F1: Max Verstappen will start from pole at Suzuka for the 4th time of the season, Alpine disappoints again

Max Verstappen a encore dominé une séance de qualifications. XinHua – Zhang Xiaoyu

Le Néerlandais Max Verstappen remporte sa quatrième pole position de la saison au Japon ce samedi après de nouveaux temps records. Les Français Gasly et Ocon ont été éliminés respectivement en Q1 et en Q2 et seront 17e et 15e sur la grille de départ dimanche.

We once again had to wake up early this Saturday morning for these qualifications in Japan. And as one would expect, RedBull once again dominated these qualifications, placing its two drivers in the first two places.

Gasly and Ocon once again in the shallows

And the French did not shine this Saturday, with a new poor performance from the Alpine, who are still unable to do so this season. Pierre Gasly n&rsquo ;failed to get out of Q1 and will start in seventeenth position on the starting grid on Sunday.

Happy to have made the most of it but it's still insufficient

As for his teammate, he impressed with what is undoubtedly one of the worst single-seaters at the start of the season. A place in Q2 and a fifteenth position on the grid on Sunday. In the mixed zone, the Norman said he was "happy to have exploited the maximum but that it was still insufficient" and wants to hope "incidents" to try to take " at least one point" Sunday.

Disappointing Leclerc, overpowering RedBull

With a new helmet paying tribute to his mentor Jules Bianchi, who died on this circuit 10 years previously, the Monegasque driver's ambition was to achieve a good qualification, as he is often accustomed to, in order to put yourself in good conditions for the race.

This is the best I can do

However, everything did not go as planned. Even though he achieved an impressive second sector in Q3, which saw him run in the same times as Lando Norris (3rd), he ultimately finished at a disappointing eighth place. "It’s the best I can do, I don’t understand" said the 26-year-old pilot after the race.

For RedBull, the good season continues since its two drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, easily flew through this qualification, even fighting on the wire, for first place. And the Dutchman had already impressed the paddock from Q1, having achieved a better time than the one which saw him take pole last year. He finished this session 1’ 28”197 ahead of an impressive Sergio Perez who could have thought he could have taken pole in the final seconds.

The Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) will start third, ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri (6th). Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) has not lost his splendor since he will start for the second time in front of Charles Leclerc this season, after finishing in fourth place. Finally, the local driver, Yuki Tsunoda (RB Honda), achieved the feat of qualifying in Q3 and will start tenth on Sunday.