F1 Japanese GP Qualifying provided a thrilling preview of tomorrow’s race, with the smallest of margins between success and failure. Who were in the winners and losers?
Winners
Max Verstappen
One word summarises Max Verstappen’s qualifying lap in Japan: sublime. Struggling for grip and driveability all weekend with his Red Bull, he pulled a metaphorical lap out of a hat to snatch pole position from Lando Norris.
Setting a new lap record in the process, he can now control the race start, and pace thanks to the challenges of overtaking at Suzuka.
McLaren have the fastest car over long runs, so the reigning world champion will find it difficult to keep the papaya cars behind for the whole race. But never estimate the prowess of Verstappen. His performance in qualifying once again proved that he is capable of pulling a victory out from the jaws of defeat.
Oliver Bearman
Ferrari will begin to take note of Bearman if he continues with performances similar to F1 Japanese GP Qualifying. Having struggled to get out of Q1 in the opening races, the Briton jumped straight to Q3 on his third attempt at Grand Prix qualifying.
Bearman has comfortably looked the fastest of the two Haas drivers at Suzuka. With his experienced team-mate eliminated in Q1, this performance was a statement of intent.
Composed, and taking an unusual line out of the final corner onto the pit-straight (almost hitting the wall), Bearman demonstrated car control skills that were badly missing in Australia.
Bearman’s next test comes at lights out. No longer towards the back of the field, he is now in the mid-pack, a dangerous place to be when trying to avoid a first-corner incident. Today will give him confidence.
Isack Hadjar
A painful session for one of F1’s rookies, but not in the way most would think. That he qualified 7th despite his issues speaks volumes of his determination.
A rather unfortunate incident involved his seatbelt caught on a very specific part of his anatomy. All men watching winced at the footage of poor Hadjar in considerable pain as cameras cut to him in the cockpit. That he was able to get out of Q1 at all is an achievement.
Once the issue had been resolved courtesy of jumping out of the car and doing a metaphorical reset of his belts, he qualified ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, and five places ahead of new team-mate Liam Lawson.
Add beating Yuki Tsunoda on his Red Bull debut to the concoction of his performance, Hadjar is fast becoming someone to watch in 2025.
Alex Albon
Qualifying a brilliant 9th for tomorrow’s race, Albon is once again the top Williams driver. Out-performing Carlos Sainz by over half a second, he has a great chance at continuing his points scoring streak.
The FW47 is proving to be a fast car in the hands of Albon, and with rain threatening the start tomorrow, he is best placed to spring a surprise should any head of him make a mistake.
But with rookies Hadjar and Bearman around him, Albon will need to be on high alert has the field heads down to turn one tomorrow.
Losers
Liam Lawson
With Hadjar proving the pace of the Racing Bulls car, Lawson had a golden opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.
Instead, he qualified a disappointing P14. Lawson said ahead of the weekend his confidence had not been knocked by his demotion, but his severe lack of speed dictates otherwise.
The only crumb of comfort he can take from qualifying is he is front of Yuki Tsuonda. But with his team-mate starting on the fringes of the top six, disaster is the only word to describe Lawson’s qualifying.
Given Dr Helmut Marko’s willingness to swing his axe at a driver unable to perform in his eyes, Lawson must perform better in the race tomorrow.
Yuki Tsunoda
After showing initial promise during practice, F1 Japanese GP Qualifying rapidly descended into disappointment for Tsunoda. This was a disaster for the Japanese driver making his Red Bull debut on home soil.
The team opted to give Tsunoda what it called “a more driveable car”. This centred on a much bigger rear wing than Verstappen’s, designed to give more downforce and confidence to its new driver. Red Bull stated that this could impact speed.
However, once the drivers began to push during Q2, it became evident very quickly Tsunoda was not going to progress further. He looked all at sea in the RB21, as so many other drivers have done before him.
While Verstappen took pole position, Tsunoda could only manage P15, and behind the driver he replaced. Ouch.
Carlos Sainz
A disappointing qualifying session for the Spaniard was compounded by a three place grid penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton.
In a slam dunk moment, he clearly hindered the Ferrari has Hamilton swooped into turn one. Sainz, clearly on the racing line, abandoned his lap.
With Albon once again out-performing him, Sainz will start the Japanese GP towards the back of the grid. A turnaround for one of the star performers of 2024 is needed, and quickly.
Lance Stroll
Out in Q1 for the fourth consecutive year, Stroll’s performance could only described as abysmal. Already in the bottom five ahead of his final run, a gust of wind put pay to any hopes of progressing.
He looked both impassive and dejected when he returned to the pit-lane, time. Time will tell if this setback causes Stroll’s familiar lack of motivation to return.
