Who qualified where at the 2025 F1 Japan GP?
5th April 2025Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, has secured his first pole position in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, but who qualified where?
Feature image credit: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
The Japanese Grand Prix saw a return to the norm, after a sprint weekend in China, with three practice sessions followed by qualifying and the race, at the Suzuka Circuit.
However, it wasn’t without issues.
The previous two practice sessions, FP2 on Friday and FP3 on Saturday, saw numerous grass fires halting proceedings at the Suzuka circuit. Qualifying did not escape this fate as Q2 was stopped whilst the Marshals dealt with another fire at 130R.
Max Verstappen snatches pole from Lando Norris in F1 Japan GP qualifying
Whilst McLaren’s Lando Norris took provisional pole on his final lap, it was Verstappen who would seal the deal and take his first pole position of the season. On the last time of asking, the Dutchman took the lap record time of 1:26.983, beating Norris by 0.012s.
The McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri finished second and third, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc headed Mercedes’ George Russell to complete the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished sixth ahead of Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Alexander Albon (Williams) and Oliver Bearman (Haas) in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the first driver to miss out on a Q3 position as the Frenchman qualified 11th ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz, but the Spaniard was under investigation for impeding Hamilton.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished 13th ahead of the hot topics of Red Bull this week, Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), who qualified 14th and 15th, respectively.
The Kick Sauber duo, Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, finished the session in 16th and 17th whilst Haas’s Esteban Ocon qualified 18th. This left Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to round out the 20-car field in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Norris fastest in final practice of Japan GP despite grass fires
- Piastri top of FP2 in disrupted session at Japan GP
- Liam Lawson didn’t expect Red Bull axing ‘so early’
- Weather Report: The latest ahead of the 2025 F1 Japan GP
- Red Bull run Honda tribute with white livery ahead of Japan GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
