Max Verstappen’s dominant run at Suzuka ended dramatically as the four-time world champion failed to reach Q3 during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Despite securing pole position in the previous four races there, Verstappen battled a tricky Red Bull car and settled for 11th on the grid.
Struggles on the Demanding Track
Verstappen appeared on track for a narrow top-10 finish amid visible difficulties handling the Red Bull around Suzuka’s challenging layout. His session halted in Q2 when 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad, competing for Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls in his third F1 outing and Suzuka debut, posted a quicker time to bump him out.
Over team radio to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen expressed frustration upon learning his position: “I think there’s something wrong with the car, mate. It’s completely undriveable suddenly in this qualifying. Jumping on high speed in the rear, suddenly.”
Post-Session Analysis
In post-qualifying interviews, Verstappen reiterated the car’s issues. “The car never turns mid-corner. And also again, there’s just so much oversteer on entry, it’s really difficult and unpredictable,” he stated.
The Dutch driver added: “We thought we had fixed it a little bit in FP3—there was still a lot of understeer in the car—but in qualifying it was again, for me, undriveable. So that’s something we need to look at. I’m also driving a bit of a different aero package this weekend, but it seems like that’s not working, so that’s also not very good.”
He continued: “Jumping in the corners. We have problems that I cannot explain in detail here, that we know are there. Sometimes they are a bit worse than other times, and in this qualifying it just came back to a point where it was undriveable.”
Lindblad Shines, Mercedes Dominates
Lindblad celebrated reaching Q3 for the second time, having achieved it in his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix. After his final Q2 lap, he radioed: “Come on mate, that’s got to be a good one?” Confirmation prompted an excited “Come on!” Though thrilled, he finished slowest among the top 10 and will start just ahead of Verstappen.
Mercedes locked out the front row with Kimi Antonelli on pole—his second in a row—despite George Russell nursing a car issue. Oscar Piastri claimed third after Charles Leclerc’s final-lap error. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar advanced to Q3 in eighth, outpacing Verstappen for the second time in three Grands Prix.
