Verstappen will start ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Japanese Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Perez
What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q1?
Verstappen zipped around in 1m28.866s, four tenths quicker than Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Perez and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), and over half a second faster than everyone else.
Falling at the first hurdle were Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Logan Sargeant (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber).
Japanese GP Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Alonso
What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen unleashed 1m28.740s, 0.012s faster than Perez’s 1m28.752s. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was best of the rest this time, 0.147s off the pace.
Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (RB), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), Alex Albon (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).
Japanese GP Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez
What happened in Japanese Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Verstappen produced 1m28.240s, 0.249s ahead of Norris and 0.365s clear of Perez.
On the final runs, Perez improved to 1m28.263s, briefly getting within 0.023s of pole, until Verstappen went even faster with 1m28.197s, putting him 0.066s ahead.
Norris qualified third, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Alonso, Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Hamilton, Leclerc, George Russell (Mercedes) and Yuki Tsunoda (RB).
