Sebastian Vettel claimed his first P1 since Canada as Ferrari extended their pole streak to five straight races in Japan on Sunday.
With the session delayed due to Typhoon Hagibis, bright sunshine greeted the teams at Suzuka, but drivers still had to contend with strong winds left by the storm.
But after a disrupted start, with two crashes in the first eight minutes of Q1, a thrilling back-and-forth duel emerged between Ferrari and Mercedes.
In the end, however, it was Vettel who made the best of the conditions posting a new track record of 1m27.064s to bring teammate Charles Leclerc’s run of poles to an end.
Q1
As mentioned, the session began with red flags in quick session as Robert Kubica and then Kevin Magnussen went off at the final sweep onto the pit straight.
In the Pole’s case, his car understeered wide onto the grass and into the barrier, while Magnussen lost the rear of his Haas coming off the exit kerb at the final chicane, both having been impacted by the wind.
The front runners were delayed by the stoppages but finally posted times with Mercedes struggling initially before improving on their second timed laps.
Leclerc would set the pace for Ferrari, eventually ending three-tenths clear of Hamilton and Verstappen.
There were big surprises in the Q1 drop zone too as Daniel Ricciardo sat 16th for Renault and Sergio Perez 17th for Racing Point.
George Russell followed in 18th with Magnussen and Kubica not setting a time.
Q2
Mercedes upped the ante in Q2 as Hamilton and then Bottas went sub-1m28s, the Finn finishing a tenth clear of his teammate.
Albon jumped upto third with a late lap for Red Bull to pip the two Ferrari’s, while Verstappen only completed one run but was very safe in sixth.
In the fight to make Q3, two Frenchmen, Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean, impressed to get inside the top 10.
Unfortunately, Antonio Giovinazzi would just miss out in P11 for Alfa Romeo, but the Italian did out-qualify Kimi Raikkonen in 13th.
Lance Stroll enjoyed a strong session in P12, while Daniil Kvyat will be disappointed to have finished eight-tenths down on his teammate in 14th.
A problem on Nico Hulkenberg’s car compounded Renault’s difficult weekend so far, leaving the German only 15th and one place ahead of Ricciardo
Q3
After Mercedes’ charge in Q2, Ferrari responds with the first runs as Vettel leads Leclerc by three-tenths thanks to three fastest sectors.
Bottas continues ahead of Hamilton in third and fourth, while Verstappen only sits a tenth clear of Albon in fifth and sixth.
The final attempts saw Vettel improve again by just under two-tenths to secure pole, as Leclerc’s lap is undone by a poor final chicane.
Mercedes came close but couldn’t quite respond to the Scuderia’s surge with Bottas four-hundredths down on the Monegasque in third.
Valtteri did just enough though to pip Hamilton with the pair split by just 0.009s.
At Red Bull, there was nothing at all between Verstappen and Albon as they posted the same time in fifth and sixth. The Dutchman will start ahead though having set the time first.
In the midfield, McLaren capitalised perfectly on Renault’s problems with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris seventh and eighth.
Gasly was thrilled to be P9 at Honda’s home race, while Grosjean too gave it a “yee-haw” in 10th.
A tightly contested qualifying and an unexpected outcome as Ferrari continue their single-lap success against Mercedes.
The best thing about this special Sunday at Suzuka? We only have to wait just over two and a half hours to see if Vettel can convert pole into his second win in three races.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
