Nobody could beat the usual one. Max Verstappen has five out of five, at least on Saturdays, and barring maximum surprise, he will also be the winner again this Sunday in Suzuka. The Dutchman had no rival in a much calmer Japanese Grand Prix qualifying than Friday's free practice sessions, since the low temperatures were not as scary as then.
Verstappen's pole position was not at all unexpected, far from it, nor is it unexpected to see Carlos Sainz fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth, on a day in which we had to wait to see if George Russell, a possible rival for the podium of the Spaniards, was it sanctioned or not.
Although Verstappen did not cause a surprise in the first attempt, there was a moment when it seemed that this was going to be a Saturday of true glory for Alonso. The Asturian started the second time, with Sainz sixth and somewhat away from the leading times.
However, the news was below. Russell left the pits unsafely and hindered Oscar Piastri, who was close to being eliminated. The FIA resolved it hours later with a 5,000 euro fine for the Mercedes team. Those eliminated were a disastrous Lance Stroll, who was again portrayed in front of Alonso, along with Gasly, Magnussen, Sargeant and Zhou.
The second round of this classification could well have been predicted by anyone, since Alonso set the fifth time ahead of Sainz, sixth. Once again, Verstappen took away anyone's hope of seeing him far from the top, with Sergio Pérez supporting the dominance in this round and Lewis Hamilton as an alternative to the top zone and trying to show his head for his team. Those who were left without qualifying for Q3 were Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Ocon.
Together but not mixed
No one can ignore that it was a classification that seemed to be very on track for Verstappen, but what was surprising was seeing those who will accompany him on the grid this Sunday. And, beyond the Dutchman, it is almost newsworthy that Sergio Pérez stayed in second place, since he has been having a harder time lately, especially when he was only 66 thousandths behind. Third place went to Norris who, once again, went from less to more.
Between Sainz and Fernando Alonso, fourth and fifth respectively, just four thousandths. A sigh that sends the Asturian to the third row of the grid from which he aspires to reach the podium.
#Sainz #Alonso #fist #podium
