A fourth straight pole position in Suzuka by Max Verstappen and a reminder sent to the rest of the field that, for all the pace of the McLarens this season, he’s still the four-time defending world champion.Fitted out with a livery paying tribute to Honda, it will be Red Bull that starts from pole tomorrow, with the papaya of Lando Norris’ McLaren alongside.Oscar Piastri will have to make do with starting next to Charles Leclerc on the second row and two rookies in Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar will line up next to George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the third and fourth rows respectively.Further back, in his home grand prix and first race for Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda will be looking to storm up the grid from his starting position in 15th but before he can do any of that, he’s going to have to get past the man he replaced in 14th-placed Liam Lawson.Add to all the chance of a bit of rain – hopefully enough to prevent any more fires breaking out – and it looks like the stage has been set for a cracking GP.

I’ll be back then to take you through all that action and Giles Richards’ report from qualifying will be with you soon but, for now, I’ve been Joey Lynch and it’s goodbye.Listen to that roar!Max Verstappen is on POLE#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/s8LtjOWFmsFor much of Q3, it looked like Piastri was set for back-to-back pole positions and a pole position on his birthday.Instead, he’ll start form third.

“I felt good through most of the qualifying, especially at the start of Q3 -- that was a good lap.The last lap didn’t come together how I wanted, with tight margins.More left on the table out there, so we try again tomorrow.“I think we have good pace, the others aren’t as far away as people think.I still think we have a great car for tomorrow and will be in the mix for the win.

”1.Max Verstappen - Red Bull2.Lando Norris - McLaren3.Oscar Piastri - McLaren4.Charles Leclerc - Ferrari5.

George Russell - Mercedes6.Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes7.Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls8.Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari9.Alexander Albon - Williams10.

Oliver Bearman - Haas11.Pierre Gasly - Alpine12.Carlos Sainz - Williams13.Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin14.Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls15.

Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull16,Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber17,Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber18,Esteban Ocon - Haas19,Jack Doohan - Alpine20.

Lance Stroll - Aston MartinWHAT A SESSION!Max Verstappen.Take.A.Bow.#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.

twitter.com/w72EgQ5ICDImmediate reaction from Max Verstappen on the Sky Sports coverage.“I am [surprised].Each session we kept making little improvements.Then the last lap was just flat out.

In an F1 car around here is insane,This is a proper highlight for us to be back on pole here,”The microphone then goes to Lando Norris, who will start next to Verstappen on the front row,“I’m happy,Congrats to Max, he did a good job.

You have to credit something when it’s a lap that’s as good that he must have done.I got everything out of the car today, the gaps are tiny.Good, but not enough.“We were on the limit of what we had, we just didn’t have enough today.”Verstappen goes pole! For the fourth year in a row Max Verstappen will lead them out in Suzuka; the World Champion wiling his Red Bull to a flying final sector that takes him past the McLarens.

“Pure class,” says the Red Bull garage.MAX VERSTAPPEN IS ON POLE!! 🥇Q3 comes to an end with an impressive lap from Verstappen clinching first position from Lando Norris!#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/c11rIwyDQ4Norris has pipped Piastri for the other spot on the front row, with Leclerc going fourth, Russell in fifth, and Antonelli in sixth.Hadjar, discomfort and all, has taken seventh in front of Hamilton, Albon, and Bearman.

What a twist to end qualifying.For those concerned for Hadjar’s comfort, the coverage has shared that the Racing Bulls garage has found a fix at the “interface between the belt buckle and the upper leg area” to ease his pain.So as it stands, Piastri will be starting from pole.He’ll then be followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Hamilton, Hadjar, Bearman, Albon, and Antonelli.Just under four minutes in Q3 remaining, the drivers will get one final chance to improve their positioning.

Norris comes through to set himself a time but can’t challenge the leaders, only going fourth fastest.He’s then pushed back down into fifth place by Leclerc, who flies through to set the third fastest time.His Ferrari teammate, meanwhile, has gone sixth fastest.George Russell is the first of the leading pack to complete a flying lap, completing it in 1:27.318.

He’s promptly outdone by Verstappen, who goes 1:27.278.And then it’s Piastri who goes top, setting a new mark of 1:27.052.The lights are green, the 12 minutes are counting down, and our ten remaining cars are searching for pole position in Japan.

Jacques Villeneuve is on expert commentary on the Sky Sports coverage and is unflinching in his analysis of Tsunoda being half a second slower than Verstappen in qualifying.“That’s not good enough”.Lawson qualifies in 14th and Tsunoda goes 15th.We do love a bit of drama and intrigue, don’t we folks?Liam Lawson outqualifies Yuki Tsunoda at Suzuka after his demotion 👀The first time he's outqualified him in 885 days..

.#JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/5q5VpJd2MmOllie Bearman is through into the top ten in qualifying! 👏#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.

com/akmsBhNiyUGasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson, and Tsunoda finish in the bottom five and are now out,Eliminated in Q2 ❌11,Gasly12,Sainz13,Alonso14.

Lawson15.Tsunoda#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/ChgcltZGyEUp the other end, the McLaren of Norris was quickest in that session.Bearman has set a flying lap to go eighth quickest and he’s going to progress through to Q3!Lawson was briefly out of the drop zone only to be sent straight back in there.

The narrative beast will be fed, though, as the Kiwi has gone quicker than Tsunoda.Tsunoda completes a lap… but he’s eleventh fastest! It looks like the new Red Bull driver will have his qualifying end in Q2.A crucial lap from Yuki Tsunoda but it's only P11 😲He is down in the elimination zone!#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/wU7u7EipD8Norris is still the quickest in Q2, ahead of Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Hamilton.

Sainz, Alonso, Bearman, Tsunoda, and Lawson remain in the drop zone,Gasly is sitting tenth,The fire has been doused and Q2 has resumed, Sainz, Alonso, Bearman, Tsunoda, and Lawson all lacking to extract themselves from the drop zone in the remaining time,Jack Doohan speaking to Sky Sports coverage, asked if his big crash yesterday had an impact on his qualifying efforts,“I don’t want to use any excuses.

That’s why we train and keep out heads in a good place.“Maybe Q2 could have been on the cards.I knew had to make big steps on ever lap.I made a small mistake on the exit of the spoon curve.If I didn’t do it I wouldn’t have made Q2 and if it worked I would have.

So I can’t really be too mad.”With the red flags coming out, the clock has stopped with 8:26 remaining in Q2.Red Flag! Fire! Danger, Will Robinson! A patch of grass has started smoking on the track and the red flags have come out, sending the cars back to pit lane.Every driver has now set an initial time of Q2 and it’s Sainz, ALonso, Bearman, Tsunoda, and Lawson in the bottom five.Drivers all starting to log times in this Q2 session and once again it’s the McLarens making the early running, Norris going fastest and Piastri fourth, sandwiching Russell and Verstappen.

So not the way that Lance Stroll would have wanted Q1 to go, eliminated at the first hurdle and running wide and going off the track towards the end.A wide moment for Lance Stroll towards the end of the session there 😬#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/mkYhnRBvJwWe are underway once more in qualifying, with the 15 remaining drivers given 15 minutes to book a place in Q3.Q1 is in the books and we’ll be saying goodbye to Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, Doohan, and Stroll