F1 2023: Verstappen takes pole at Japanese GP ahead of McLaren’s Piastri and Norris

For the 17th round of the 2023 season, Formula One heads to the 5.807 km long Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix. After an end to his record-breaking 10 consecutive win victories last week at the Singapore GP, Max Verstappen looks all set to bounce back after strong displays during the Free Practice sessions, while also securing the pole position at the GP ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris today.
Take a look at how the three Qualifying rounds went down at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix –

2023 F1 Japanese GP Qualifying 1
The first qualifying session was delayed after Logan Sargeant’s Williams went into the barriers, resulting in a red flag. Max Verstappen went fastest in Q1, followed by Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson in second, third and fourth respectively. Oscar Piastri took the fifth spot. Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu were eliminiated in the first qualifying apart from Sargeant.
2023 F1 Japanese GP Qualifying 2
Leclerc took the first spot in Q2 with a lap time of 1:29.940, followed by Red Bull duo Verstappen and Perez in second and third respectively. Lewis Hamilton was on P4, while Sainz took fifth. Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen did not make it to the final qualifying of the day.
2023 F1 Japanese GP Qualifying 3
With the fastest lap time of 1:28.877, Max Verstappen managed to take Pole at the 2023 Japanese GP, with Oscar Piastri joining the Championship leader on the front row. Lando Norris took P3, with Leclerc joining him on the second row. Perez starts P5 on the grid, splitting the Ferrari drivers, with Sainz on sixth. Hamilton, Russell, Tsunoda, and Alonso will be lining up from seventh to 10th respectively.
Stay tuned to TOI Auto for the 2023 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix race report tomorrow!