Red Bull continued to look firmly in control of proceedings in Suzuka, with Max Verstappen having little trouble securing pole for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix and his team mate Sergio Perez joining him on the front row.
McLaren's Lando Norris proved to be the most significant threat to the Red Bulls and will start from P3, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz alongside him on the second row of the the grid tomorrow.
There were no huge surprises in the earlier rounds, although Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was bitterly disappointed to miss the first cut and Daniel Ricciardo proved one spot short of joining RB team mate Yuki Tsunoda in Q3.
After what had been almost a washout in FP2 on Friday afternoon, a sunny start to Saturday allowed teams to catch up with long distance simulation runs in final practice, with flying laps reserved to the final quarter of an hour. That had seen Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez back at the top of the timesheets after sitting out FP2, finishing ahead of Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The Ferraris looked subdued while McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had been among many drivers to struggle through Degner.
Q1: Verstappen pips Alonso as Stroll misses the first cut in second Aston
The sun had retreated from Suzuka International Racing Course by the time the track went green for the start of qualifying. The skies were overcast and the wind was gusting, but crucially it was dry as Kevin Magnussen was the first to head out and break the silence to set a starter time of 1:31.203s in the soft-shod Haas.
That flicked a switch and the majority of cars now streamed off pit lane, meaning a degree of congestion and Piastri claiming about an unsafe release by Russell which was noted by the stewards for a post-session review. The Red Bulls were among those who were out and about, Perez immediately two seconds quicker than Magnussen but then shaded in turn by Verstappen going top with 1:28.866s, already significantly quicker than his pole time here five months ago.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was able to split the Red Bulls and go second, with Piastri fourth from Carlos Sainz and Norris sixth despite a mistake at the chicane. It put him ahead of the two Silver Arrows while local hero Yuki Tsunoda completed his first flying lap in ninth ahead of Charles Leclerc, who was a second slower than Verstappen's target time after his first run. With the soft tyres having a very limited effective lifespan at Suzuka, everyone then headed back to pit lane for a fresh set before making their second runs.
Those at risk of elimination at this point were Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Logan Sargeant in his repaired Williams, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu. On the cusp of dropping into the bottom five were Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon, neither safe by any stretch. Among the first to head back out, there was no joy for Magnussen who stayed mired in the elimination zone. Albon had a better time and improved to a provisional P11 with his next run, with Sargeant taking his place on the bubble for now and pushing Ocon into the drop zone as a result.
There were faster laps to come for Leclerc (up to P4), Valtteri Bottas (an impressive P8 putting him ahead of Hamilton) and the two RBs of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda (now tenth and 11th respectively ahead of Russell). Ocon did well to find safety in 13th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg which pushed Albon back to 15th, but crucially the Williams just made the cut in 15th by less than a tenth from Lance Stroll who had fallen at the first hurdle in the second Aston. Also out were Gasly (reporting no traction), Magnussen, Sargeant (lacking confidence) and Zhou (who had been sliding all over the place).
Q2: Verstappen and Perez stay in charge, Tsunoda survives while Ricciardo misses out
All the times set so far were swept away as the 15 remaining cars headed back out for the second round of qualifying. Red Bull sent their cars out first with Perez leading Verstappen down pit lane, but the track was soon busy with traffic as more cars soon streamed out to join them.
Perez was the first man to post a time of 1:28.752s, with Verstappen soon shaving 0.012s off that to pip him to the top spot while Hulkenberg was a distant third almost two seconds slower. Into that gap (more like a yawning chasm) came Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton and Russell, with Bottas rounding out the top ten. Hulkenberg's initial time had been deleted for exceeding track limits leaving him on the wrong side of the cut along with Tsunoda, Ocon and Ricciardo, with Albon yet to run.
With four minutes remaining, Hulkenberg was in the first wave of cars to return to the fray along with the two Mercedes who had made their first runs on used tyres and now broke out a fresh set. The rest of the remaining runners weren't far behind them, although Albon left it unusually late to stir to make his one and only Q2 run.
Hamilton jumped to third with his run but Russell could only inch up to P7. Hulkenberg improved but nonetheless still missed out on the top ten, while Albon also fell short. Tsunoda found safety in tenth, denying Ricciardo a spot in the pole shoot-out round as he finished one place behind in 11th. Bottas and Ocon had also been pushed into the relegation zone by the chequered flag and were duly among those consigned to the sidelines for the remainder of the session.
Q3: Verstappen and Perez fastest, Norris and Sainz to line up on second row of the grid
Ten drivers remained in the final pole shoot-out. Hamilton and Russell were first out seeking to post a 'banker lap' to guard against any incidents, followed by Verstappen and Perez. Hamilton ran slightly wide on his lap and picked up some dirt as he set an opening time of 1:28.766s with Russell a quarter of a second slower, but Verstappen had their measure and romped to the top with a lap of 1:28.240s, Perez predictably taking up residence in second moments later.
Melbourne winner Sainz was able to step into third place, but Norris then put in an impressive flying lap to split the Bulls and go P2, as Piastri entered the game in fifth just ahead of Hamilton. Alonso tucked in to seventh between the two Mercedes, with Tsunoda slowest of those to run so far as Leclerc had opted to remain in the Ferrari garage and make just one run in Q3, having used two new sets of softs in the first round.
With six minutes to go, the Monegasque finally emerged and came out on track. He had the place to himself for his one and only run which put him seventh in a closely packed field, just half a tenth covering Sainz in fourth down to Leclerc. Sounding dispirited, he retreated to pit lane and left it to the rest of the drivers to sort out the final starting order. Verstappen duly nailed pole with a time of 1:28.197s putting him 0.066s clear of Perez' latest offering which meant the Mexican would also be on the front row for Sunday.
Norris simply wasn't able to match that sort of pace and remained third with his final run just managing to keep him ahead of Sainz, while Alonso was able to wring just enough additional speed out of the Aston to finish in fifth ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell and Tsunoda.
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