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Master of Suzuka: Max Breaks the Record, Takes PoleMax Verstappen delivered an ‘insane’ lap of Suzuka to claim his first pole position of 2025 and the outright lap record at one of the season’s most challenging circuits.

Aftereasingthroughtheopeningtwosessions,MaxpostedastrongQ3openertotakesecondplacebehindMcLaren’sOscarPiastriandaheadofFerrari’sCharlesLeclerc,Mercedes’GeorgeRussellandthesecondMcLarenofLandoNorris.

On early-season form, the expectation was that both McLaren drivers would find another burst pace in the final runs, and when Lando crossed the line in 1:26.995, it looked the story of the opening races would be repeated in Japan.

However, that version of the script didn’t factor in Max’s affinity with Suzuka and his ability to dig out the spectacular when most needed. After making gains in Turn 1, the Esses and in particular through the long Spoon curve, the Dutchman hauled his RB21 to top of the timesheet, just over one hundredth clear of Lando, with Oscar in third.

I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.Max Verstappen

And even the pit wall was stunned as Max’s 1:26.983 carved almost two tenths of a second off the previous lap record. “That was insane!” said GP over the radio after Max crossed the line.

“We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn't easy, even in qualifying,” said the champion afterwards. “But every session we just kept on making little improvements. I think that's what made the difference. And yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.”

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Yuki Tsunoda looked to be on course for a similarly rewarding experience after the Japanese driver eased through Q1 just over two hundredths of a second behind Max. But the new recruit found Q2 more difficult, and he slipped out of the session in 15th place.

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Best Pics From Qualifying

FP3

Max led the way in the opening laps of the session but running was interrupted by red flags for a grass fire at the edge of the track in Turn 12. After a seven-minute delay running resumed and a flurry of soft tyre times saw Max slide down the order as he delayed his switch to the red-banded compound. When he did make the switch, the champion jumped up the order to fifth. He was almost matched by Yuki whose soft tyre run left him exactly a tenth of a second off his new team-mate. However, Max managed to put in a final flyer just before a second grass fire, this time at 130R, brought out more red flags late in the hour and the champion put a little under three tenths of a second between himself and Yuki. With Race Control indicating that the session would not be resumed, Max ended up fifth, 0.5s off pacesetter Lando, while Yuki closed out his first lot of practice sessions with the team in P9.

Q1

At the start of Q1, it was McLaren’s Oscar who led the way, with the Australian setting the early benchmark at 1:28.143. Max’s opening flyer, two tenths down on P1, left him fourth on the timesheet, while Yuki’s opener of 1:28.654 put him seventh, eight hundredths of a second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Lando went for an early second attempt and dropped the P1 time into the 1m27s bracket with Charles mirroring the strategy to climb to second place, a tenth behind the McLaren on 1:27.920.

In the final runs, Oscar reclaimed top spot, posting a lap of 1:27.687 to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.156s. Lando was third ahead of Charles and Max progressed to Q2 in sixth place with a time of 1:27.943, just 0.001s behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Yuki, meanwhile, eased through to the second session in seventh place, just 0.024s behind Max.

Headed for the exit after Q1, in P16 and P17 respectively, were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and the Sauber pair were followed out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and in last place Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had an off in the ‘Esses’ on his final lap.

Q2

Max was first out of the pit lane at the start of Q2 and the Dutchman upped his pace from Q1 to stop the clock at 1:27.502. It was good enough to split the McLaren’s with Lando taking top sport on 1:27.146, while Oscar could only manage 1:27.613, to sit a tenth off Max. George then jumped to P2 a tenth ahead of Max. Yuki’s opener of 1:28.154 initially put him solidly in the top 10, but with the competition hotting up and a stream of quick times flooding in, the Japanese driver slipped back to 14th place.

Running halted there, however. Both FP2 and FP3 had been disrupted by grass fires and though circuit workers had worked hard to dampen the track edges ahead of qualifying, the session couldn’t escape the flames and a smoking section of turf at 130R brought out the red flags just as the first runs concluded.

The session resumed after an eight-minute delay and both Lando and George elected to sit out the final runs. Max decided to venture out but with little threat coming from further behind and with enough knowledge gained, he bailed out of the attempt in the final third.

There was no such comfort zone for Yuki, though. The new recruit couldn’t find the pace in the RB21 on his final run and he exited the session in P15.

Also ruled out at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P11 with the French driver followed out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martins’ Fernando Alonso and VCARB’s Liam Lawson.

Q3

In the opening runs of the top-10 shootout it was Oscar who claimed provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting the target at 1:27.052. Max put in a strong Q3 opener of 1:27.278 to take P2 and keep Charles and George at bay, while Lando’s opener was four tenths slower than his Q2 best - slotting him into fifth place ahead of the final runs.

George was one of the first out for his final flyer and a mistake in the Esses put paid to his thoughts of pole. Lando was next across the line and with a time of 1:16.995 it looked like the Championship leader had done enough.

Max had other ideas, however, and in a stunning record time the four-time champion once again proved why he’d been on pole 40 times.

“Alot of happiness when I crossed the line,” he said. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere. Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice. And yeah, it was great for the team as well.”