Max Verstappen Snatches 'Insane' Pole For Japan GP In Track Record.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen smashed the track record to snatch pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
• April 05, 2025
• Agence France-Presse
NDTV.com

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen smashed the track record to snatch pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, as Yuki Tsunoda qualified a lowly 15th in his Red Bull debut. Verstappen clocked a blistering lap of 1min 26.983sec in his Red Bull, 0.012sec ahead of championship leader Norris, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri third. Verstappen set a new Suzuka track record with his final lap in Saturday's qualifying, pipping Norris right at the death.

"Each session we kept making little improvements, then the last lap was flat out," said Verstappen, who has won the Japanese GP for the last three years. "In a Formula One car around here is insane. This is a proper highlight for us to be back on pole here."

'Insane';

https://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/ma...record-8093001


Japanese GP: Qualifying Results
Full results from Qualifying for the Formula 1 Japanese GP from Suzuka.
5 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps Diff Q1 Q2 Q3
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 17 1:27.943s 1:27.502s 1:26.983s
2 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 15 0.012s 1:27.845s 1:27.146s 1:26.995s
3 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 18 0.044s 1:27.687s 1:27.507s 1:27.027s
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 21 0.316s 1:27.920s 1:27.555s 1:27.299s
5 63 George Russell Mercedes 17 0.335s 1:27.843s 1:27.400s 1:27.318s
6 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 18 0.572s 1:27.968s 1:27.639s 1:27.555s
7 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda 18 0.586s 1:28.278s 1:27.775s 1:27.569s
8 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 23 0.627s 1:27.942s 1:27.610s 1:27.610s
9 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 20 0.632s 1:28.218s 1:27.783s 1:27.615s
10 87 Oliver Bearman Haas – Ferrari 21 0.884s 1:28.228s 1:27.711s 1:27.867s

‘Qualifying Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...gs-times-grid/


‘Incredibly rewarding’ – Verstappen hails ‘insane’ lap in Suzuka as he seals first Grand Prix pole since Austria 2024
5 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Max Verstappen hailed the "incredibly rewarding" experience around Suzuka as he sealed his first pole position since last year's Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman will start Red Bull’s final Japanese Grand Prix with engine partner Honda from the front of the grid, marking his fourth consecutive Suzuka pole success.

Asked if he was surprised to find himself at the front of the pack, Verstappen said: “Yeah, I am! We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy even in Qualifying. Every session, we just kept on making little improvements, and I think that’s where we made the difference.”

“The last lap was just flat out. Around here, being on the limit or maybe a bit over in places is incredibly rewarding.” He added: “It’s insane in a Formula 1 car around here. Sector 1 especially is unbelievable. The new Tarmac as well just gives you even more grip so to commit is even harder.”

“Just kept on making little improvements”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...48MpYnomk02GG6


Max Verstappen makes honest assessment of Red Bull car despite Japanese GP pole position
Max Verstappen knows that keeping the McLaren's behind him in Suzuka will not be easy
5 April 2025
Euan Burns
Total Motorsport

During the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen admitted that Friday’s flexing problem with the car had been fixed, but there were still other issues that needed to be addressed and they will be a factor during the race on Sunday.

“Actually it was a bit better. I think that issue was a lot better today. But at the same time, the through corner balance is still what we need to work on. But yeah, I think on low fuel over one lap, some bits you can mask a little bit. But it’s still not like I go into the lap fully confident and comfortable,” Verstappen told the press, including Total-Motorsport.com.

“So the last lap I was like, well, I’m just going to not try and feel uncomfortable – just send it in and see what we get. It’s very rare, of course, that a lap like that then can stick, but this time it worked well. We know that we have some issues that we want to solve, but it’s clearly not easy to solve them at the moment.”

‘Some issues that we want to solve’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...pole-position/


‘It’s a shame’: Yuki Tsunoda ‘didn’t expect’ one thing on his Red Bull debut at the Japanese Grand Prix, ‘it’s a shame…’
5 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Yuki Tsunoda could only qualify P15 on his debut for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson even out-pacing the home hero on his return to Racing Bulls. Kanagawa native Tsunoda admits he ‘did not expect’ his first qualifying session with Red Bull would finish in Q2 after feeling confident with his pace from practice at the Japanese GP. He especially felt strong in FP3, when Tsunoda was P9 and only 0.288s from Verstappen in P5.

“Surprisingly, I think I feel OK in terms of pressure,” Tsunoda told Sky Sports F1 (5/4, 08:29). “The last Q2 lap was probably the most pressured time. I had the pace from FP3, so I didn’t expect it to be like this, how I ended up like that today. So, it’s a shame. But at least the positive is that I’m starting to understand the car. It’s quite difficult to operate this car properly, it’s quite narrow [compared to] the Racing Bulls’ car.”

“I didn’t expect it to be like this”;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/yuk...x-its-a-shame/


Adjusted starting grid for 2025 F1 Japanese Grand Prix after penalty
Check out the full starting grid for the 2025 F1 Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka!
5 Apr 2025
Jake Nichol
RacingNews365

It is Verstappen's fourth successive Japanese GP pole, with new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda only 14th on the grid after qualifying 15th fastest.
The reason for the change is due to a three-place grid penalty for Carlos Sainz for impeding Lewis Hamilton in Q2. The Williams driver drops from 12th to 15th, allowing Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson and Tsunoda to shuffle forward one place.

Position Driver Team
1st Max Verstappen Red Bull
2nd Lando Norris McLaren
3rd Oscar Piastri McLaren
4th Charles Leclerc Ferrari
5th George Russell Mercedes
6th Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
7th Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls
8th Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
9th Alex Albon Williams
10th Oliver Bearman Haas

‘Adjusted starting grid’;

https://racingnews365.com/full-start...ese-grand-prix