Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying: Kimi Antonelli takes dominant pole as George Russell falters
F1 NewsSaturday, 28 March 2026 at 08:01
Kimi Antonelli took his second consecutive pole position in the 2026 Formula 1 season after qualifying fastest for the Japanese Grand Prix on a day when George Russell had no answer for the pace of his young teammate's pace.
Back to back pole positions is what you get from a talented young driver that has just won his maiden Grand Prix oozing with confidence with the pressure off his shoulders.
Antonelli did not put a foot wrong all weekend so far, at a track that punishes the slightest of errors and managed to take pole as Russell simply couldn't get his head around the handling of his Mercedes.
In the end, the Championship leader was three tenths off the pace of his teammate when it mattered.
McLaren did a decent job this weekend to to get ahead of Ferrari with Oscar Piastri that is as the Australian was third fastest, three and a half tenths off the pace.
Charles Leclerc went for an all-out lap in Q3 and almost lost control of his Ferrari at the exit of Spoon, but somehow kept it pointing in the right direction on his way to fourth fastest, a massive 0.627s off the pace.
The Monegasque had a chance of being on the front row had it not been for the mistake.
And while Piastri had a solid session, reigning F1 Champion had a miserable weekend so far, marred with reliability issues and missing track time. He did well to qualify fifth despite all that.
Lewis Hamilton was never happy with the handling of his SF-26 this weekend and in the end he could manage only sixth on the grid, 0.789s off pole and over a tenth clear of Pierre Gasly who did a superb job to put his Alpine seventh on the starting grid.
Isack Hadjar was eighth fastest for Red Bull, outqualifying teammate Max Verstappen who never got into the rhythm at Suzuka so far and was eliminated in Q2 and will start the race in 11th.
A great job from Gabriel Bortoleto to qualify his Audi in ninth ahead of Arvid Lindblad who also did well to be tenth fastest and the one responsible for Verstappen's absence from Q3.
What the top three said
Speaking after taking pole, Antonelli said: "I'm super happy with the session. It was a good one, it was a clean one. I felt very good in the car and every run I was improving and improving.
"A shame for the last lap because of a lock up at Turn 11 but it was a good one. I'm really happy with the session," he added.
Russell commented hailing his younger teammate for the performance he delivered and said: “He did a great job again.
“It was a really strange session for us. We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after FP3, and then at the beginning of qualifying, we were nowhere.
“So, we need to kind of understand. Very lucky again to be in P2. The last two weekends it’s kind of both gone wrong come qualifying, but the race is tomorrow and there’s still a lot to play for," Russell concluded.
As for Piastri, he added: "Qualifying has been OK this year. Nice to get into the top three.
"This weekend we have looked good and we have executed well. We clearly don't have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes but we are getting closer," the Aussie concluded.
Q1: Ollie Bearman the only surprise exit
Track temperature was slightly lower at the start of Qualifying compared to the final practice and registered 32 degrees Celsius while air temperature was 16 degrees as the skies clear over Suzuka.
Liam Lawson led the pack out on track with Lindblad following him as drivers did not waste any time starting Q1.
The Kiwi went for an outlap and hen started the first timed lap of the session with his teammate following.
Piastri is setting the early pace in Q1
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2026
He goes top with a 1m 30.438s#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/JBY39tFEDl
With around 13 minutes remaining, and the drivers out early doing their laps, the big teams joined the action with both McLarens, Red Bulls, Ferraris out on track. Mercedes took their time though.
Piastri started a lap and Norris followed. Piastri went fastest then Norris went second fastest as Hamilton followed and went second while Leclerc took top spot after that.
Then Mercedes started their runs with Antonelli first as he posted the fastest time while Russell managed only fifth.
Russell said something didn't "feel right" and that he had a lot of oversteer.
Some drivers went for another run on the same tyres with the order becoming: Leclerc - Antonelli - Hamilton - Piastri - Norris - Nico Hulkenberg - Russell - Hadjar - Verstappen - Bortoleto - Gasly - Lindblad - Lawson - Esteban Ocon - Bearman - Franco Colapinto.
