F1 Qualifying Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2024 times - Verstappen takes pole as Perez makes SURGE and Hamilton shows improvement

Nobody could prevent Max Verstappen from taking a fifth consecutive pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix, but team-mate Sergio Perez did come very close.

Perez was over a tenth up on Verstappen after two sectors, but lost time in the final part of the lap, costing him a shot at the top spot and allowing his Dutch team-mate to take his 36th pole in Formula 1 by a margin of just 0.066 seconds.

Lando Norris proved that McLaren have the pace to compete for a podium this weekend with third place – two tenths ahead of 2024 race winner Carlos Sainz in fourth.

Lewis Hamilton was unable to extract further pace from his Mercedes car and will line up in seventh place, sharing an all-2025 Ferrari fourth row with Charles Leclerc in eighth.

Home favourite Yuki Tsunoda was unable to lift himself from tenth but did put in a sensational lap during Q2 to make the final qualifying session in the first place.

READ MORE: F1 Schedule 2024: Full calendar with all you need to know about every grand prix

F1 Qualifying Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2024

2. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.066sec

3. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.292sec

4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.485sec

5. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +0.489sec

6. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.563sec

7. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.569sec

8. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.589sec

9. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.811sec

10. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +1.216sec

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB]

12. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas]

13. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber]

14. Alex Albon [Williams]

15. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]

17. Pierre Gasly [Alpine]

18. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] 19. Logan Sargeant [Williams]

20. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber]

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The 60-minute qualifying session is split into three finite windows which provides a dramatic prelude to Sunday's big 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.

READ MORE: What the 2025 F1 grid looks like after MASSIVE Hamilton move

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