Verstappen steps up to the championship title, Alpine shines in qualifying for Japanese GP

After three years, Suzuka, Japan enjoyed a qualification battle again. At the venue where the F1 championship has been decided eleven times, Max Verstappen came close to his second title. The Red Bull driver won ahead of both Ferrari cars, which came within less than one tenth of the current world champion.

The first part of qualifying showed that Ferrari and Red Bull would meet again in a battle for pole position. Mercedes, on the other hand, struggled badly on the Japanese track. And the Williams were not doing well either. Both monoblocs were finished in Q1 and have a lot of work to do on Sunday.

The last five at the start of the race will be as follows: Nicholas Latifi (20th), Lance Stroll (19th), Kevin Magnussen (18th), Pierre Gasly (17th) and Alexander Albon (16th). Max Verstappen dominated the opening 18-minute block with a time of 1:30.224.

The middle part of the battle for position at the start of the race was partly marked by Alpha Tauri’s brake problems. Only Yuki Cunoda could complain about the problems, for whom it was a frustrating moment on home soil.

At the home grand prix, the young Japanese lost a lot in the early laps, with only the last attempt in Q2 going relatively well for the young rider. But it was not enough to advance. On the other hand, the Alpina showed great form and could have subtly joined the battle for at least the second row.

The second ten will be composed as follows from 15th place: Mick Schumacher (15th), Kuan-yu Zhou (14th), Júki Cunoda (13th), Valtteri Bottas (12th) and Daniel Ricciardo (11th). Sergio Pérez went into the last part of qualifying from first place, winning Q2 in 1:29.925.

The second and fourth places were taken by the two Alpine monoblocs in the middle section, so Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were not to be forgotten. Both were looking to make a quick challenge to regain fourth place among the constructors.

In the last qualifying session, Max Verstappen got off to the best start with a time of 1:29.304. He also had a lead of more than 250 thousandths over second-placed Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Carlos Sainz was third by a further margin.

And the Dutch driver’s time was enough for pole position. Many drivers improved, but not enough to beat the current world champion. He came close to winning his second championship title again. To do so, the 25-year-old needs to score eight more points than Leclerc and six more than Pérez. The Grand Prix starts at 7am Czech time.

The top ten standings at the start of the Japanese GP:: Max Verstappen (1st), Charles Leclerc (2nd), Carlos Sainz (3rd), Sergio Pérez (4th), Esteban Ocon (5th), Lewis Hamilton (6th), Fernando Alonso (7th), George Russell (8th), Sebastian Vettel (9th), Lando Norris (10th).

Source: Sport 1