Coming into Q3, McLaren had topped every session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend – free practice, Q1, and Q2 – positioning the Woking-based team as the clear favourite for pole. Oscar Piastri led the way after the first runs in Q3, with Verstappen trailing by a quarter of a second.
"I just thought, ‘I’m going to give it everything in that last run,’" Verstappen explained his mindset going into the final minutes. "I knew it was quite a big gap — two and a half tenths on a track like this is a lot. But the McLarens didn’t find much more pace and that worked in my favour."
