Faint hopes that Max Verstappen could be vulnerable were summarily dashed in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The runaway championship leader delivered a blistering pole position as normal service for the world champion and Red Bull resumed at Suzuka.
Verstappen’s pole lap with a time of 1min 28.877sec was almost six-tenths clear of the second-placed McLaren of Oscar Piastri, with his teammate Lando Norris in third. Piastri, a rookie taking his first front-row start for a grand prix, had put in an immense lap on a circuit he has never raced before to become only the fifth Australian to make the front row.