Max Verstappen & Sergio Perez Sweep Front Row in Japan

Max Verstappen rebounded from a rare did-not-finish at the Australian Grand Prix by winning pole for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix during Saturday’s (April 6) qualifying session.

Verstappen was able to lead off a Red Bull Racing front row lockout – the team’s fourth at Suzuka – with teammate Sergio Perez qualifying less than a tenth of a second him. Lando Norris was best of the rest in third.

“To be on pole, you want every lap to be perfect,” Verstappen told Sky Sports’ Jean Alesi after the session. “Around a track like this, that’s not always the case. Overall, very good day and very good starting position. And tomorrow is what counts.”

VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE IN SUZUKA!! 🇯🇵

Perez improves on his final lap but it's not enough to deny Max a fifth straight pole position! #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/5BwC2aNDwc

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2024

Q3

There were no on-track incidents in this round, nor in the other two rounds of qualifying.

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Leader
1.	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28:197m
2.	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	+0.066s
3.	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	+0.292
4.	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.485s
5.	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	+0.489s
6.	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	+0.563s
7.	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.569s
8.	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.589s
9.	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.811s
10.	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	+1.216s

Q2

Tsunoda advanced to Q3 in front of his home crowd for the second season in a row after putting in a fast lap at the very end of the session. However, this advancement came at the expense of Tsunoda’s RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

YUKI 🙌💯

It's Q3 in Suzuka for the home hero as Tsunoda heads through to the top-ten shootout 💪#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/1Uh9LGqFGh

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2024

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Advancing
11.	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	+0.055s
12.	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	+0.077s
13.	77	Valtteri Bottas	KICK Sauber Ferrari	+0.176s
14.	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	+0.297s
15.	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	+0.399s

Q1

Kevin Magnussen took three attempts in this session, as the Haas team tested out a new setup after being slow in practice. It wasn’t enough, as the Dane was eliminated in this round anyway.

Bottas had a monster lap at the very end of the session to finish this round in eighth, a high mark for KICK Sauber so far this season.

Pos.	Driver No.	Driver	Team	Time from Advancing
16.	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	+0.061s
17.	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	+0.156s
18.	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	+0.168s
19.	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	+0.176s
20.	24	Zhou Guanyu	KICK Sauber Ferrari	+0.180s

2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Konnichiwa one and all, as F1 races this weekend in the land of the rising sun. Lights out of this year’s Japanese Grand Prix will come at 2 a.m. ET on Sunday, April 7, with coverage in the United States on ESPN.