Japanese GP: Max Verstappen fastest in qualifying

Max Verstappen went fastest in qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix to set himself up perfectly for a run at the championship tomorrow.

The Dutchman can take a second world title, no questions asked, if he wins and takes the bonus point for the fastest lap tomorrow, and he has done all he could in qualifying with him going fastest by just one-hundredth of a second from Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

The Dutchman will face a chat with the stewards after qualifying, though, after nearly collecting Lando Norris on an outlap as he warmed his tyres.

Here’s how the full session played out…

The AlphaTauri cars both struggled with brake issues, with Pierre Gasly particularly unhappy with how his car was feeling.

The Frenchman saw a move to Alpine confirmed earlier in the day but won’t be in any mood for celebration, with him getting knocked out and being set to start 17th tomorrow afternoon.

Alex Albon is ahead of him in the Williams whilst Kevin Magnussen will start behind in 18th, seeing the Haas’ pace in the dry far off of what it was in the rain on Friday.

It’s an all-Canadian back row, meanwhile, with Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi in P19 and P20.

Yuki Tsunoda will start his home race from P13 after getting his AlphaTauri into Q2.

The Japanese driver said he did ‘the best he could’ over the radio and he’d surely love a run at the points tomorrow, especially with AlphaTauri in a big fight with Haas and Aston Martin for seventh in the standings.

Behind Tsunoda will be Zhou Guanyu and Mick Schumacher, with the German surely taking something from outqualifying his team-mate as he looks to win a new contract at Haas, whilst Daniel Ricciardo starts P11 ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P12.

Verstappen’s first run was enough to