Verstappen pips Leclerc to Japanese GP pole; escapes grid penalty
The Red Bull driver was investigated for an incident involving McLaren’s Lando Norris during Q3 but escaped with a reprimand so the grid will not change.
Verstappen, who can seal a second world title on Sunday at Suzuka, was just 0.010s faster than nearest rival Leclerc as he topped qualifying for just the fifth time this season.
The Dutchman’s opening lap - which put him 0.253s clear of Leclerc - proved good enough to seal pole as he failed to improve on his final run.
Leclerc did find time but a slight mistake in the second sector proved the difference as he narrowly missed out on a 10th pole of 2022.
Verstappen will have to make a trip to the stewards’ office after qualifying, however, following a near-miss with Norris as both drivers prepared to start laps.
Norris was forced to take to the grass at the flat-out 130R in order to avoid the Red Bull driver, with Verstappen losing his rear end when crawling on an out-lap.
The top three were covered by just 0.057s as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had to settle for third, ahead of Sergio Perez, who was four-tenths slower than his Red Bull teammate.
Esteban Ocon turned in a great lap to take sixth in his Alpine, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was nearly a full second down in sixth as Mercedes struggled for pace in dry conditions.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso split the Mercedes drivers in seventh ahead of Russell.
A brilliant performance from four-time Japanese GP pole sitter Sebastian Vettel saw the Aston Martin driver seal ninth spot on the grid, ahead of Norris who completed the top-10.
McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo was just 0.003s shy of advancing into the top-10 shootout, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas took 12th.
Home-hero Yuki Tsunoda was a frustrated 13th for AlphaTauri as he outpaced the second Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu and Haas’ Mick Schumacher.
Alex Albon narrowly missed out on a spot in Q2 as he took 16th in his Williams, ahead of Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly, whose AlphaTauri was hampered by brake issues.
Kevin Magnussen failed to join Haas teammate Schumacher in progressing to the second part of qualifying and could only set a lap good enough for 18th.
Behind the Dane came Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and outgoing Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, who was slowest of all in 20th.
