Cloudy. Dry. Air +19С, route +26…25С
In 2022, Formula 1 returned to Japan following a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19. The stands were full even on Friday, when Suzuku was raining and it was cold.
Due to the weather, only an hour Saturday practice was left to find the settings and work with rubber, in which the teams tried to do their best. Everyone covered a long distance, the best lap went to Max Verstappen, who was ahead of the Ferrari drivers.
Qualifying at Suzuka is always interesting, but pole position is not of fundamental importance – over the past ten years, the race has only been won five times by the driver who started first. Of the current riders, only Vettel and Hamilton managed to win the pole position on the Japanese track, who this time did not participate in the fight for victory in the qualification.
Tire manufacturers brought the toughest compounds to Japan, C1, C2 and C3 tires were used as Hard, Medium and Soft.
In the first session Mercedes riders chose Medium for the first try, the rest went to Soft. The difference in speed turned out to be significant, and Mercedes also put Soft on the second attempt.
Norris went off the track without consequences for the car. Gasly complained of brake problems, as did his teammate Tsunoda, who locked the tires hard in front of the chicane, ruining the kit. Elbon’s time was removed due to going off track.
Having completed a lap with a best time of 1:30.224 in the first attempt, Verstappen did not go out in the second, but remained the leader. Elbon, Gasly, Magnussen, Stroll and Latifi dropped out of the further struggle.
In the second session all went to Soft. In the first attempt, Verstappen once more led the protocol, but with a slightly worse result than in the first session – 1:30.346. The first three – Verstappen, Sainz and Leclerc – refused the second attempt, the rest continued to fight – and Perez showed the best time, having driven a circle in 1:29.925, and Alonso – the second.
Ricciardo, Bottas, Tsunoda, Zhou and Schumacher did not qualify for the final.
In the final Okon, Hamilton and Russell started the session on rolled Soft kits, the rest went out on fresh ones.
While warming up the tires, Max suddenly swerved right in front of Norris’s car, so Lando had to pull onto the grass to avoid a collision. The stewards reviewed the incident following the session and issued a formal warning to Verstappen.
In the first attempt, Verstappen led the scoresheet with 1:29.304. In the second, Leclerc reduced the gap to a minimum, losing one hundredth, but remained second.
Max Verstappen won the qualification at Suzuka with his fifth pole of the season and 18th of his career. Tomorrow Charles Leclerc will start with him from the first row, Sainz and Perez will start from the second row, Ocon and Hamilton will start from the third.
Qualification results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | 2 sessions | 3 sessions | ||||||
| M | Time | Cr | M | Time | Cr | M | Time | Cr | ||
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 1:30.224 | 3 | 3 | 1:30.346 | 3 | 1 | 1:29.304 | 7 |
| 2. Sh. Leclair | Ferrari | 3 | 1:30.402 | 3 | 9 | 1:30.486 | 3 | 2 | 1:29.314 | 7 |
| 3. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 2 | 1:30.336 | 3 | 6 | 1:30.444 | 3 | 3 | 1:29.361 | 7 |
| 4. C.Perez | Red Bull | 5 | 1:30.622 | 3 | 1 | 1:29.925 | 6 | 4 | 1:29.709 | 6 |
| 5. E. Okon | Alpine | 6 | 1:30.696 | 6 | 4 | 1:30.357 | 6 | 5 | 1:30.165 | 6 |
| 6. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 11 | 1:30.906 | 8 | 5 | 1:30.443 | 6 | 6 | 1:30.261 | 6 |
| 7. F. Alonso | Alpine | 4 | 1:30.603 | 3 | 2 | 1:30.343 | 6 | 7 | 1:30.322 | 6 |
| 8. D. Russell | Mercedes | 7 | 1:30.865 | 7 | 7 | 1:30.465 | 6 | 8 | 1:30.389 | 6 |
| 9. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 15 | 1:31.256 | 6 | 10 | 1:30.656 | 6 | 9 | 1:30.554 | 6 |
| 10. L. Norris | McLaren | 9 | 1:30.881 | 7 | 8 | 1:30.473 | 6 | 10 | 1:31.003 | 5 |
| 11. D. Riccardo | McLaren | 8 | 1:30.880 | 5 | 11 | 1:30.659 | 6 | |||
| 12. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 14 | 1:31.226 | 6 | 12 | 1:30.709 | 6 | |||
| 13. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 12 | 1:31.130 | 9 | 13 | 1:30.808 | 6 | |||
| 14. G. Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 1:30.894 | 6 | 14 | 1:30.953 | 6 | |||
| 15. M. Schumacher | Haas | 13 | 1:31.152 | 6 | 15 | 1:31.439 | 6 | |||
| 16. A. Albon | Williams | 16 | 1:31.311 | 6 | ||||||
| 17. P. Gasli | AlphaTauri | 17 | 1:31.322 | 9 | ||||||
| 18. K. Magnussen | Haas | 18 | 1:31.352 | 6 | ||||||
| 19. L. Stroll | Aston Martin | 19 | 1:31.419 | 6 | ||||||
| 20. N. Latifi | Williams | 20 | 1:31.511 | 8 | ||||||
