Five winners and five losers from F1 Japanese GP qualifying

Who impressed and w🐻ho underwhelmed in F1 Japanese Gra🌌nd Prix qualifying?

Ollie Bearman starred in qualifying for Haas
Ollie Bearman starred in qualifying for Haas

Qualifying for the F1 Japanese Grand Prix produced a shock🦂 result an♔d has set up the prospect of an exciting grand prix on Sunday.

There was a huge upset ꦉright at the end of Q3 and plenty of headlines up and down the grid during the third regular qualifying session of F1 2025.

Her𝐆e are our winners and losers from a pulsating qualifying at Suzuka.

Winner - Max Verstappen

The idea of a 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen pole position has become a shock prospect in 2025 due to Red Bull’s early struggles with their difficult-to-💫drive RB21.

We looked set for another McLaren front-row lockout with either 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris or 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oscar Piastri ap🎉pearing a formality for pole, until Verstappen came from nowhere to stu🦹n them.

Verstappen left it late to produce a magic lap on his final run of Q3 to pip early F1 title rival Norris by 0.012s and take a fo𒁃urth success⭕ive Suzuka pole.

With new Red Bull teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Yuki Tsunoda way down the order,🧜 Verstappen once again underlined exactly why he is a four-time world champion with yet another special qualifying performance.

Max Verstappen celebrates his first pole of 2025
Max Verstappen celebrates his first pole of 2025

Loser - Yuki Tsunoda

After making an encourag♔ing start to his first weekend as a Red Bull driver, Tsunoda’s debut qualifying session꧙ quickly unravelled on home turf.

Tsunoda could only manage a dis✃appointing 15th, which saw him exit early in Q2, having shown flashes o🌌f promising pace early on in qualifying.

What’s more, Tsunoda was outpaced by both Racing Bulls drivers including 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Liam Lawson, w💟ho he𒀰 replaced at Red Bull following his brutal axing.

Tsunoda is confident he is adapting to the RB21 better than Lawson did, but there✨ is no denying he will be gutted with the final result on Saturday.

Winner - Charles Leclerc

On paper, four🍰th and eighth on the Suzuka grid representꦍs another underwhelming qualifying result for Ferrari.

But 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Charles Leclerc at least made a breakthrough wit﷽h Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car which enabled him to extract extra performance to pip the Mercedes pair and claim a second-row starting spot.

Even though Ferrari’s outright pace was lacking, Leclerc has put🥂 himself in a position to challenge for a podium - and potentially even the win - on Sunday.

Loser - McLaren

It may be harsh to class McLaren as a loser considering their cars will line up second and third, but with the outright quickest pa▨ckage, they should have been on pole.

Piastri had sat on provisional pole after the first runs of Q3 and although Norris recovered well to take second after a messy start to the session, McLaren will ultimately come away disappointed not to have continued their streak of qualifying dominance at the start ♐of the season.

McLaren’s failure to maximise the potential of their MCL39 has opened the door for Verstappen to take points away from Norris at a time Red Bull areꦯ seriously lacking performance.

Winner - Isack Hadjar

Isack Hadjar battled pain throughout qualifying
Isack Hadjar battled pain throughout qualifying

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Isack Hadjar overcame severe pain to put his Racing Bulls caꦗr into the 🍬top-10 and outqualify a Ferrari.

The 20-year-old French rookie als🌳o outpaced teammate Lawson and new Red Bull driver Tsunoda on his way to grabbing an eye-catching seventh on the grid.

It was a hugely impressive performance from Hadjar, who expressed discomfort throughout qualifying as he 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:struggled with ill-🐎fitting seatbelts which he said nearly caused him to crash.

Loser - Lewis Hamilton

It was another tough day in the office for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton as his frustrating start to life at Ferrari conti🌱nued.

The seven-time world champion was left rueing going in a different set-up direction thanඣ Leclerc as he could only manage a time g🏅ood enough for eighth, some three-tenths behind his teammate.

Hamilton could not hi𒅌de his disappointment with his performance in qualifying at Suzuka, labelling it as “not good enough from my side”. It leaves him with a lot of work to do on Sunday to salvage a stronꦍg result.

Winner - Ollie Bearman

F1 rookie 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Ollie Bearman had a gr🅰eat day as he broke into Q3 and claimed 10th🍸 on the grid for Haas.

The 19-year-old Briton was one of the star performers in qualifying on a day his more experienced Haas teammate168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Esteban Ocon was dumped out of Q1 in 18th.

Bearman has put himself꧑ right in the mix to make it back-to-back points finishes on Sunday.

Loser - Jack Doohan

The Japanese Grand Prix is fast turning into a weekend to forget for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jack Doohan.

Doohan finds himself under more pressure after it was revealed that driver error led to hiౠs huge crash in second practice on Friday.

That accident put the Australian on the back foot and he 🎐did himself absolutely no favours by being knocked out in the first part of qualifying in a lowly 19th.

Winner - Pierre Gasly

In sharp contrast to Doohan, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Pierre Gasly is having a much better run.

He had no trouble advancing to Q2 and only just missed out on a spot in Q3. The Frencꦫhman had to s꧟ettle with 11th in the end, but he can potentially fight for Alpine’s first points of the season from there.

Gasly was a full second quicker than Doohan.

Loser - Lance Stroll

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lance Stroll had a shocker at Suzukꦑa as he was slowest of all in qualifying.

The Canadian dropped it through the gravel at the Esses during his second flying lap which ultimately ruined his qualifying, leaving hღim 20th and last on the grid.

Aston Martin teammate168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Fernando Alonso fared better and will line up from 12th. 

Lance Stroll was left to rue a mistake in Q1
Lance Stroll was left to rue a mistake in Q1

Read More