Formula 1: Verstappen secures pole position in Japan

Max Verstappen briefly wiped the sweat from his face, waved to the fans – and then looked at the next victory one after the other on the way to his quarter Formula 1 title.

“Overall it was a very good day and a good position for tomorrow. Tomorrow is what counts,” said the Dutch Red Bull star after his pole position in Suzuka. On Sunday (7 a.m./Sky), the 26-year-old will once again be the big favorite in the fourth World Cup round. He has already won three races this season, most recently in Australia he was eliminated due to a technical defect.

“It was pretty close at the end. When you push yourself to the limit on this track, it doesn’t always work,” said Verstappen, who would have liked to have been even faster. He was only able to keep his Mexican teammate Sergio Peréz at a distance of 0.066 seconds in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. “It was very close with Max, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the end,” said Peréz: “I thought that pole position would be possible.” Even if it wasn’t quite enough, the 34-year-old Peréz also said: “We will definitely be strong tomorrow.”

Frustration at Ferrari and Mercedes

The dominant Red Bull achieved the best possible result, followed by Lando Norris in the McLaren in third place. The pursuers from Ferrari and Mercedes experienced disappointments. Carlos Sainz, winner in Melbourne two weeks ago, had to settle for fourth, while World Championship runner-up Charles Leclerc only finished eighth. The Silver Arrows with record world champions Lewis Hamilton and George Russell only managed seventh and ninth positions.

Nico Hülkenberg, the only German driver in the field this year, drove his Haas racing car to twelfth place. The 36-year-old from the Rhineland narrowly missed the final qualifying round of the top ten.

Full stands at qualifying

On Friday the wet track caused problems and prevented a normal second training session, but a day later it was dry again on the traditional course. Verstappen had already set the best time in the final practice session – and continued right there in front of full stands. In the first qualifying section he distanced himself from his pursuers by almost four tenths of a second. At the beginning, the Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin came closest. Verstappen also defended the lead in the following two sessions and is starting from the front for the fourth time this season.

Verstappen is still unbeaten in qualifying this year. In the World Championship standings, he leads with 51 points, just ahead of Leclerc (47) and Peréz (46), who received special praise after chasing the times. “You can see he can do it,” said Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko on Sky about his number two: “But maybe it also plays a role that it’s about contracts for next season.” Perez’s contract expires at the end of the year. Negotiations for an extension are not expected in the coming weeks. Red Bull wants to take its time, emphasized the 80-year-old Austrian Marko.

There are also transfer rumors about Verstappen. Apparently Mercedes wants to sign the three-time champion for the coming year as the successor to Hamilton, who is going to Ferrari, despite his contract valid until 2028. The Dominator is not currently dealing with this, at least publicly. In Japan he can initially triumph for the third year in a row and further extend his lead in the overall ranking.