{"id":289668,"date":"2023-09-23T08:21:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T08:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=289668"},"modified":"2023-09-23T08:21:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T08:21:34","slug":"max-verstappen-takes-pole-yet-again-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/max-verstappen-takes-pole-yet-again-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan as he looks to bounce back from Singapore disappointment &#8211; with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris set to line up in second and third, while Lewis Hamilton qualifies in seventh<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Max Verstappen took pole position in Japan after a superb qualifying display<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>McLaren&#8217;s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are set to line up in second and third<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Max Verstappen sent the clearest message yet that there will be very little chance of a repeat of last week\u2019s upset in Singapore as the reigning champion swept aside his rivals to take pole position in Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen, on a revenge mission after his shock fifth-place finish in Marina Bay, rung the neck of his RB19 around Suzuka\u2019s figure-eight track, where the boldest driver accumulates the biggest reward.<\/p>\n<p>And so it was for the Dutchman who was six-tenths clear of Oscar Piastri at the front row of the grid, in another big step towards world title No 3, should all go to plan here on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen predicted that McLaren duo Piastri and Lando Norris would provide the biggest threat to his status as pole sitter in Japan. Indeed, the young duo went closest to the Dutchman\u2019s time of 1:28.827 but offered no genuine challenge to dislodging him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There you go, 28,\u2019 Verstappen nonchalantly said over the team radio, pleased to lap at under 1:29.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/08\/75753575-0-image-a-1_1695453517089.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Max Verstappen secured yet another pole position after a superb qualifying display in Japan<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/08\/75753913-12551975-image-a-12_1695453777087.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Verstappen was nearly six-tenths clear of McLaren&#8217;s Oscar Piastri at the front row of the grid<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/08\/75754027-12551975-image-a-15_1695454495373.jpg\" height=\"416\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>But, both Piastri and Lando Norris delighted in McLaren&#8217;s second and third place positions<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Incredible weekend so far, especially in qualifying when you can push it to the limit,\u2019 he said. \u2018It felt really, really nice. We had a bad weekend in Singapore, but I felt from the preparation we had, this was going to be a good track.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018From lap one it has been really, really nice. You try to find little improvements and we did that. To be on pole is fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018My engineer told me \u201c28 would be nice\u201d and I said \u201cdon\u2019t worry I\u2019m going to send it\u201d. I knew there was still a little bit left in a few places, and that\u2019s where I tried to tidy up. It worked out quite well.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>When asked if he encountered the same issues he faced in Marina Bay, Verstappen shut down the question: \u2018No, nothing. Singapore didn\u2019t happen for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We had a bad weekend, of course people start talking about the technical directives. I think they can go and suck on an egg. I was very fired up to have a good weekend and make sure we were strong.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For Australia\u2019s Piastri, it is the second time he has joined Verstappen on the front row of the grid, after doing so at Silverstone earlier this year. The McLaren rookie continues to go from strength to strength in an impressive debut campaign, and is establishing himself as a future star, if not already.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The first lap was pretty solid, I was quite happy with it,\u2019 he said. \u2018On the second lap my first sector was good and next two sectors not to good. I\u2019m happy to put it in P2, it\u2019s been a really good week so far, we had some upgrades on the car.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We thought we might have a chance [for pole] but no. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve started on the front row in a while so that\u2019s cool. There\u2019s only one car for me to overtake [Verstappen] so I\u2019ll try to make that happen.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Norris, who battled brilliantly to hold off George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for second place last week in Singapore, had to settle for a place behind his younger teammate, but delighted in McLaren\u2019s weekend thus far.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s been a very good day for us,\u2019 the Briton said. \u2018P2 and P3, great job by Oscar, and as usual by Max.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s not an easy circuit to put everything together. A small mistake can cost us a big amount of lap time, but we are in a good position for tomorrow.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Mercedes\u2019 woes continued as Hamilton and Russell qualified in P7 and P8 respectively, in a huge comedown from their impressive performance last week.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton bemoaned his team\u2019s poor start to the week on Friday, and they\u2019ve been playing catch up ever since.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/08\/75753361-12551975-image-a-13_1695453854610.jpg\" height=\"408\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the first qualifying session saw a brief pause after American Logan Sargeant crashed<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/23\/08\/75753925-12551975-image-a-14_1695453870592.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Hamilton settled for seventh on the grid, after being more than a second behind Verstappen<\/p>\n<p>Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc was fourth, in front of Verstappen\u2019s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez \u2013 the Mexican 0.773 seconds slower than the Dutchman.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Sainz, the winner in Singapore, was sixth, while Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>The first qualifying session saw a brief pause after American Logan Sargeant shunted his Williams into the barriers, a sentence all too familiar for the despondent rookie this season. He emerged unscathed, but left his team with a huge overnight job to prepare his car for Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/formulaone\/article-12551975\/Max-Verstappen-takes-pole-Japan-looks-bounce-Singapore-disappointment-Oscar-Piastri-Lando-Norris-set-line-second-Lewis-Hamilton-qualifies-seventh.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan as he looks to bounce back from Singapore disappointment &#8211; with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris set <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/max-verstappen-takes-pole-yet-again-in-japan\/\" title=\"Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/max-verstappen-takes-pole-yet-again-in-japan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Max Verstappen takes pole yet again in Japan as he looks to bounce back from Singapore disappointment &#8211; 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