Ferrari lockout front row at Suzuka; Bottas qualifies P3, Hamilton fourth fastest
Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was moved from the traditional Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning local time due to the threat of typhoon close to the Suzuka Circuit. Ferrari were able to lock out the first row with Sebastian Vettel grabbing pole and teammate Charles Leclerc lining up alongside him in P2 on the grid. The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton weren’t able to match the outright pace of the Prancing Horses and will line up behind them in P3 and P4 respectively. The Red Bulls of Max Vertsappen and Alexander Albon start behind them in P5 & P6 respectively.
Today’s race begins overnight at 1:05 AM Eastern time and will be broadcast live on ESPN with encores anytime available after that via streaming at ESPN.com/watch.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese GP below:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 1:28.988 | 1:28.174 | 1:27.064 | 16 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:28.405 | 1:28.179 | 1:27.253 | 16 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 1:28.896 | 1:27.688 | 1:27.293 | 21 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:28.735 | 1:27.826 | 1:27.302 | 20 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:28.754 | 1:28.499 | 1:27.851 | 16 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:29.351 | 1:28.156 | 1:27.851 | 19 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:29.018 | 1:28.577 | 1:28.304 | 21 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:28.873 | 1:28.571 | 1:28.464 | 21 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA | 1:29.411 | 1:28.779 | 1:28.836 | 21 |
| 10 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | HAAS FERRARI | 1:29.572 | 1:29.144 | 1:29.341 | 15 |