A “magical” final lap from Max Verstappen propelled the Red Bull driver to pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, knocking the much-fancied McLarens off top spot, much to everyone’s surprise.
Verstappen had been complaining all weekend about his car’s lack of balance and front-end grip. But when it mattered the 27-year-old was supreme again, setting a new lap record around Suzuka.
Verstappen, who was running noticeably less downforce than new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, clocked 1min 26.983sec to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris by one hundredth of a second. It was his first pole since Austria last summer.
“What a lap, Max, unbelievable. You’ve done it,” his team principal Christian Horner told him over the radio. “Pure class,” his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase added.
Listen to that roar!
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 5, 2025
Max Verstappen is on POLE#F1#JapaneseGPpic.twitter.com/s8LtjOWFms
Verstappen was particularly impressive in Suzuka’s first sector, which has been recently relaid, and which features the sequence of esses that run from turns 3 to 7, a sequence of constant compromise where Verstappen was able to make micro-adjustments to keep a highly sensitive car under control.
Speaking later, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso showed in how much esteem Verstappen is held by his peers when he commented: “Only he can do it, only he can do it. I think there is no other driver at the moment that can drive a car and put it so high, or higher than the car deserves. I think it was a magical moment for everyone here.”
Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri had looked to be duking it out for pole with the Australian quickest in Q1 and Norris quickest in Q2. But they will only start P2 and P3 respectively.
Norris said he was nevertheless happy with his lap. “Hats off [to Verstappen],” he said. “You’ve got to credit someone when it’s a lap that good. But I mean, I’m happy because I feel like I got everything out of the car today.”
Norris and Piastri will be hopeful of making it past the Red Bull on Sunday, with McLaren’s race pace having looked superior all weekend to the Red Bull’s. But it will not be easy given Verstappen’s experience and the Red Bull’s impressive straight-line speed.
Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc took P4, 0.3sec quicker and four places better than Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who said he had taken a “different direction” on set-up.
