Max Verstappen took a stunning first pole position of 2025 for the Japanese Grand Prix and claimed the outright lap record of Suzuka as he hauled his tricky RB21 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris by just one hundredth of a second. Oscar Piastri claimed third for McLaren with the top three covered by just 0.040s. 

In the final runs of Q3 Norris looked to have done enough to secure pole when he crossed the line in 1:26.995. His main rival looked to be Piastri, who was midway through his lap, but no Verstappen, who had struggled for balance all weekend. 

The Dutchman had clearly not read the script, however and after “sending it and hoping it would stick” the Red Bull Racing driver secured his first pole since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and the 41st of his career. 

“We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn't easy, even in qualifying,” said the Dutchman afterwards. “But every session we just kept on making little improvements. I think that's what made the difference. And yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.”

At the start of Q1, it was Piastri who led the way, with the Australian setting the early benchmark at 1:28.143. Verstappen’s opening flyer, two tenths down on P1, left him fourth on the timesheet. Norris then went for an early second attempt and  dropped the P1 time into 1m27s bracket with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc mirroring the strategy to climb to second place, a tenth behind the McLaren on 1:27.920.  

In the final runs, Piastri reclaimed top spot, posting a lap of 1:27.687 to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.156s. Norris was third ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen progressed to Q2 in sixth place with a time of 1:27.943, just 0.001s behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. 

Headed for the exit after Q1, in P16 and P17 respectively, were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and the Sauber pair were followed out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and in last place Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had an off in the ‘Esses’ on his final lap. 

Verstappen was first out of the pit lane at the start of Q2 and the Dutchman upped his pace from Q1 to stop the clock at 1:27.502. It was good enough to split the McLaren’s with Norris taking top sport on 1:27.146, while Piastri could only manage 1:27.613, to sit a tenth off Verstappen. Russell then jumped to P2. Running halted there, however, as a grass fire at 130R brought out the red flags just as the first runs concluded. 

The session resumed after an eight-minute delay and both Norris and Russell elected to sit out the final runs. Verstappen ventured out but with little threat coming from further behind he abandoned the attempt and headed into the pits. 

Ruled out at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P11 with the French driver followed out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martins’ Fernando Alonso, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda. 

In the opening runs of the top-10 shootout it was Piastri who claimed provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting the target at 1:27.052. Verstappen put in a strong Q3 opener of 1:27.278 to take P2 and keep Leclerc and Russell at bay, while Norris’s opener was four tenths slower than his Q2 best and he slotted into fifth place ahead of the final runs.

Russell was one of the first out for his final flyer and a mistake in the Esses put paid to his thoughts of pole. Norris was next across the line and with a time of 1:16.995 it looked like the championship leader had done enough. Verstappen had other ideas, however, and in a track record time the four-time champion once again proved why he’d been on pole 40 times. 

“A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,” he said. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere. Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice. And yeah, it was great for the team as well.”

2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.983 - -
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.995 0.012 
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:27.027 0.044 
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.299 0.316 
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.318 0.335 
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.555 0.572 
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.569 0.586 
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.610 0.627 
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:27.615 0.632 
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:27.867 0.884 
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:27.822 0.839 
12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:27.836 0.853 
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.897 0.914 
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.906 0.923 
15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.000 1.017 
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.570 1.587 
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.622 1.639 
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:28.696 1.713
19 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:28.877 1.894 
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.271 2.288