F1 Qualifying Results: McLaren DENIED pole at Japanese Grand Prix as Yuki Tsunoda beaten by Liam Lawson

Max Verstappen set a stunning new lap record in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday to steal pole position from the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Norris will sit alongside him on the front row of the grid, being beaten by just 12 thousandths of a second, with Piastri just three hundredths further back.

Further down the field, Liam Lawson could only go 14th on his third Racing Bulls 'debut', but will be buoyed by the fact that he beat out his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda by a single place.

Kimi Antonelli qualified sixth, his best starting position so far in Formula 1, with a great lap which put him right up behind his team-mate and two places ahead of Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton.

The fires which have plagued the weekend returned midway through Q2, red flagging the session for around seven minutes, the fifth such stoppage this weekend.

Isack Hadjar struggled for the second session in a row with seatbelt issues, in obvious pain in a particularly sensitive area while mechanics were adjusting his setup in the pits and apologising to his team on the radio – although he did enough to qualify seventh in a fantastic display of bravery.

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F1 Qualifying Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2025

1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - 1:26.983sec
2. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.012sec
3. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.044sec
4. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.316sec
5. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.335sec
6. Kimi Antonelli [Mercedes] - +0.572sec
7. Isack Hadjar [Racing Bulls] - +0.586sec
8. Lewis Hamilton [Ferrari] - +0.627sec
9. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.632sec
10. Ollie Bearman [Haas] - +0.884sec

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Pierre Gasly [Alpine]
12. Carlos Sainz [Williams]
13. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
14. Liam Lawson [Racing Bulls]
15. Yuki Tsunoda [Red Bull]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber]
17. Gabriel Bortoleto [Sauber]
18. Esteban Ocon [Haas]
19. Jack Doohan [Alpine]
20. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

F1 HEADLINES: FIA PUNISHMENT issued after Hamilton incident as Verstappen also investigated in Japan

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