Antonelli takes pole as Verstappen exits early at Suzuka

MERCEDES rookie Kimi Antonelli will start the Japanese Grand Prix on pole position ahead of teammate George Russell, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri third.

The Italian delivered a composed lap of 1:28.778 to secure pole for Sunday’s race, carrying the strong form he showed throughout practice into qualifying.

“I’m super happy with the session. It was a good one, it was a clean one,” Antonelli said.

“I felt very good in the car and every run I was improving and improving.

“A shame for the last lap because of a lock up at Turn 11 but it was a good one. I’m really happy with the session.”

Antonelli will start alongside Mercedes teammate George Russell, who finished second, 0.298 seconds behind, despite a challenging and inconsistent session for the team.

“He did a great job again,” Russell said.

“It was a really strange session for us. We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after FP3, and then at the beginning of qualifying, we were nowhere.

“So, we need to kind of understand. Very lucky again to be in P2. The last two weekends it’s kind of both gone wrong come qualifying, but the race is tomorrow and there’s still a lot to play for.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured third place, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton sixth, as the Scuderia remain within striking distance heading into Sunday’s race. McLaren driver Lando Norris completed the top five.

Hamilton admitted Ferrari lacked outright pace compared to their rivals, despite showing encouraging race pace.

“I was feeling pretty decent, it’s just we’re not very quick, I mean compared to the Mercedes and a little bit the McLaren,” Hamilton said.

“My first lap I was up and then I lost two and a half tenths just on the straights, just from, I had a snap and then it changed the deployment and then that was it.

“And at that point I was up, so if we didn’t have that problem, I probably would have had fourth. But other than that, it’s just the way this deployment situation is.”

“I don’t know whether we can turn it (P6) into a podium, but our race pace has been pretty decent. It looks like McLaren have taken a step forward, naturally (because) they’ve got the Mercedes engine which is a long way ahead of us at the moment.”

“We’ve got a huge amount of work to do. To be seven-eight tenths off, even if you bring an upgrade of two, three, four tenths, it’s still a long way off. So, to close that gap is going to take a mighty push from everybody.”

“Qualifying has been OK this year. Nice to get into the top three,” Piastri said.

“This weekend we have looked good and we have executed well. We clearly don’t have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes but we are getting closer.”

Further down the order, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly qualified seventh ahead of Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar in eighth, with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto ninth and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top ten.

The session’s biggest upset came in Q2 as Red Bull’s four time world champion Max Verstappen was eliminated in eleventh place, leaving the Dutchman with work to do in Sunday’s race.

“The car never turns mid corner, but at the same time this weekend, it’s just oversteering a lot on entry. It’s really difficult, unpredictable,” Verstappen said.

“We thought we’d fixed it a little bit in FP3, I mean there was still a lot of understeer in the car, but now in qualifying for me it was again undriveable, so that’s something that we need to look at.”

“Also, I’m driving with a different aero package this weekend, but it seems like that’s not working, so that’s not also very good.”

Q1 eliminations

Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were eliminated in twenty-second and twenty-first respectively.

Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez qualified twentieth and nineteenth.

Haas rookie Oliver Bearman finished eighteenth, while Williams driver Alexander Albon was eliminated in seventeenth.

Q2 eliminations

Williams driver Carlos Sainz was eliminated in sixteenth place ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in fifteenth.

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson qualified fourteenth, while Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg finished thirteenth.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon was twelfth, with Verstappen’s early exit in eleventh marking the headline moment of the session.

With Mercedes locking out the front row and Hamilton positioned just behind the leading group, the Japanese Grand Prix is set for a strategic battle with plenty still to play for.