F1 2022 Japanese GP qualifying results

Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen claimed provisional pole for the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, less than a tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari cars.

Verstappen was under investigation following an incident with Lando Norris, for which he was handed a reprimand, as the McLaren man pushed through 130R he, the slow-moving Red Bull of Verstappen appeared fishtailing across the track and Norris had to take to the grass to avoid a crash.

Leclerc was second, just a 0.010s behind his rival, and Carlos Sainz third and Sergio Perez in fourth but nearly half a second behind his teammate.

All four Mercedes and Alpine drivers also made the top ten, with Esteban Ocon leading the fight behind the frontrunners and qualifying fifth.

A tight Q2 session saw just 0.153s separate second and ninth and it was even tighter at the cutoff, Sebastian Vettel scraped into Q3 in the Aston Martin by just three milliseconds ahead of a frustrated Daniel Ricciardo.

Pierre Gasly was the headline casualty in Q1, following the news that he’ll join Alpine for the start of 2023. He complained about his front-left brake disc all session and later blamed the team for sending him out early in the session.

F1 Singapore GP 2022 – Qualifying Results