The Dutchman was ahead of Charles Leclerc by a tiny hundredth of a second. A second coronation reaches out to him.
This time, we’re there: starting from pole position on Sunday in Japan, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) has a good chance of winning a second consecutive world championship title in Formula 1.
A victory and the point for the fastest lap in the race: this is the ideal scenario which would ensure the coronation of the 25-year-old Dutchman, who beat Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by only 1/100th of a second and will start in front of the Monegasque on the front row on Sunday.
Other results can also see him crowned, but it will depend on the performance of his two pursuers in the championship: he must take Sunday eight points more than Leclerc and six more than his teammate at Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, distanced for the moment of 104 and 106 points respectively.
“Of course very happy to be on pole, but also super happy to be back here“Reacted Verstappen, who signed his first pole at Suzuka.
“I don’t really think (the title), I take it as it comes“added the Dutchman, for whom”the important thing is to have a competitive car, and it is clearly the case“.
Japan will be treated to a sold-out race, with 90,000 fans, for its first Grand Prix since 2019, after two seasons of absence due to the pandemic. In total since Friday, 190,000 spectators will have attended the event.
Vettel: “arigato»
Verstappen was placed under investigation by race management for hampering Lando Norris (McLaren) during qualifying due to an uncontrolled movement which forced the Briton to leave the track slightly to avoid it. But the Dutchman finally received a simple reprimand.
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Pérez will start on the second row on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. local (07:00 French, 05:00 GMT), followed by Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). In front of his public, the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda will start in 13th place.
Sebastian Vettel, who will retire at the end of the year, took advantage of his qualification in 9th place to greet the public at his favorite circuit: “Arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much in Japanese), I will miss this placesaid the German with four world titles between 2010 and 2013, who won four times here.
After the first rainy and insignificant free practice on Friday, dominated by Fernando Alonso (Alpine) then George Russell (Mercedes), Verstappen set the record straight on Saturday on a dry track.
“madmax» announced it on Friday evening: «Everything starts from scratch in the dry“. The teams knew that the qualifying conditions were going to be different, with no rush on the program on this 5.807 km circuit considered one of the most technical on the calendar.
On the only layout that features an 8-shaped configuration, one section passing under another, Verstappen took the lead by performing a new “great ride“, according to his boss Christian Horner.
But testing on a wet track on Friday could be important on Sunday: forecasts show a 40% chance of rain from the start of the race, and up to 80% chance at the end of the race.
Frenchman Pierre Gasly was the other attraction in the paddock this Saturday despite his distant 17th time: the AlphaTauri driver signed for several years with the Alpine team from 2023.
Within the French structure, Gasly will join his compatriot and former karting companion, Esteban Ocon.