Kimi Antonelli has repeated his Shanghai heroics by securing the second pole position of his career at Suzuka. None of the final push laps were perfect, but the young Italian's 1:28.778 was enough to see off teammate
George Russell and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who rounded up the top three.
Ferrari's
Charles Leclerc was purple in his final first sector, but a slippery exit out of the Spoon hindered him to just P4.
No doubt the biggest shock of the day
was Max Verstappen's exit from Q2, the Dutchman finished P11, and was knocked out by Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad.
It is now the second time in three races that the Dutchman has failed to make it into Q3, following from his crash in Australia at the season opener.
On team radio, the four time world champion said: "I think there's something wrong with the car mate. It's completely undriveable suddenly in this qualifying."
In Q1, Haas' Ollie Bearman finished in P18 with a 1:31.090, while Alex Albon was furious after being pipped to the safety of P16 by teammate Carlos Sainz.
The rest of the Q1 exits was a familiar sight, with Cadillac's Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas followed by Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Stay up to date with the latest Formula 1 news? Follow GPblog.com on WhatsApp Channels and receive the most important updates first. Here are the full results from Qualifying in Suzuka:
Japanese Grand Prix Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|
| | MercedesMER | - | 1:28.778 |
| | MercedesMER | - | 1:29.076 |
| | McLarenMCL | - | 1:29.132 |
| | FerrariFER | - | 1:29.303 |
| | McLarenMCL | - | 1:29.409 |
| | FerrariFER | - | 1:29.567 |
| | AlpineALP | - | 1:29.691 |
| | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:29.978 |
| | AudiAUD | - | 1:29.990 |
| | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:30.109 |
| | Red Bull RacingRBR | - | 1:30.262 |
| | HaasHAA | - | 1:30.309 |
| | AudiAUD | - | 1:30.358 |
| | Racing BullsRCB | - | 1:30.495 |
| | AlpineALP | - | 1:30.627 |
| | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:30.927 |
| | WilliamsWIL | - | 1:31.088 |
| | HaasHAA | - | 1:31.090 |
| | CadillacCAD | - | 1:32.206 |
| | CadillacCAD | - | 1:32.330 |
| | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:32.646 |
| | Aston MartinAST | - | 1:32.920 |
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