Antonelli leads Mercedes front-row lockout in Japan

Kimi Antonelli will head Mercedes’s third consecutive front-row lockout after beating teammate George Russell to pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.

McLaren and Ferrari will share the second row between Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, but Red Bull Racing played no meaningful role in Q3 after Max Verstappen – Suzuka polesitter for the last four years – was knocked out in Q2.

Mercedes had had an inclusive run through the first two segments of qualifying, but Antonelli reasserted the team emphatically with his first run in Q3 to set the benchmark at 1m28.778s, putting him 0.298s clear of the field and 0.354s ahead of the field.

Antonelli led the field out for their second laps, but in the cooling late afternoon, the Italian failed to improve, leaving him looking vulnerable. The impression was temporary, however. Russell, directly behind him on the road, also failed to improve, and with no other team within striking distance, Antonelli’s first lap was more than good enough to secure him his second consecutive pole position.

“I’m super happy with the session,” he said. “It was a good one, it was a clean one.”

Antonelli shaded Russell throughout Saturday, and the Briton had no answer to the Italian’s qualifying speed, though he suggested an unspecified problem with the car was preventing him from closing the gap.

“Really strange session for us,” he said. “We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after FP3, and then at the beginning of qualifying we were nowhere. We need to understand. I’m very lucky to be P2.”

Piastri’s first lap was enough for the Australian to hold onto third on the grid, 0.354s off the pace, for his best starting position of the season.

“I think qualifying has been OK this year,” he said. “Nice to get into the top three.

“This weekend we’ve looked good. We’ve executed well. We clearly don’t have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes, but we’re getting closer.”

Leclerc was the only front-runner to improve with their final run, moving from fifth to fourth to put Ferrari on the second row. Though the Monegasque was 0.627s off the pace, Ferrari has taken the lead of the last two grands prix from a starting position on the second row.

Lando Norris, lacking mileage all weekend thanks to a litany of technical problems, was 0.631s off the pace in fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari, the Briton 0.789s adrift.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly beat Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar to seventh, the two 0.913s and 1.2s off the pace respectively.

Gabriel Bortoleto took Audi back into the top 10 with ninth place ahead of Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls car.

Max Verstappen, who won the last four Japanese grands prix from pole position, had his miserable start to the season compounded by an 11th-place knockout, missing out on a spot in the pole shootout by 0.153s.

"I think there's something wrong with the car," he radioed after completing his final underwhelming lap that left him vulnerable to elimination. "It's just completely undrivable suddenly in this qualifying."

Esteban Ocon qualified 12th for Haas ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. Liam Lawson will line up 14th ahead of Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz.

Alex Albon will line up 17th after missing out on a Q2 spot by 0.157s. The Thai driver was bitterly disappointed, suggesting over team radio that his suspicions of a car issue had gone unheeded by the team.

Oliver Bearman was the shock elimination in Q1, the Haas driver knocked out 18th and just 0.002s behind Albon. Bearman, fifth in the championship, was slow in the middle sector, leaving him vulnerable to an early exit.

Sergio Perez beat Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas to 19th and 20th, the drivers 2.291s and 2.415s off the pace respectively. They were fast enough, though, to condemn Aston Martin to a back-row start at works supplier Honda’s home race.

Fernando Alonso outqualified Lance Stroll, but the Aston Martins were a painful 2.731s and 3.005s off the pace.

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