F1 Qualifying Results: Verstappen STUNS McLaren pair with record lap to take dramatic pole

Max Verstappen ripped pole position away from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with a stunning late lap in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday morning.

The reigning champion showed that no amount of car dominance can keep the McLarens safe from him, pumping in an incredible lap record to edge out the title favorites just just thousandths of a second.

Further down the field, Liam Lawson could only go 14th on his third Racing Bulls 'debut', but will be buoyed by the fact that he beat out his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda by a single place.

Kimi Antonelli qualified sixth, his best starting position so far in Formula 1, with a great lap which put him right up behind his team-mate and two places ahead of Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton.

The fires which have plagued the weekend returned midway through Q2, red flagging the session for around seven minutes, the fifth such stoppage this weekend.

Isack Hadjar struggled for the second session in a row with seatbelt issues, in obvious pain in a particularly sensitive area while mechanics were adjusting his setup in the pits and apologizing to his team on the radio – although he did enough to qualify seventh in a fantastic display of bravery.

F1 Qualifying Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2025

ELIMINATED IN Q2

ELIMINATED IN Q1

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

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