MAX AND RED BULL ON TOP IN SUZUKA QUALIFYING

Max Verstappen and Red Bull with another dominant performance, this time in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, which took place at the Suzuka circuit.

The Dutchman was fastest, recording his fifth consecutive pole, his 36th in the Formula 1 championship. Sergio Perez was just 66 thousand behind to secure the first starting row for the Red Bull Racing.

Lando Norris was the third fastest, three tenths of a second behind, and the top 5 was completed by Carlos Sainz Jr. and Fernando Alonso, who were only four thousandths apart. The battle between the two Spaniards was exciting, and their teammattes could not keep up.

Charles Leclerc was eighth and Lance Stroll ended qualifying in Q1. It should be noted that the fastest eight drivers were in just over half a second.

Oscar Piastri was sixth, Lewis Hamilton seventh and Charles Leclerc in eighth remained very close to fourth, while George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

In 2024, the Japanese GP was moved to the spring, so teams returned to Suzuka after only six months had passed since the last race.

The circuit, designed as a Honda testing ground, includes all kinds of turns and is demanding on the cars, which made it possible to assess the changes in the balance of forces that occurred in such a short period of time.

Suzuka has a unique atmosphere, it is a rare place where fans support absolutely all the drivers, and after the finish they stay in the stands to watch the replay of the race and pick up the garbage.

The well-known Japanese cherry trees were in their full glory for additional decor on the circuit, which the photographers actively used.

As in 2023, Max Verstappen led practice sessions. He posted the fastest time on Friday and led Saturday's practice.

In Williams, Logan Sargent damaged his car in the first practice on Friday using the repaired chassis, which Alex Albon "destroyed" two weeks ago in Melbourne. This time the chassis was not damaged, but the mechanics had their hands full with repairs.

Pirelli traditionally brought the hardest compounds C1, C2 and C3 in the roles of white, yellow and red tires. During qualifying everyone used only the reds.

In the Q1 session, the drivers were in no rush to take to the track, wanting to save tyres. Kevin Magnussen was the first to take action after 5 minutes, followed by the rest.

Coming out of the pits, George Russell almost hit Piastri's car that was passing through the pit lane. The Australian had to slow down to avoid a collision.

The stewards investigate the incident which resulted in the Mercedes AMG team being fined €5000, but Russell went unpunished.

Max Verstappen was stady, scored the fastest time, and the end of qualifying was for Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargent and Zhou Guanyu.

In the Q2 session, Albon missed the first attempt, while all the other drivers took to the track. Verstappen immediately had the best time. Hulkenberg had the first time deleted for going off track limits.

Verstappen's time remained the fastest. Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon did not make it to the final segment.

For the Q3 session the only drivers who did not have two new sets of red tires were Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc. The Japanese made his first attempt with used tires, and the Ferrari driver preferred to wait in his garage.

After the first fast laps, Max Verstappen reduced the fastest time to an impressive 1:28.240, and Sergio Perez was three tenths behind, but Lando Norris recorded a time of 1:28.489 to "snap" between them. Carlos Sainz Jr. was fourth, ahead of Piastri and Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc was first to start the second set of fast laps, having a modified strategy with a clear track all to himself, seting a 1:28.786 that saw him provisionally seventh.

Max Verstappen was marginally faster than his previous time in the last attempt, while Sergio Perez set a significantly faster time to secure the first starting row.

Lando Norris, dropped to third place with his previous time. The fight for the fourth position was very close, and Carlos Sainz Jr. was just 0.004 parts of a second faster than Fernando Alonso. The top 10 was completed by Piastre, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell and Tsunoda.