2024 Japanese Grand Prix: Red Bull's Max Verstappen takes pole position

In qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen led Red Bull's one-two, with McLaren's Lando Norris the best of the best.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fourth, teammate Charles Leclerc was eighth, and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fifth.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was sixth, followed by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell.

Japan's Hiroki Tsunoda finished 10th, much to the delight of the home fans who packed the glorious Suzuka circuit.

Verstappen looked certain to take pole from the start of the weekend, but in the end his margin was perhaps smaller than expected.

Perez was just 0.066 seconds behind the three-time champion, who had a 0.5 second lead at the same circuit last September.

But Red Bull was in a league of its own. Norris was in third place, 0.292 seconds off the pace, and he also had a comfortable margin of 0.193 seconds over Sainz.

Verstappen said he felt he couldn't have had a better lap, adding: “It was a very close race at the end. This track is very sensitive and the tires on the tarmac are aggressive and when you really want to go to the limit you can't do that.” . It doesn't always work out.

“It's good to get pole position. It's a good starting position for tomorrow. Tomorrow is what matters.”

Perez said: “It was really close to Max. I felt like it was a good lap. It was pretty tricky there, especially closing the lap and it was easy to lose 10 seconds in the last sector.” .

“We've been very close all weekend, but when you have a small gap…something can make a difference.

“I didn't have a good exit (from the chicane) at the beginning of the lap. It could have been different. My long run pace this morning wasn't very strong, but I've been working pretty hard and I hope I can get stronger.”

Norris was satisfied with third place, saying McLaren's “efforts paid off” as they tried to close the gap to Red Bull.

Sainz was 0.485 seconds from pole position, a step forward for Ferrari compared to last year, but his performance in qualifying was the least impressive of the year.

And although Leclerc was just 0.104 seconds behind the Spaniard, he was confused as to where his pace had gone this season.

Leclerc has been Ferrari's fastest driver on balance throughout their time as team-mates and has been re-signed for next season alongside Lewis Hamilton while Sainz searches for a driver.

However, Sainz has achieved even better results this season, with Leclerc saying after qualifying: “That's the best I can do. To be honest, I don't understand it.”

It was an encouraging day for Alonso, who is set to undergo a major floor upgrade for his Aston Martin this weekend, but the veteran Spaniard made it work.

Alonso, who was second in the first session, fell back as qualifying progressed, and other riders caught up.

He was seventh after his first run in the final Top 10 Shootout, but was advised by his engineer to try to find the extra 0.15 seconds that would separate the positions within the top four at that point.

Alonso replied: “I don't know what I can do to go faster. I felt like it was a good lap.” But he found the moment to move up the order almost at the time and pull away from Ferrari and McLaren.

The 0.569 seconds that separated Hamilton from pole will be seen as progress for Mercedes, but there is still a lot of work to do for the former champion to get to the top of his new car.