'Go suck on an egg', Verstappen tells Red Bull's doubters

SUZUKA, Japan : Max Verstappen told Red Bull's doubters to 'go suck on an egg' after taking a dominant Japanese Grand Prix pole position a week after the team's record run of 15 wins in a row ended in Singapore.

The runaway Formula One championship leader's lap of one minute 28.877 seconds around Suzuka was 0.581 faster than McLaren's Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, who will line up on a Sunday front row for the first time.

There had been some who suspected a recent technical directive on flexible bodywork had clipped Red Bull's wings in Singapore and possibly beyond, but Verstappen showed normal service had resumed.

He said there had been no recurrence of any of last weekend's handling problems.

"We had a bad weekend. Of course then people start talking about 'Ah, it's all because of the technical directives," he told reporters.

"I think they can go suck on an egg. But for my side, I was just very fired up to have a good weekend here and make sure that yeah, we were strong."

Verstappen, who was on an unprecedented streak of 10 victories in a row before the shock of Singapore, said his car had given him a lot of confidence.

"When you have that confidence especially in sector one you can really push it to the limit in a controlled way. It brought a smile on my face while driving," he added.

The pole was Verstappen's ninth of the season and ended a run of three in four races for Ferrari.

The Dutch 25-year-old, who is a massive 151 points clear of Mexcian team mate Sergio Perez in the standings after 15 of 22 races, said it had been an incredible weekend so far.

"You have pole positions where you feel 'Ah, the lap was quite OK' but it always feels like a bit edgy or you think there was a bit more lap time in it or we could have