2 weeks Ago
Credit: Getty Images Max Verstappen delivered a sensational lap to claim pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix . The Red Bull Racing driver lapped a record-breaking 1:26.983 with seconds to spare in qualifying, surprising the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri , who had led the early charge.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton continues to struggle with performance issues in his Ferrari , qualifying eighth at Suzuka. Red Bull leads quali round with Max Verstappen claiming first position while McLaren dominates Suzuka circuit Lando Norris will start second on the grid, with Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on row two. Max Verstappen, in his post-qualifying interview, described his pole as “a very special one,” especially considering Red Bull's inconsistent performance so far this season.
“If you look at how our season started — even during this weekend, yeah it's very unexpected,” he said, “and I think that makes it, probably, a very special one.” As Max Verstappen seems poised to return to winning ways, everyone is also looking at seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was only able to qualify eighth. The Ferrari driver himself admitted that carry-over setup adjustments from his Chinese Grand Prix disqualification continue to influence performance.
Ride height compromise damperffects Lewis Hamilton's performance at Suzuka Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were on the sidelines in Shanghai following post-race examination that detected technical infringements—Hamilton's Ferrari excessively wore out its plank, so the team raised his ride height as precautionary measure over the weekend. The maneuver was accomplished at the expense of precious performance, Hamilton admitted after practice. Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc did a bit better, and his Ferrari qualifying fourth on the grid with a different setup strategy.
Hamilton alleged that his vehicle was understeering and wasn't able to put up competitive laps in Q3. Also read: “It's going to be tricky”: Lewis Hamilton opens up on Chinese GP double disqualification consequences and unpredictable weather conditions for Japanese GP With the grid established now—comprising newcomers Ollie Bearman, Isack Hadjar, and Gabriel Bortoleto along with all-time favorites Fernando Alonso and Nico Hülkenberg—Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix is becoming a battle of strategy, traction, and nerves. Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India , including match schedules , team squads , points table and IPL live score for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR .
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