The 2026 Formula 1 season will continue at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, which marks the third stop on the calendar.
Mercedes returns to Suzuka off the back of a dominant start to the 2026 season, with the Silver Arrows claiming pole and victories at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.
George Russell leads the championship from Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who scored a maiden pole and victory last time out in China.
Ferrari will hope to close the gap as it continued its trend as Mercedes' closest challenger in China, with Lewis Hamilton taking a maiden podium for the Scuderia last time out after a thrilling duel with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA announced that it had reduced the energy harvesting limit from 9MJ to 8MJ, in a bid to combat energy management fears some had expressed coming to Suzuka.
The hope is that this will reduce the amount of superclipping seen during qualifying laps at Suzuka, with some drivers highlighting in China that the new cars could peg back the speed of some corners like 130R.
McLaren enjoyed a positive start to the weekend by topping the timesheet on Friday ahead of Mercedes, while Ferrari was some way off the pace of its rivals.
Meanwhile, Red Bull will be looking to bounce back after a rough day for the team and Max Verstappen, who ended up 10th-fastest and 1.3 seconds off the pace.
2026 Japanese Grand Prix Saturday schedule
FP3 - 2:30am-3:30am GMT
Qualifying - 6am-7am GMT
That marks an end to our live coverage of qualifying at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix.
We will be back tomorrow morning to keep you up to date with all the action from the race, with lights out at 6am UK time.
For those of you in the UK, don't forget that the clocks 'spring forward' tonight. So make sure you aren't caught out with your alarms!
F1 drivers were left underwhelmed after qualifying at Suzuka, with some saying the unique challenge of the circuit has "gone".
Read more ⬇️
HAVE NEW RULES BUTCHERED ONE OF F1'S BEST QUALIFYING LAPS?
Max Verstappen has explained why he controversially dismissed a British journalist from his news conference at Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Read more 👇
VERSTAPPEN EXPLAINS WHY HE TOLD JOURNALIST TO 'GET OUT' OF MEDIA SESSION
Lando Norris' running at Suzuka this weekend has been impacted by technical dramas
F1 and the FIA are set for crucial meetings between the Japanese Grand Prix and Miami, as a solution is sought over the current qualifying issues around energy management. While some believe any tweak is a good step, others are less hopeful of anything meaningful being achieved.
Read more ⬇️
Charles Leclerc vents over team radio as F1 qualifying annoyance continues in Japan.
Lewis Hamilton offered a glum picture of where he and Ferrari stand ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
George Russell says he has been left “handcuffed” by a set-up tweak made to his Mercedes F1 car at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Read his full comments 👇
GEORGE RUSSELL 'HANDCUFFED' AS MERCEDES TWEAK BACKFIRES
Max Verstappen struggled in Japan qualifying, but is "beyond" being "frustrated".
Read more ⬇️
Kimi Antonelli claims second F1 career pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.
| 2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m30.035s | 1m29.048s | 1m28.778s |
| 2 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m29.967s | 1m29.686s | 1m29.076s |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m30.200s | 1m29.451s | 1m29.132s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m29.915s | 1m29.303s | 1m29.405s |
| 5 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m30.401s | 1m29.795s | 1m29.409s |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m30.309s | 1m.29.589s | 1m29.567s |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m30.584s | 1m29.874s | 1m29.691s |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m30.662s | 1m30.104s | 1m29.978s |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m30.359s | 1m29.990s | 1m30.274s |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | GBR | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m30.781s | 1m30.109s | 1m30.319s |
| 11 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m30.519s | 1m30.262s | |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m30.915s | 1m30.309s | |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m30.358s | 1m30.387s | |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m30.657s | 1m30.495s | |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m30.931s | 1m30.627s | |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams Racing | 1m30.927s | 1m31.033s | |
| 17 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m31.088s | ||
| 18 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m31.090s | ||
| 19 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m32.206s | ||
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m32.330s | ||
| 21 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m32.646s | ||
| 22 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m32.920s | ||
The final order is:
Kimi Antonelli backs up his maiden F1 pole with a second. Can he go back-to-back on Sundays now?
Hamilton is sixth, but Leclerc gets a huge swapper on at Spoon and it costs him a bucket load of time. He ends up improving to fourth, regardless.
Piastri and Norris remain P3 and P4, but here come the Ferraris. Leclerc is flying.
Antonelli improves, and Russell falls 0.298s shy. Provisional pole.
Hamiton has been shown the black and white flag for driving too slowly in the pit lane. But here come the final efforts.
This could be key. Antonelli has led Russell out of the garage. Any hint of a tow could aid Russell in chasing down pole position.
Speaking to the media, Verstappen has described his car as being "undrivable". He confirms that he's running the updated aero package, but doesn't believe that it's working, or at least, that the team hasn't found a balance to exploit any performance gains. He's as downcast as you'll ever hear him.
After the first runs, the order is:
Hamilton crosses the line to go fifth, before Leclerc replaces him in the position. Hadjar can only manage seventh - ahead of only Gasly, Bortoleto, and Lindblad, who saw his time deleted for track limits.
Russell appears to have stronger pace in this session, but Antonelli hits the first 88-second lap of the weekend, with a 1m28.778s to set a difficult target. Russell is 0.298s back, with Piastri and Norris following.
It's time for the front of the grid to be set. Here we go for Q3.
Verstappen, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto, and Sainz are all out.
There was no need, but Antonelli puts in a session-topping effort to go 0.255s clear.