Verstappen follows and signs for pole with Sainz and Alonso separated by less than nothing

red bull is the clear favorite to take pole at Japanese GP. In the House of sling bag, their great ally in this winning journey, those from Milton Keynes have dominated for years. Without walking further, last year Max Verstappen He took pole leading by half a second. History has not changed much and the Dutchman achieved a new pole Suzuki. Full of poles so far in the championship with 4 out of 4 in his locker. To end the Austrian party, Sergio ‘Czech’ Perez He completed a great classification by completing the double just 66 thousandths of Max’s time. Lando Norris He ended up closing the TOP3 with a McLaren that always stands out on the Japanese track.

As for the Spanish, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso will appear togethers. One of the Ferrari He was the reference for the Italian team throughout the weekend and finished in fourth position, 0”485 from the pole. Asturian is only four thousand slower. Alonso feels great about the Aston Martin’s improvements since Free Practice 3 and achieved fifth place in qualifying which gives him the wings for Sunday’s race.

In the first attempt at Q3, Verstappen set the tone with a good time that left his rivals far behind. The Dutchman stopped the clock in 1:28.240, more than three tenths ahead of his teammate. The only one who managed to get close was Lando Norris, who was more than two tenths behind with the McLaren last to complete the lap in the first attempt.

Leclerc, who only had a set of new soft tires, came out with everyone in the pits. The Monegasque suffered more than Carlos with the SF-24 all weekend and in qualifying it was no different. His only attempt was a tenth slower than the Spaniard’s first

In the second attempt Pérez was very close to the pole, staying 23 thousandths behind his teammate. However, a few seconds later Max dropped his time even further, stopping at 1:28.197. This is the culmination of Red Bull’s double with Lando Norris being the best of the rest.

The Spanish stopped

Sainz completed the second line without being able to improve on his first attempt. However, the Madrid native continued to dominate the Ferrari and no one was able to take the fourth position from him. Alonso improved despite saying on the radio that he didn’t know what else to do to get tenths after his last attempt. However, he managed it and finished in fifth place, which opens up his options considerably after seeing how the Aston Martin developed in the race simulation carried out in Free Practice 3.

Piastri will start sixth ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc ended up in eighth while a cautious Russell couldn’t beat his team-mate and was ninth, more than eight tenths from pole time.

The local idol, Yuki Tsunodahe showed again that this year he is a more mature and competitive driver and managed to close the TOP10 with RB

Tsunoda even sank Ricciardo

In Q2 those who suffered more than expected were the two Mercedes. Both scored 29 lengths on their first attempt, more than a second off the reference times set by both Verstappen and Pérez. This caused them to be forced to make a second turn and they were rescued without problems.

As for those deleted, Tsunoda let Ricciardo out at the last moment increasing morbidity between the two pilots, jeopardizing their future. Especially the Australian position is the most compromised. When Daniel, Hülkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Ocon finished.

Walking disaster

The debacle of the day was for Lance Stroll. While Alonso finished second with a great lap just behind Verstappen, the Canadian crashed out in Q1 with Aston Martin’s new improvements. Seven tenths separated each other’s time in the first cut. He finished 16th ahead of Gasly and Magnussen. Sargeant and Zhou man the grill.