segments, Racing Bulls worked to adjust Hadjar seat.

The Frenchman had progressed in 13th, his 1:28.278s proving three-tenths better than Lawson’s effort on the other side of the garage.

Verstappen was the first of the front runners to set a time in Qualifying 2, though a lurid slide exiting the hairpin cost him time as he set a 1:27.502s.

Ferrari fitted scrubbed tyres for its first run while Norris mustered a 1:27.146s to move to the top of the timesheets.

Piastri was half a second down on his teammate, dropping most of that through the middle third of the lap.

That left him fourth, behind Verstappen in third and Russell who’d gone second fastest, 0.25s slower than Norris.

Shortly after all 15 remaining drivers had completed their first timed lap, the red flags were shown with the fifth grass fire of the weekend.

The clock stopped with 8:26 remaining, the fire this time on the inside of 130R.

When the session restarted, Lewis Hamilton headed out only to make a mistake in the first sector which left him unable to improve on his earlier effort.

Most waited until the final three minutes, Tsunoda only good enough for the 11th best time to guarantee his exit from the session.

The Japanese driver ultimately fell to 15th, one place back from Lawson’s Racing Bulls.

Hadjar did progress in ninth, while Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, and Alonso were all eliminated alongside Lawson and Tsunoda.

The start of Qualifying 3 was a busy affair with all 10 surviving drivers heading out as the session went green.

That initial flurry of laps saw Piastri fastest from Verstappen with Leclerc third and Russell fourth.

Norris was only fifth best with a time almost half a second off the pace of his teammate.

Piastri was last out as the field began its final runs.

Russell made a mistake at Turn 2 to compromise his effort while behind him on track Norris was going faster than anyone.

The Mercedes driver had clawed back some time by the end of the lap but not enough to challenge for pole as he remained fourth as he crossed the line.

Norris did improve to take provisional pole, the Brit 0.06s better than Piastri who was more than half a lap further back.

A sluggish first sector cost Piastri as he remained behind his teammate, ultimately in third as Verstappen picked McLaren’s pocket to steal pole position.

The Dutchman flashed across the line seconds before Piastri did to steal an unlikely result, having never looked a threat for top spot at any point in the session.

Leclerc was fourth fastest from Russell, then Antonelli, Hadjar, Hamilton, Alex Albon, and Oliver Bearman.