On the hunt for the second title
Max Verstappen has put himself in the best possible position to be able to go for his second world title tomorrow. The Dutchman was faster than anyone else in qualifying for the Japanese GP.
Max Verstappen has taken pole position in a – unfortunately for him – not entirely incident-free qualifying. At the start of Q3, everything still looked rosy for 25-year-old Verstappen, who immediately set the tone with a sharp time of 1.29.304. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc came very close on his last attempt, but clocked second time with 1.29.314 and was unable to take pole position from Verstappen. With six minutes to go into the third qualifying session, McLaren driver Lando Norris nearly crashed into a slow-moving Verstappen. The World Cup leader was surprised and apologized moments later, but the incident is still under investigation by race management. It will be released later on Saturday.
Leclerc’s teammate Sainz will start the race from third place on Sunday. The top five was completed by Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez (fourth) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (fifth).
It is the eighteenth time in total and the fifth time this season that Verstappen can start a race from pole. The Red Bull Racing driver also started at the front in the Grands Prix of Emilia-Romagna, Canada, Austria and the Netherlands.
Top ten qualifying GP Japan
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 1.29.304
- 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1.29.314
- 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 1.29.361
- 4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) – 1.29.709
- 5. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 1.30.165
- 6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1.30.261
- 7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – 1.30.322
- 8. George Russell (Mercedes) – 1.30,389
- 9. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) – 1.30,554
- 10. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1.31,003
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl