00:00Gavriel Bortoletto, who out-qualified his teammate Nico Hülkenberg at the first Grand Prix of the season,
00:05goes fastest with the 1.29.3.
00:08Those lap times are going to seem a little bit slow in a moment,
00:11because there's Charles Leclerc straight into the 1.28.
00:14For a man who's been on the front row here at Suzuka a couple of times in the past,
00:18Lewis Hamilton has been on pole before, and on the medium tyre, puts in the 1.29.1 of Ferrari.
00:23What a good lap for a medium tyre.
00:25But are they looking to see if they can go through and not be in the bottom five,
00:28and save a set of softs for later?
00:30You can see how big the rear wing is, and even with a toe on that backstretch,
00:34they are one of the slowest cars down there.
00:36Max Verstappen, just a tenth off the pace through the first couple of sectors.
00:40Here he comes, around the final corner now, accelerating all the way,
00:44and taking the shortest dash to the line.
00:46And he ends up just over a tenth behind Lando Nobb.
00:49As we focus on Oskar Piastri, that's Isaac Hadjia,
00:52and then just making way is, sorry, Liam Lawson was weaving, Isaac Hadjia,
00:57just making way for Piastri before the chicane.
01:00Now, where is this time going to put him?
01:03Quickest, less than a tenth of a second between the top three in these early stages,
01:07as Isaac Hadjia crosses the line.
01:09Only 12 fastest for Hadjia.
01:10OK, you need to get going, Isaac.
01:12Still the same issue, man. Still the same issue in the cockpit.
01:17When you pull 5Ds without belts, or you hit the brakes, you do move around.
01:21Yeah, just a bit. And that's not what you want.
01:25That's Kimi Antonelli going a little bit too wide there.
01:30Nine tenths of a second off George Russell after his first lap.
01:33This lap will not count.
01:36Because he went over the white line.
01:39So, is he hitting the belts with his wrist?
01:42Is that what undoes it every time?
01:44Because for the belt to come undone, you have to twist the buckle.
01:47Yeah.
01:48What a volley, Ben, on the road.
01:52He's another one, Jack. He takes such a tight line, doesn't he?
01:55To the line.
01:56That's risky. That's close.
01:59He lifted the grass.
02:01Teammate Jack Dewan will be next to cross the line.
02:04Dewan stays in the bottom five.
02:05He is out of qualifying and takes the chequered flag.
02:09So, there's no chance for a second run on those tyres for Jack Dewan.
02:13Right. As Isaac Hadjia, that might help him do something about the pain.
02:18He is out of the bottom five, but there are others behind him going faster.
02:22Esteban Ocon moves out of the bottom five,
02:24but only just at the expense of Gabriel Bortoletto.
02:28Next to take the line will be Nico Hülkenberg,
02:31who got himself in a Q3 on many occasions for Haas last year
02:34and then knocks out.
02:35Can Lawson get himself out of the relegation zone on his return to the racing bulls?
02:40He can, but only just.
02:43He puts himself into P15, but that will do nicely.
02:48You see a 5G braking into that corner.
02:51Then re-accelerate through the final corner, take the inside line.
02:54I'm not exactly sure how much he gives you, but he's fastest for now.
02:58Teammate Yuki Snowda not quite getting the benefit of such an extensive tow
03:02and about four tenths of the pace for the first two sectors.
03:05Meanwhile, Lando Norris, 30.4 in the first sector.
03:10Compare that to a 30.5 for Verstappen.
03:13Snowda crosses the line, it's a 1.28.1.
03:16He's going to have to do better than that, I think, to get himself into the top ten.
03:20Norris absolutely flying through the middle sector
03:22as Charles Leclerc goes second fastest.
03:24Massive wing level difference in between Verstappen and Snowda.
03:28Seven kilometres an hour down the back stretch.
03:30There might have been a bit of a tow, but there's at least 5Ks of difference.
03:33That's a lot.
03:34And Snowda is not getting the advantage in the corners.
03:36No, it's a brand new set of new tyres, Jacques.
03:39Yeah, he must have messed up one section or a corner.
03:43He lost three tenths in the middle sector
03:47and a tenth in the first sector as well.
03:49George Russell goes second fastest ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.
03:53Yeah, so hairpin easy to make or one of the two Degners.
03:56And guess what? We've got a red flag.
03:59And I think that might be grass fire number two of the day.
04:03Here's Oskar Piastri into the Degners.
04:07I see this is where he's run a bit wide.
04:09Yeah, that's where he's lost time.
04:11And the lap might not count.
04:13But they haven't taken laps away today at all.
04:16No, Lance Stroll was the only one who's had a lap time deleted.
04:20And he was way, way away.
04:22I think they're allowed to use all the white bit, correct?
04:25Potentially, yes.
04:26They're fine.
04:27We'll let you know from our timing pages if there's any trouble there.
04:31And we were right. It is a grass fire.
04:34Through the final corner we go.
04:35Oh, where's that camera gone?
04:37Went so fast it confused the cameraman.
04:39Confused the camera.
04:40But, yeah, again, not even a personal best in the final sector.
04:43What can his teammate do, Leclerc, as he's just behind him on track?
04:47Charles Leclerc goes fourth fastest,
04:49goes ahead of Lewis Hamilton by one one-hundredth of a sec.
04:53Try and get out of the bottom five for the time being
04:55as Antonelli once again sets the fastest final sector,
04:58crosses the line to go P7.
05:00Sunoda doesn't get himself out of that bottom five.
05:04Only 11th fastest for him.
05:06That will be his qualifying done and dusted.
05:08But this is a better showing from Lawson,
05:10who would dearly love to put his racing bulls into the top ten
05:13at the expense of the red bull of Yuki Sunoda,
05:17which was his car last time out.
05:18Lawson does go top ten and does go ahead of Yuki Sunoda.
05:23Lando Norris and George Russell have stayed in the garage,
05:26won't be coming out for their final laps.
05:28They are safely through.
05:29What about Fernando Alonso?
05:31Never been on pole here at Suzuka,
05:33but he is into Q3 at the expense of Liam Lawson.
05:36But only just for a few seconds,
05:39as once again, Oli Behrmann puts in a super lap for Haas.
05:43With a Haas, that is beyond impressive.
05:46Pierre Gasly goes 11th fastest,
05:49pushes Sunoda down even further.
05:52Right, Alex Albon, currently P10
05:54and improving through the middle sector.
05:56He's holding on to the last spot for Q3.
05:59Can his teammate, Carlos Sainz, knock him out of the top ten?
06:02No, he can't.
06:03...last chicane because I'm looking good so far.
06:06Because you're not going to make a mistake through here.
06:08Nice and flat.
06:09I would be impressed.
06:10Well, no, Portugal almost did earlier.
06:12Yeah, that is true.
06:13Very good.
06:14No kerb, no kerb at all.
06:15I'm not sure if that was wanted or if it was a little bit long.
06:18And he almost braked on top of the grass.
06:20And it's...
06:22For the McLaren, Haas got pace ahead of Verstappen
06:25and Russell in that middle sector.
06:26And Norris is going pretty decent in sector one
06:29as Verstappen crosses the line to go to provisional pole
06:33where he sat for the last three Japanese Grand Prix.
06:36How long is he going to last at the top?
06:38Barely five seconds as Oscar Piastri
06:41goes on to provisional pole by two-tenths of a second
06:44from Max Verstappen.
06:45The question is, has Lando Norris got pace over his teammate?
06:48And the answer is no.
06:50And he's fallen well short of Oscar Piastri
06:53on that particular lap.
06:54Leclerc, who's got two front-row starts previously
06:57here at Suzuka, rounds the corner, crosses the line,
07:00goes third fastest.
07:01And that is a very fine lap indeed
07:03from Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
07:05Well, this man was certainly on a set of used tyres,
07:09Oli Behrmann, as he barrelled into turn one.
07:12Did he get caught out by a little gust?
07:14He certainly went wide, didn't he, coming out of turn two.
07:18And you can see how compromised he is for the next bit.
07:22You're not going to find much grip out there.
07:24He didn't back off.
07:25No.
07:26Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, through the lap,
07:30goes P6, half a second down as Russell stays in P4.
07:35Lando Norris, who got the stopwatch on,
07:37has got the pace as Hadger goes seventh fastest overall.
07:41We wait to see Oscar Piastri,
07:43who's going through the first sector now.
07:45But Norris could be challenging for pole here,
07:47crosses the line and does take pole from his teammates
07:50by nearly six one hundredths of a second.
07:53Fine, fine margins and a fine, fine lap from Lando Norris.
07:58I think it was a mistake in turn two,
08:00similar to what we saw from George Russell.
08:02He has aced the middle sector as Verstappen takes pole
08:06with a blistering final sector.
08:08He's been on pole the last three years here
08:10and somehow Verstappen in that red bull has put his car on pole.
08:14Here comes Piastri and he stays third.
08:17And from absolutely nowhere,
08:19Max Verstappen has shown why he's a four-time world champion
08:23to take pole here at Suzuka for the fourth consecutive year.
08:27And that was a quality lap
08:29and a quality time from a quality driver.
08:32That is insane. That is insane. Pole position.
08:35Yes! Let's go!
08:38Wow! What a lap!
08:43Yes, guys!
08:45What a lap!
08:47He is happy.
08:48What a lap, Max. Unbelievable. You've done it.
08:55Wow. I'm really happy. Wow.
09:00Pure class, mate. Pure class.
09:13Wow.
09:43Wow.
