F1: Max Verstappen in pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc misses
Max Verstappen is definitely very comfortable in Japan. The Dutchman took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday April 6, the third in a row at Suzuka. Red Bull celebrated by locking down the front row for the first time this season, with Sergio Pérez second, two weeks after the fiasco in Australia. The Mexican came very close to setting the best time on his teammate (+0″066). The two pit neighbors were ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).
Weighed down by poor management at the start of the session and his tires, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was unable to do better than eighth fastest. “It’s the best I can do, I don’t understand” he was surprised. Far, very far even, almost six tenths of a second from the first row and a Verstappen untouchable until then in the timed exercise with a fourth pole in four races.
Behind, the fight for the podium will be very close. If Norris showed himself to be the “best of the others” with a very nice lap, the rest of the pack is holding on exhaust to exhaust: there is only a tenth of a second difference between the two Ferraris, fourth and eighth, while Leclerc or Sainz had climbed to the front row during each of the first three meetings of 2024. In the chasing pack, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) regained some colors after a very complicated start to the season (7th ).
Further on, Frenchman Esteban Ocon (15th) managed to get out of the first part of the session, confirming the Alpine’s small progress. His compatriot and teammate Pierre Gasly will start 17th. The Grand Prix will start on Sunday, at 7 a.m. in France.
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