Max Verstappen leaves McLarens behind to claim Japanese Grand Prix pole position

Max Verstappen produced an incredible lap to stun McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and claim a shock pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.

McLaren have won both races so far this season – one each for Norris and Piastri – and had set the pace by topping all three practice sessions this weekend.

Verstappen’s Red Bull has been off the pace throughout practice, with the four-time world champion saying he was lacking confidence in his car ahead of qualifying.

But the Dutchman showed his quality when it mattered to beat Norris by just 0.012 seconds.

WHAT A SESSION!

Max Verstappen. Take. A. Bow.#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/w72EgQ5ICD

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 5, 2025

Verstappen’s race engineer told his driver over the radio that the lap was “insane”.

“Every session we just kept on making little improvements, I think that is where we made the difference and the last lap was just flat out,” Verstappen said.

“We will look to tomorrow and do our best.”

Norris added: “I’m happy, congrats to Max he did a good job. You’ve got to credit something when it’s a lap that good that he must have done.

“It’s going to be an exciting race.”

Ollie Bearman is through into the top ten in qualifying!