Q1 Report:
Q1 was calm considering how many red flags the previous free practice sessions had, but there still much to watch as a main point to watch is the two McLaren drivers battling it out for fastest lap. Piastri and Norris went back and forth many times throughout Q1, however both Piastri and George Russell surpassed Lando, as Norris saved a set of tires and didn’t do an extra lap. One issue we saw was with Isack Hadjar, who was having a seatbelt issue and didn’t look to be getting out of Q1, however he managed to pull together a lap even with his problem and get into Q2. Another rookie who slipped through to Q2 was Ollie Bearman in the Haas, after his teammate wasn’t as lucky.
The drivers who were eliminated were Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, and Doohan, and Lance Stroll, after the Aston Martin driver took a trip into the gravel and couldn’t get a good time in.
Q2 Report:
Q1 may have been uninterrupted, but we didn’t get so lucky in Q2, when there was yet another fire in the grass that caused a red flag. The session was resumed with eight minutes to go. Norris was the only driver not to go out after the red flag, but was very secure in the top spot with a time of 1:27.146. Both rookies Bearman and Hadjar have done super laps and managed to get into Q3, while Lawson and Tsunoda both will not be continuing qualifying.
The drivers that have been eliminated are Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson, and Tsunoda.
Q3 Report:
Q3 was not short of excitement after it seemed it would be a fight for pole between the two papaya drivers, however Max Verstappen was on fire in this session, and stormed to pole position just 0.012s ahead of Lando Norris and set a new track record while he did so. For the race tomorrow, it will be Max and Lando on the front row, with Oscar and Charles behind them. The third row is all Mercedes, with Russell ahead of his teammate. Hadjar had a decent Q3 and managed to slot in ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Behind them was Albon and Bearman, who couldn’t make an impression during the final qualifying session.
Click here to see the full qualifying results from Suzuka.
