Verstappen takes pole at Japanese GP for third year in a row

SUZUKA, Japan : Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for a third straight year at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, with Sergio Perez qualifying a close second to ensure a Red Bull front-row lockout.

Verstappen set the pace with a lap of one minute 28.197 seconds - 0.066 seconds clear of Perez - becoming the first driver to take pole in the opening four races of a season since Lewis Hamilton nine years ago.

But with McLaren's Lando Norris, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in the other top five spots and all within half a second of Verstappen, Sunday's race promises to be a closer affair than the Dutchman's 2023 procession.

"It was very close in the end," said Verstappen, looking to bounce back from a mechanical issue that prevented him from finishing the race last time out in Melbourne. "Nevertheless most importantly to be on pole - of course you want every lap to be perfect but at a track like this it isn't always the case".

Norris, who finished second in Suzuka last year, will start Sunday's race third on the grid, qualifying 0.292 seconds behind Verstappen.

"We had a good car today, we could fight," said Norris. "We are trying to catch up to the Red Bulls, but they are doing a good job so hats off to them."

While Sainz, who won the last race in Australia after Verstappen's withdrawal, qualified in fourth, his team mate Charles Leclerc had a difficult drive, which will put him back in eighth for Sunday's start.

"That's the best I can do. Honestly, I don't get it," a frustrated Leclerc said over the team radio towards the end of qualifying.

Aston Martin's Alonso and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, celebrating his 23rd birthday, finished in fifth and sixth respectively.

Seven-times