06:40
Verstappen OUT
Hadjar pushes Verstappen down, but Hulkenberg loses time in the final sector and does not improve. But Lindblad goes to P10, and dumps Verstappen out!
Charles Leclerc, 2026 Japanese GP
© XPB Images
F1 Japanese Grand Prix qualifying as it happened
Everything that happened in final practice and qualifying at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Key Moments
- Antonelli leads Russell for pole
- Verstappen out of Q2 along with Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto, Sainz
- Albon, Bearman, Perez, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll out of Q1
- Norris suffered another reliability issue, with McLaren completing a rapid repair
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
28 Mar 2026
06:39
Verstappen completes his final Q2 effort and only improves to P9. Plenty of drivers are improving behind him.
06:38
Purple sector one, personal best sectors two and three - Leclerc goes fastest by 0.148s from Piastri. Russell is 0.464s off and he's complaining again about the rear, urging the team to look into the data. Concerns could be growing again.
06:37
Another set of fresh tyres for the Red Bull pair, who remain on the cusp of the elimination zone.
06:36
Second for Russell, and he ends up 0.316s off Piastri on comparable tyres. He keeps losing time out of the final chicane, which has been the case across the weekend. On Friday, that was blamed on his harvesting being completed earlier in the lap, meaning he runs out of power sooner than is ideal.
06:34
New boots for Mercedes and Ferrari, among others. There's time for two timed efforts here.
06:33
With the first runs complete, Hadjar and Verstappen now find themselves on the verge of the drop zone, in P9 and 10. How things can change in a moment.
Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lindblad, Colapinto, Lawson and Sainz are those currently in the elimination zone.
06:32
Wow! A 1m29.451s for Piastri, and that is the fastest time of the weekend. Norris goes fourth, with Bortoleto putting his Audi up to fifth, ahead of Russell. However, Bortoleto was on new softs, while Russell was not.
06:31
Not all drivers have set a time yet, but Hadjar and Verstappen are fifth and sixth so far, although the McLaren drivers used old tyres for their first laps, so it's not an entirely accurate picture.
06:30
Antonelli heads the field in the opening laps, with a 1m30.035s effort, but Leclerc splits the Mercedes pair in second. Hamilton is fourth, 0.344s back.
06:27
Q2 begins
We are go for Q2 and it's the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers who are the first to take to the track. No wasting time in the garage this time!
06:21
The six drivers out are:
P17 Albon
P18 Bearman
P19 Perez
P20 Bottas
P21 Alonso
P22 Stroll
06:20
Alonso and Stroll make up the back row, but Albon is back in the drop zone as Colapinto improves to P16.
06:19
Albon improved to P16, pushing Bearman into the drop zone - and the Haas driver isn't improving.
06:18
Chequered flag in Q1
The flag falls, and these are the times that will count.
06:17
Verstappen improves his time, but remains in the same position. Russell improves and puts fears of a problem to rest, going second by 0.052s. Antonelli is in the garage, and safely through in P3.
06:15
Verstappen is running slightly out of sync here, as he goes early to start his final flying lap of Q1. A personal best in sector one is a positive way to begin things.
06:13
It's hardly game on, but Leclerc goes to the top by 0.120s from Antonelli. A 1m29.915s is the Ferrari driver's best time of the weekend. Prior to qualifying, only the two Mercedes drivers had managed to dip under the 90-second marker.
06:12
At the foot of the order, the six drivers currently exiting the session are Albon, Sainz, Bottas, Perez, Stroll, and Alonso, with the Williams, Cadillas and Aston Martin drivers going two-by-two.
06:11
"Something doesn't feel quite right. The rear is quite out of balance," reports Russell. Mercedes believes his tyres simply weren't up to temp, but the championship leader didn't sound convinced.
06:10
But here are Mercedes. Antonelli goes straight to the top - 0.043s faster than Leclerc - while Russell manages only P5. He must have had a moment, with his time 0.596s shy.
06:09
Hold on! Red Bull have finally shown up, with Hadjar going fourth and Verstappen sixth - 0.584s and 0.648s back on Leclerc respectively.
06:08
Hamilton goes second, but quickly gets pushed back as Leclerc goes to the top by 0.360s. As expected, Audi are the next best runners.
06:07
A 1m30.438s moves Piastri to the top, 0.238s clear of team-mate Norris, who crossed the line shortly after.
06:06
Scratch that, even Russell and Antonelli are now joining the action.