Verstappen obliterates rivals for Suzuka pole

Max Verstappen sealed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix as Red Bull look to make a comeback from their disappointing race in Singapore.

The Dutchman saved a set of Soft tyres for his run and blitzed the field by half a second from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Both Ferrari's only did one run in Q3, but Charles Leclerc could only manage fourth fastest ahead of Sergio Pérez.

The Red Bull driver split the two Ferrari's with Carlos Sainz sixth, with the Mercedes drivers over a second off the fastest time set by Verstappen.

Alpine drop out in Q2

Both Alpine drivers failed to progress any further in Q2, with Pierre Gasly missing out by just 0.044s.

Liam Lawson also missed out having set the 11th quickest time by 0.043s, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda managed to improve on his final attempt to get into Q3.

Alex Albon was also unable to convert into another Q3 appearance for Williams, with him lining up in 13th on the grid.

The slowest car was Kevin Magnussen who only managed to set the 15th quickest time.

Sargeant crashes out

Within the first ten minutes of Q1 there was a big crash for Logan Sargeant, who was preparing for a lap when he exited the final corner and oversteered onto the grass.

The car continued to go off track and hit the barriers, destroying the left side of the car and ending his session early having failed to put in a timed lap.

It is the second time in four races that the American has crashed on a race weekend, the last time being Zandvoort during qualifying.

Zhou Guanyu had a lap deleted for track limits which put him out in Q1, and a late attempt from Alex Albon knocked out Valtteri Bottas.

They were joined by Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg, as many drivers elected to do another lap on the Softs as they improved.