2025 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying Review
- Linus O'Howell
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
It very much looked like McLaren’s to lose heading into Qualifying, but that doesn’t guarantee anything around a tricky track like Suzuka!
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Jack Doohan, and Lance Stroll were the five slowest drivers! Kick Sauber once again looked to be the team struggling for pace the most, with Nico Hulkenberg just about edging out teammate Gabriel Bortoleto as Esteban Ocon struggled for Haas! Jack Doohan’s disappointing weekend continued as he was some 7 tenths off his teammate in Q1, whilst Lance Stroll ended up slowest after going off at Turn 6! It was Oscar Piastri who topped Q1 for McLaren, around a tenth and a half ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell!
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson, and Yuki Tsunoda all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Pierre Gasly did a good job to get close to making it into Q3 for Alpine whilst Carlos Sainz was definitely closer to his teammate than the 2 other weekends so far this season! Fernando Alonso could only manage 13th in an Aston Martin that’s clearly struggling, ahead of Liam Lawson in his return to Racing Bulls, whilst Yuki Tsunoda was slowest in Q2 in his debut for Red Bull! The fact that Lawson is ahead of Tsunoda here says a lot! It was the other McLaren of Lando Norris who topped Q2 this time, with George Russell once again up in second!
Q3
In Qualifying 3, a 1:26,983 was enough for Max Verstappen to take a rather sensational Pole Position! I’m not sure many people expected this, it certainly came as a massive surprise to me, but this was just another reason as to why Max is clearly the best driver in the world right now! Lando Norris came within 12 thousandths of taking Pole himself, and teammate Oscar Piastri was only 3 hundredths of a second back in P3! Charles Leclerc did well to get P4 for Ferrari, ahead of a disappointed George Russell whilst Andrea Kimi Antonelli locked out the third row for Mercedes! Isack Hadjar will once again start 7th after another terrific Saturday, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who struggled all session in his Ferrari, whilst Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman will start from 9th and 10th respectively after putting in more good showings!
Starting Grid for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
Max Verstappen: 10
Lando Norris: 9
Oscar Piastri: 8
Charles Leclerc: 8
George Russell: 7
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 6
Isack Hadjar: 10
Lewis Hamilton: 4
Alex Albon: 8
Oliver Bearman: 8
Pierre Gasly: 7
Carlos Sainz: 6
Fernando Alonso: 5
Liam Lawson: 4
Yuki Tsunoda: 2
Nico Hulkenberg: 4
Gabriel Bortoleto: 3
Esteban Ocon: 2
Jack Doohan: 1
Lance Stroll: 1
Credit: Motorsport Week
My Predictions for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
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