Japan - Qualifying

After a week-long break, the 2025 Formula One season has picked up again, this time visiting the beautiful Suzuka, the home race of Red Bull's newest addition, Yuki Tsunoda.  It will be the driver's very first race in the "cursed" second Red Bull seat. Will he be able to deliver? Or is the problem with the RB21 even worse than anyone thought? 

From the beginning, as many have expected, it were the two McLarens that switched places at the top of the leaderboards. At any given moment during Q1, it was either Norris or Piastri with the quickest time, with the occasional Mercedes or Ferrari appearing in the top three alongside them. Tsunoda seemed quite comfortable in the Red Bull and managed to easily go through to Q2. The switch also seemed to benefit Lawson who, for the first time this season, also went through to the second part of the qualifying. The one Red Bull-adjacent driver who didn't feel too great in his car was Hadjar, who spent a big part of the session complaining about the fit in his cockpit. Despite that, he also went through to the second part of the qualifying. This time, it was Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Doohan, Ocon, and Stroll who just weren't quite good enough to do the same.

Verstappen was the one to set the first benchmark time after the start of Q2. His effort was easily beaten by the rapid McLaren of Lando Norris. As all other cars completed their first attempts, they couldn't even come close to the Brit's time. Before their second runs could begin a red flag waved over the circuit. Not for the first time this weekend, it was brought on by the grass on the side of the track catching fire. 

The session was resumed after a short break. The Ferraris, not quite comfortable in the middle of the pack, were the first cars to go out on track. They both delivered similar laps and both lost a significant amount of time in the first sector. Still, their efforts were more than enough to get them through to the last session of the day. The same was not the case for Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson, and surprisingly, Tsunoda.  Having spent the weekend delivering beautiful laps, Tsunoda's times fell away right when he needed them most, putting him a place behind the man he had just replaced.  

Russell started off Q3 with a lap that was good, but not good enough to stop Verstappen, Piastri, and Leclerc from jumping in front of him. Out of all the drivers who were expected to fight for pole, Norris was the one who disappointed the most as the session began. His less-than-perfect lap made him fall away from his opponents and settle somewhere in the middle of the top ten. But, as is usually the case with the last qualifying session, the fight only truly picked up with less than two minutes left on the clock. Russell tried to improve his first time but a mistake in the first sector cost him a few precious tenths. Norris reminded people why he was a favourite for the win as he put together a lap that gave him a provisional pole and demoted Piastri to second. It seemed like he would be the one starting the race from the very front of the field until Verstappen delivered a lightning-quick lap that saw him soar to the very top of the standings. 

This will be his 4th pole position in a row in Suzuka, an incredibly impressive achievement that only proves how great of a driver the Dutchman truly is. Will he be able to convert it into his first win of the season? 

UPDATE: After the qualifying ended, Carlos Sainz was hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton during Q2. 

Order of the grid:

1. Max Verstappen

2. Lando Norris

3. Oscar Piastri

4. Charles Leclerc

5. George Russell

6. Kimi Antonelli

7.  Isack Hadjar

8. Lewis Hamilton

9. Alex Albon 

10. Oliver Bearman

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Fernando Alonso

13. Liam Lawson

14. Yuki Tsunoda

15. Carlos Sainz 

16. Nico Hulkenberg 

17. Gabriel Bortoleto

18. Esteban Ocon

19. Jack Doohan

20. Lance Stroll