Japanese GP, another pole for Verstappen. Ferraris behind: Sainz 4th, Leclerc 8th

We had left him with the brakes on fire in Australia, we found him very hot in Japan, where he arrived with the intention of starting to dominate again after his retirement in Melbourne. And in Suzuka, «a circuit that should be good for our car», he was anticipating the day before, Max Verstappen he lived his usual Saturday: uncatchable in the flying lap, unlike what happened last season, he achieved the 36th pole of his career, the fifth in a row (3rd in a row in Japan) also considering the last one in 2023 in Abu Dhabi. The absolute record, the 8 placed one after the other between 1988 and 1989 by Ayrton Senna, is not very far away. «We were all very close – commented Super Max -, here finding the perfect lap is not easy because the conditions change quickly. It's important to have achieved another pole.” Behind the two Red Bulls – Sergio Perez second at 66 thousandths and on the front row after a year – Lando Norris emerged, very good at placing his McLaren on the second row ahead of the first SF-24, which is again the one driven by Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard finished almost half a second behind the three-time world champion.

There Ferrari tomorrow morning at dawn (start at 7) she will be forced once again to chase on the most indigestible track, where she hasn't won since 2004 (15 editions), since the last triumph in Michael Schumacher's last World Championship season. For Charles Leclerc – never at ease in the dreaded first sector, that of the “snake”, as well as in the last – it was one of the most difficult qualifications of his career. The Monegasque arrived in Q3 with only one set of new soft tires and did not go beyond the fourth row (he will start 8th): «I can't do better than this», he agreed over the radio. The Red team, having difficulty setting the fastest lap, can console itself with the race pace displayed both in the first free practice sessions last night and in the third session a few hours ago. Nobody seemed to match Charles' pace on medium tyres, “we weren't particularly strong in that aspect”, admitted Sergio Perez. We'll see if it will be enough for the «Charlos» to get back into the race.