No one ran below 1:29 throughout the entire qualifying session for the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix in Formula 1 except Kimi Antonelli. His lap of 1:28.778 in Q3 earned him his second consecutive pole position, following the one he secured in China, and put nearly three-tenths of a second between himself and George Russell, who finished second. Max Verstappen, who had taken the last four poles at Suzuka, did not advance past Q2 and will start from 11th place.

Mercedes with an advantage since Friday

The W17 was the fastest car of the weekend at Suzuka practically from the moment it hit the track. Russell finished first in FP1 with Antonelli just 26 thousandths behind, and the two Mercedes cars were more than four-tenths ahead of the rest of the field. In FP2, Antonelli was within a tenth of Piastri, who was fastest in that session, and by FP3 on Saturday, Antonelli was already over 250 thousandths ahead of Russell and more than six-tenths ahead of Leclerc in third.

That speed from Friday and Saturday morning did not fade when qualifying arrived. Antonelli set the fastest time in Q1, in Q2, and in Q3, and on all three occasions the gap to Russell was at least three-tenths. Russell had issues with the rear end of the W17 from his first timed lap in Q1, reporting instability over the radio, and that gap to Antonelli did not close regardless of tire compound or lap.

Photo By Mercedes F1

"I'm very happy with the session, it was clean. I felt really good in the car and with every run I was improving," said Antonelli, who on his second Q3 attempt locked up at turn 11 and couldn't improve his own time, though his first lap margin was already enough.

A Red Bull without answers at Suzuka

Verstappen had taken four consecutive poles at this circuit, a streak that ended with a forceful radio message in the final minutes of Q2. "I think there's something wrong with the car, it's completely undriveable all of a sudden in this qualifying. Bouncing on the rear all of a sudden at high speed," he told his engineer. His best lap was a 1:30.262, more than a second and a half behind Antonelli, and when Arvid Lindblad improved in the final seconds of Q2 to take tenth place, Verstappen was left out of the final session.

Red Bull's problems at Suzuka were not exclusive to qualifying. In all three free practice sessions, Verstappen was more than a second off the Mercedes pace, and the team's best grid position will be Isack Hadjar in eighth, 1.2 seconds off pole. A complicated weekend for Verstappen, who will have to fight back from the midfield on Sunday.

McLaren had more pace than Ferrari for the second row

The fight behind the Mercedes was between McLaren and Ferrari, and McLaren came out on top. Oscar Piastri was the fastest of the four with a 1:29.132 in Q3, three and a half tenths behind Antonelli, securing third place. Lando Norris finished fifth, just four thousandths behind Charles Leclerc, who was fourth. The gap between the four was less than three-tenths of a second.

Leclerc had been quick throughout qualifying and set the fastest partial time of the session in Q2, but on his final Q3 attempt, a moment of understeer ruined his lap, forcing him to settle for the time from his first run. Lewis Hamilton was sixth and received a black-and-white flag for driving unnecessarily slowly exiting the pits.

Photo By Mercedes F1

Pierre Gasly led the midfield in seventh

Gasly put the Alpine within a second of pole with a 1:29.691, the team's best result all weekend, securing seventh. Hadjar, Bortoleto, and Lindblad will form rows four and five. Bortoleto has been a regular in the top 10 with Audi in these early races, and Lindblad made it into Q3 as the last qualifier, with the lap that knocked Verstappen out of the session.

Oliver Bearman was one of the more surprising eliminations in Q1. Fifth in the drivers' championship with Haas, he qualified 18th with a 1:31.090, which will significantly complicate his weekend. Carlos Sainz made it into Q2 for the first time in the 2026 season with Williams and finished 16th.

The two Aston Martin cars closed out the grid more than three seconds off the fastest time, with Fernando Alonso in 21st and Lance Stroll in 22nd, continuing a very difficult weekend for Honda at home. The Cadillac cars of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas were 19th and 20th.

The Japanese Grand Prix race will take place on Sunday at 14:00 local time at the Suzuka Circuit.

Pos.	No.	Piloto	Equipo	Q1	Q2	Q3	Vueltas
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:30.035	1:29.048	1:28.778	15
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:29.967	1:29.686	1:29.076	21
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:30.200	1:29.451	1:29.132	20
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.915	1:29.303	1:29.405	18
5	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:30.401	1:29.795	1:29.409	20
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:30.309	1:29.589	1:29.567	20
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:30.584	1:29.874	1:29.691	18
8	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	1:30.662	1:30.104	1:29.978	17
9	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:30.359	1:29.990	1:30.274	20
10	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:30.781	1:30.109	1:30.319	21
11	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:30.519	1:30.262		12
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:30.915	1:30.309		15
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:30.358	1:30.387		14
14	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:30.657	1:30.495		15
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:30.931	1:30.627		12
16	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:30.927	1:31.033		15
17	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:31.088			9
18	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:31.090			9
19	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	1:32.206			6
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:32.330			9
21	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:32.646			9
22	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:32.920			9