Antonelli takes second pole in a row as Verstappen is eliminated in Q2

Andrea Kimi Antonelli saw off team mate George Russell to take his second consecutive pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Mercedes secured their third consecutive one-two in qualifying at Suzuka ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc’s late bid for pole position failed when he made a mistake at Spoon curve.

However last year’s pole-winner will start outside the top 10. Max Verstappen was eliminated in Q2.

Q1

The first stage of qualifying produced two surprises: neither Mercedes appeared at the top of the times and Oliver Bearman failed to reach the second round.

Antonelli led the times after the first runs while Russell was puzzled by his car’s balance as he initially lapped over half a second slower than his team mate. “I’ve got a load of oversteer,” he told race engineer Marcus Dudley.

Whatever problem Russell had, he appeared to solve it in time for his second run, when he pipped Antonelli by less than a tenth of a second. But both had to give best to Charles Leclerc, who produced a 1’29.915 to head the times. Lewis Hamilton was almost four-tenths of a second slower in the other Ferrari.

Oscar Piastri put his McLaren fourth but Lando Norris, who was delayed by more technical trouble in final practice, was out-paced by both the Audis. That also relegated Max Verstappen to ninth place ahead of Pierre Gasly.

As the final runs began, Franco Colapinto was almost seven tenths of a second off his team mate in the other Alpine and at risk of elimination. A late improvement saw him squeak through at the expense of Alexander Albon, who complained about poor straight-line speed in his Williams.

Carlos Sainz Jnr put the other Williams into the second round, however. The stewards took no action after originally noting him for potentially impeding Isack Hadjar.

The Williams driver reached Q2 at the expense of Bearman. The Haas driver, currently fifth in the points standings, could only manage a lowly 18th and joined the Cadillac and Aston Martin pair in elimination. Fernando Alonso extended his streak of out-qualifying Lance Stroll by beating him with his final lap, but the two Honda-powered cars will start on the back row of the grid for their home event.

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Q1 result

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Q2

The second stage of qualifying brought an ever bigger surprise: Verstappen was beaten by his team mate, then lost the final place in Q3 when he was beaten by Red Bull’s latest F1 hiring, Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad.

“I think there is something wrong with the car, mate,” Verstappen told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. “It is completely undriveable suddenly in qualifying.” Hadjar was only 0.158 seconds quicker.

Verstappen appeared to be safe when Hulkenberg surprisingly failed to join his team mate in Q3. Audi had appeared on course for a double top-10 result. Lindblad’s final run was over three-tenths of a second quicker than team mate Liam Lawson, who was eliminated. Colapinto and Sainz also went no further.

Antonelli put Mercedes pack on top, cutting almost a second off the fastest time from Q1. But Russell remained puzzled by his car. “I think we’re missing something here,” he said after his first run. “We couldn’t lose this much pace.” He still went through comfortably in fifth place, albeit six tenths of a second off his team mate.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Antonelli retained the upper hand over the first runs in Q3, setting a 1’28.778. Russell couldn’t match that to being with, lapping almost three tenths of a second off his team mate.

The Ferrari challenge appeared to fade as Q3 began, the McLaren pair grabbing the second row of the grid. However Leclerc came back strong on the final runs.

Neither Mercedes driver improved when they rejoined the track but Antonelli’s pole position did not immediately look secure. Leclerc made a strong start to his final lap, setting the quickest time of anyone through the first sector.

However a twitch of oversteer at the exit of Spoon curve sapped the Ferrari’s momentum out of the corner and compromised his run to the chicane. Even so, he gained enough time to split the McLarens and claim fourth on the grid.

That relegated Norris to fifth place alongside the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. Gasly beat Hadjar to take a strong seventh place while Bortoleto will start ninth ahead of Lindblad.

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Q3 result

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2026 Japanese Grand Prix

• F1 responds as fans accuse them of hiding ‘super-clipping’ on Antonelli’s pole lap
• Lap time watch: 2026 Japanese Grand Prix
• Russell concerned for race prospects after “massive” set-up change in qualifying
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