Perez challenged Verstappen for the victory, with the Mexican finishing just under a tenth of a second behind in second place. Typically, there was a gap of over three tenths of a second between the Red Bull duo.
Lando Norris capitalized on McLaren’s strong performance in the first high-speed section, securing the third position on the starting grid for Sunday’s race.
As the green light signaled the start of Q3 at Suzuka, Hamilton was the first to line up at the pitlane exit, followed by Russell.
While all the other drivers headed out to set their initial lap times in Q3, Leclerc remained in the garage. Once the others had completed their laps, Leclerc finally joined the track.
After the first set of runs, the order stood as follows: Verstappen – Norris – Perez – Sainz – Piastri – Hamilton – Leclerc – Alonso – Russell – Tsunoda.
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Verstappen and Perez were the first drivers to venture out onto the track when Q2 began, with others following suit shortly after.
The initial laps in Q2 resulted in the following order: Verstappen – Perez – Norris – Alonso – Sainz – Piastri – Leclerc – Hamilton – Russell – Bottas.
Nico Hulkenberg had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 13, while Alex Albon chose not to set a lap time and instead focused on one run.
Upon returning to the garage, Sainz reported that his throttle pedal felt less responsive when driving at full speed.
With three minutes remaining, Hamilton led the pack out for the final run in Q2, which would determine the top ten fastest drivers advancing to Q3.
However, the top seven drivers opted to stay in their pits with confidence.
After Q2 concluded, Verstappen maintained his lead in the top ten shootout with a lap time of 1:28.740, just 0.012s ahead of teammate Perez in second, with Hamilton securing the third fastest time.
Daniel Ricciardo failed to progress from Q2, narrowly losing out to teammate Tsunoda by a mere 0.055s. Nevertheless, it was an improved performance by the Australian, who will start 11th on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Hulkenberg was the 12th fastest driver in the Haas, trailing Ricciardo by 0.022s and leading Valtteri Bottas, who placed 13th in the Sauber, by 0.099s.
Alex Albon could only manage 14th place in the Williams, finishing 0.102s ahead of Esteban Ocon, who secured the 15th fastest time in the Alpine.
The temperature at the beginning of qualifying was slightly higher compared to FP3, with clear conditions and a track temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and an ambient temperature of 18 degrees.
Kevin Magnussen was the first driver to venture out onto the track as soon as the lights turned green, while others waited an additional four minutes before following suit.
During the simultaneous exit of all teams’ drivers, Piastri and Russell came close to colliding, with Piastri expressing his frustration to his team and the stewards taking note of the incident. An investigation will follow after the session.
The drivers began their laps, and Verstappen immediately took the lead from his first attempt, with Perez following closely behind. However, Alonso quickly surpassed the Mexican driver.
After the first run, the order was as follows: Verstappen – Alonso – Perez – Piastri – Sainz – Norris – Hamilton – Russell – Tsunoda – Leclerc.
With less than five minutes remaining, the second runs began, and drivers hurried out to avoid being eliminated in the first part of qualifying.
Except for Leclerc, who had a disappointing first lap and went out on track for another attempt, as well as Tsunoda and Norris, the top ten drivers remained in their garages.
After Q1 concluded, Verstappen maintained his position as the fastest driver with a lap time of 1:28.866, already faster than his pole time in 2023, and 0.388s ahead of Alonso in second, with Perez in third.
In stark contrast to Alonso, Lance Stroll was the first driver to be eliminated from Q1, falling short of Q2 by 0.061s and starting the race from 16th place.
Pierre Gasly, driving for Alpine, finished 17th fastest, trailing Stroll by 0.095s and leading Magnussen, who was 18th fastest in the Haas, by 0.012s.
Logan Sargeant secured the 19th fastest time, with Zhou Guanyu in 20th place.