Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying: Max Verstappen on pole position in hopes of winning the title at Suzuka!

Q1 can be translated as “Question 1” in English.

Unlike the previous day, the track is completely dry on this qualifying Saturday. In terms of tires, the soft ones are naturally favored, except for Mercedes, who initially choose the mediums before changing their mind midway. Yuki Tsunoda is the first to go out in front of his Japanese audience and sets an initial benchmark at 1:31.631.

Max Verstappen takes the lead in the standings, very fast this Saturday. Lando Norris also sets a good time, as well as the Ferraris, with Carlos Sainz quickly placing himself in second position behind the Dutchman, and Charles Leclerc taking third place. After their double in FP2 on Friday, the Mercedes record rather average times for the first qualifying session.

The Alpines show a good pace this Saturday as well, with a good time from Fernando Alonso, who places 4th, while Esteban finishes 6th in Q1.

Bad result for Pierre Gasly, who finishes 17th and will therefore not take part in Q2, after complaining on the radio about problems with his brakes. The one who has been confirmed at Alpine next year returned to the garage naturally frustrated.

We will note Lando Norris’ mistake at turn 9, going beyond the track limits without consequences for the British driver, while Yuki Tsunoda violently locked his tires at turn 6. The Japanese driver, despite his team asking him to work on the brakes, gets a little upset on the radio, in a style that we are familiar with. He ultimately finishes in time for Q2, just like Mick Schumacher, a good result after his impressive post-FP1 crash yesterday.

Eliminated in Q1: Nicholas Latifi (20th) / Lance Stroll (19th) / Kevin Magnussen (18th) / Pierre Gasly (17th) / Alex Albon (16th).

Q2 translates to “Q2” in English. It is the abbreviation commonly used for the second quarter of the year.

The Ferraris are, this time, the first ones to go out, taking advantage of a traffic-free track. Carlos Sainz sets an initial good time of 1:30.344, while his teammate is 0.042 seconds behind him.

The Red Bulls follow after, with a rather slow Sergio Perez, 0.258 seconds behind Sainz, while Max Verstappen is 0.098 seconds faster than the Spanish driver.

The Mercedes don’t seem to be in much better shape than in Q1, with Lewis Hamilton placing 6th right off the bat, while George Russell is only 9th, behind Pérez. But Perez comes back on track at the end of Q2 and greatly improves his time, finishing at the top of the standings with a time of 1:29.925.

Surprise of this Q2: Alonso’s very good lap time, in second position, and Ocon in 4th position, behind Verstappen. We will also note the joy of Sebastian Vettel, who managed to qualify for Q3, for his last Grand Prix in Suzuka.

Another event from this session: Mick Schumacher’s impatience in the pitlane, as he overtakes Yuki Tsunoda, who is very hesitant to go out on track.

Eliminated in Q2: Schumacher (15th) / Guanyu Zhou (14th) / Yuki Tsunoda (13th) / Valtteri Bottas (12th) / Daniel Ricciardo (11th).

Q3 (in French) translates to “Q3” in English.

We narrowly avoided an incident at the start of Q3: Max Verstappen exited the pit while Charles Leclerc was approaching rapidly, forcing the Monegasque driver to brake hard to avoid a collision. The Ferrari driver shows great strength in the first sector… Until Carlos Sainz steals his priority. Max Verstappen immediately takes the first position with a time of 1:29.304, followed by Leclerc, Sainz, and Pérez.

Lando Norris, too, narrowly avoided the accident with Max Verstappen, who was heating his tires and ended up in the middle of the track, off the racing line, just as the McLaren driver was approaching at full speed. Lando Norris, therefore, lost time in his fast lap and will only finish 10th in Q3. The FIA will investigate the incident after the qualifying session.

“Sorry mate” 🥺

Max waves to Lando to apologise the next time round

The incident will be investigated after the session#JapaneseGP #F1 https://t.co/gKGKh0Luhr pic.twitter.com/spM8IgrZqg

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2022

Fernando Alonso once again achieves a very good first time, placing 5th ahead of Sebastian Vettel, in great form, and the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who have had an average weekend. The two-time world champion will ultimately start in 7th position, while his teammate Esteban Ocon surprises everyone by placing 5th on the grid, at the end of the session.

With two minutes left, Ferrari and Red Bull are heading back out for another lap. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz match Verstappen’s pace in the first sector, while Pérez appears to be rather slow in comparison. Leclerc is the fastest in the second sector, in a good position for pole position… Until he completely messes up in the third sector and finishes behind Max Verstappen, just 10 hundredths of a second behind. Carlos Sainz also fails to improve his time and finishes 3rd.

So Max Verstappen will start the race tomorrow at the Japanese Grand Prix in first position, ahead of the Ferrari cars and his teammate Sergio Pérez. This is an opportunity for the Dutchman to be crowned world champion at Suzuka, if he wins the race and sets the fastest lap, or if he finishes first without the fastest lap, but Charles Leclerc does not finish second.

> Otherwise, the calculations become a little complicated…