Kimi Antonelli takes his second pole position of the year as he leads a Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Q1
Despite a strong start to the year up to this point, Ollie Bearman found himself having an underwhelming qualifying session, only going fast enough for 18th place ahead of the two Cadillac and Aston Martin cars.
After returning to the points for the first time in over a year in China, Franco Colapinto was teetering on the edge of being eliminated in Q1, had it not been for a late run which saw him climb from 18th to 16th, just edging out Albon by just over a tenth of a second in the process.
ELIMINATED
17. Alexander Albon – Williams +0.157
18. Ollie Bearman – Haas +0.159
19. Sergio Perez – Cadillac +1.275
20. Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac + 1.399
21. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +1.715
22. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +1.919
Q2
It has been a difficult start to the season for Red Bull, which only continued as the team struggled throughout qualifying. Verstappen was on the brink of elimination for much of Q2’s dying minutes, but looked as though he would be saved by both Ocon and Hulkenberg failing to get into the top 10.
However, a great lap from Arvid Lindblad in his Racing Bulls car would ultimately push Verstappen down to 11th on pure pace and out of qualifying.
While Hadjar hadn’t gone too much faster than Verstappen in the Red Bull car, the team were at least able to get one of their cars through to the final part of qualifying, with Hadjar going quick enough for 9th place in Q2.
ELIMINATED
11. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.938
12. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.186
13. Nico Hulkenberg – Audi +0.002
14. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.413
15. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.005
16. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.178
Q3
Charles Leclerc had looked very strong in the first two sessions of qualifying, however it became clear that his Ferrari did not have the outright pace to challenge for pole, with both McLaren cars managing to get ahead of him and Hamilton following the first set of timed laps. However, he would manage to find enough time in his last lap to surpass Norris by four thousandths of a second and climb up to 4th for the Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli seemed to have Russell’s number all weekend up to this point, which was further demonstrated when he was able to go 3 tenths faster during their first runs. With neither Mercedes driver able to improve during their final laps, it meant that Antonelli would take his second career pole position just two weeks after securing his first.
Qualifying Results
1. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes 1:28.778
2. George Russell – Mercedes +0.298
3. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.354
4. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.627
5. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.631
6. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.789
7. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.913
8. Isack Hadjar- Red Bull +1.200
9. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi +1.496
10. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls +1.541
