2023 F1 Japanese GP qualifying results: Verstappen takes pole

Verstappen will start ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in Sunday’s race after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Japanese Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Piastri

What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q1?

Verstappen set the pace at 1m29.878s, with Norris getting within 0.185s on 1m30.063s, before Logan Sargeant planted his Williams in the tyrewall at the final corner.

Falling at the first hurdle were Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and the uninjured Sargeant.

Japanese Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Norris

What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q2?

Leclerc set the quickest time towards the end of the session at 1m29.940s for P1, 0.024s ahead of Verstappen.

Knocked out at this point were AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson (by 0.043s), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Alex Albon (Williams), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas).

Japanese Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen

What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen set the benchmark at 1m29.012s, four tenths ahead of Piastri and Norris.

On the final runs, Verstappen improved to 1m28.877s but the McLarens couldn’t go faster. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez could only manage fifth, behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

Singapore winner Carlos Sainz will start sixth for Ferrari, ahead of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Fernando Alonso (Aston) rounded out the top 10.

Japanese Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole