F1 Japanese GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 16th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
Live AppleTV Race Audio
Max Verstappen was utterly dominant on Friday at Suzuka, topping both sessions as Red Bull hunts its sixth constructors' title.
Behind the Dutchman, there was little to separate Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, while Mercedes has yet to show its Singapore pace that had the team in race-winning contention just one week ago.
But the points are handed out on Sunday, so nothing is decided yet. With that, we'll call time on this live coverage of Japanese GP qualifying. We'll be back tomorrow for the race which starts at 6am BST - never fear, we'll have all the pre-race build-up and news ahead of lights out.
The home crowd will be pleased with Tsunoda taking ninth, putting him as best of the rest behind Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. While Aston Martin's recent dip continues with Alonso 10th and Stroll 17th.
So, Verstappen on pole by 0.581s which tells you all you need to know about his dominance so far this weekend. But a small shoutout to Piastri, who trailed Norris throughout practice but turned the tables in Q3 by 0.035s to take second.
Norris on qualifying third: "A great job by Oscar and Max today, but a good day for us [McLaren] in P2 and P3. It is tricky to put everything together around the lap and the smallest mistake can cost a lot of lap time. It is still a good day and I am happy."
Piastri on second in qualifying: "The first lap was pretty solid, I could have done a better job in the chicane, but then on my second lap my first sector was good and the next two sectors were not so good. But still happy to be second, and the team second and third."
Verstappen on his pole position: "An incredible weekend so far and especially in qualifying when you can really push it to the limit, it felt really, really nice. We had a bad weekend in Singapore but from our preparation we felt this was going to be a good track for us."
That is Verstappen's ninth pole of the season but his first since the Dutch GP and ends Ferrari's brief run of top spot in qualifying. Piastri secures the best qualifying result of his F1 career in second, beating his team-mate too.
Into the final three minutes of qualifying and the final runs are being prepared. Verstappen looks safe for pole but how will the rest of the order shuffle out?
Behind the top three, all on used tyres remember, Perez went fourth fastest but a whole second slower than Norris which means the used tyres are pretty much useless in this session.
Piastri is Verstappen's nearest challenger as he goes second, 0.446s off, with Norris in third fractionally behind. So, Verstappen has almost half a second on the rest. May as well give him pole now.
So, Verstappen made it through on those old tyres in Q2 which means he has two sets of softs for Q3. Only the McLarens join him with two fresh sets of softs for this session.
So, Verstappen, Piastri and Norris are all confident of making it into Q3, but the rest are fighting it out. Leclerc goes quickest outright with a 1m29.940s.
Piastri has stopped in the pitlane at the request of McLaren. The team think he is safely into Q3, he is second after all, so they want to keep his tyres fresh for the final session.
Gasly is complaining about feeling something loose by his feet in his Alpine. Meanwhile, Albon is doing it alone, going out on track on his own in his bid to crack the top 10.
The first Q2 runs are done and just five teams are represented in the top 10. Lawson is on the bubble in 10th, with Alonso, Ocon, Gasly, Albon and Magnussen the ones who need to find gains.
Lots of drivers out on used softs for the first lap in Q2 as part of their two-stint plan in the session. Verstappen is at the head of the pack so he'll set the marker to beat.
