Max Verstappen has continued his golden run by claiming his fourth successive pole of the season at the Suzuka circuit in Japan as teammate Sergio Perez made it a 1-2 for Red Bull.
Verstappen will be looking to bounce back from a DNF in Melbourne and was bullish about his prospects after finishing in first place on Saturday during qualifying.
Max Verstappen claims pole during qualifying at Japanese Grand Prix
"It was quite close at the end," Verstappen said after the reigning champion topped the time sheets in every session, before earning pole with a 1:28.197.
WATCH in US: F1 qualifying with fubo (free trial)
"Overall, this track is very sensitive with the tyres. The tarmac is really aggressive and when you want to go to the limit it doesn't always work out. Nevertheless, most importantly it's to be on pole.
"Overall, a very good day and a good starting position for tomorrow and tomorrow is what counts."
McLaren's Lando Norris finished in third place behind the Red Bull pair, to round out the front row.
Meanwhile, RB's Yuki Tsunoda, who is the only local driver on the grid, battled hard and knocked out teammate Daniel Ricciardo in Q2. But he had to settle for 10th place as he finished 1.216 behind Verstappen in the final rankings.
The Sporting News followed qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix and provided live updates and results.
F1 grid, qualifying times for Japanese Grand Prix
| Position | Driver | Team | Qual. time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1.28.197 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.066 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.292 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.485 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.489 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.563 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.569 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.589 |
| 9 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.811 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | +1.216 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo* | RB | +1.275 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg* | Haas | +1.297 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas* | Sauber | +1.396 |
| 14 | Alex Albon* | Williams | +1.517 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon* | Alpine | +1.619 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll** | Aston Martin | 1.30.024 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly** | Alpine | 1.30.119 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen** | Haas | 1.30.131 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant** | Williams | 1.30.139 |
| 20 | Zhou Guanyu** | Sauber | 1.30.143 |
* Eliminated after Q2
** Eliminated after Q1
F1 Japan: Live updates from Japanese Grand Prix qualifying
Q3: Max Verstappen grabs pole for the 36th time in his career, with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez joining him on the front row.
It continues Verstappen's hot streak to start the year with this his fifth pole in a row.
Lando Norris claims third place, with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso further back.
Q3: Just one set of new tyres remaining for Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc, whereas the other eight in the shootout have them for two runs.
Q2: Yuki Tsunoda knocks RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo out of the top 10 with his final lap. That makes it three Q3 appearances out of three for the crowd favourite.
Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon are eliminated.
Q1: Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu are all eliminated with Valtteri Bottas producing on his final lap of Q1 to avoid the cut-off.
2 hours to lights out: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session for 2024.
Japan F1 schedule: What time is qualifying in Suzuka?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | India | |
| Date | Saturday, Apr 6 | Saturday, Apr 6 | Saturday, Apr 6 | Saturday, Apr 6 | Saturday, Apr 6 |
| Time | 7 a.m. BST | 2 a.m. ET | 2 a.m. ET | 5 p.m. AEDT | 11:30 a.m. IST |
Japan F1 schedule: What time is the Japanese Grand Prix race?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | India | |
| Date | Sunday, Apr 7 | Sunday, Apr 7 | Sunday, Apr 7 | Sunday, Apr 7 | Sunday, Apr 7 |
| Time | 6 a.m. BST | 1 a.m. ET | 1 a.m. ET | 3 p.m. AEST | 10:30 a.m. IST |
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