Final Q1 laps coming up - two minutes to go ⌛️#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/RFh0rIu6at
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2026
In the final four minutes, the drivers went for the second run with another set of tyres and in the end, Leclerc was fastest with 1:29.915, 0.052s ahead of Russell in second while Antonello was third, 0.120s behind.
The rest of the top 16: Piastri - Hamilton - Hulkenberg - Bortoleto - Norris - Verstappen - Gasly - Lawson - Hadjar - Lindblad - Ocon - Carlos Sainz - Colapinto.
Out of qualifying were led by Albon who missed out by a tenth and a half and was 17th fastest as Bearman was s surprise 18th given his recent performances.
Sergio Perez was 19th fastest in the Cadillac with Valtteri Borras behind him in 20th as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were 20th and 22nd respectively.
Q2: Lindblad eliminates Verstappen!
The drivers kicked off Q2 immediately with the green light illuminated at the end of the pitlane.
The Mercedes and Ferraris went out on old Soft tyres while Piastri went for a fresh set.
Antonelli went fastest with Russell second fastest as Hamilton was third with Leclerc then taking second. Hadjar and Verstappen were fifth and sixth respectively.
Hadjar taking the tightest line possible 😵
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2026
The Red Bull driver is currently P6 #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/tSgoCuQfE3
Russell reported that he was still struggling with the rear end of his W17.
Hulkenberg went seventh fastest with Lindblad in ninth as Bortoleto popped up in third but with new tyres on his Audi.
The the McLaren with new tyres came with Piastri going fastest, over three tenths clear of Antonelli as Norris slotted in fourth, 0.344s slower than his teammate.
Order after first runs: Piastri - Antonelli - Leclerc - Norris - Bortoleto - Russell - Hamilton - Gasly - Hadjar - Verstappen.
In the drop zone: Hulkenberg - Ocon - Lindblad - Colapinto - Lawson - Sainz.
With Q2 entering its final six minutes the second run of laps were on with new Soft tyres for everyone.
Russell was first, but his issues continued as he only managed to improve to second, three tenths off the pace at that point. He was confused radioing to his team saying they must be missing something.
In the end, Antonelli led the way with a lap time of 1:29.048, 0.255s clear of Leclerc in second while Piastri was third.
The rest of the top ten: Hamilton - Russell - Norris - Gasly - Bortoleto - Hadjar - Lindblad.
The moment Verstappen was eliminated 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2026
Lindblad crosses the line to snatch P10 and a Q3 slot 👏#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/ADnT5avkEJ
Missing out on the Q3 started with Verstappen who was knocked out by Lindblad by 0.153s.
The Dutchman was complaining that his RB22 suddenly became undriveable in qualifying and that it was bouncing around. He will start the Grand Prix from 11th.
Ocon was 12th for Haas with Hulkenberg in 13th as Lawson was 14th as Colapinto and Sainz were 15th and 16th respectively.
Q3: Supreme Antonelli
The final stage of Qualifying in Suzuka was on and drivers quickly made their way out on track with Leclerc and Hadjar the last to exit.
Antonelli went for a flying lap first with Russell in his wake. The former went fastest with the latter following an slotting behind him by two tenths despite posting the fastest first sector.
Gasly went third with Bortoleto in fourth as the Norris then took third only for Piastri to take that position from him.
Hamilton went fifth fastest while Leclerc took that position from him as Hadjar was seventh with Lindblad not posting a time.
So it was Antonelli on provisional pole as the rest were: Russell - Piastri - Norris - Leclerc - Hamilton - Hadjar - Gasly - Bortoleto - Lindblad.
The final act begins...#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/VVXF7o3S3x
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 28, 2026
With less than three minutes remaining, the final laps were on and Mercedes went out first as Antonelli led Russell on track.
While Antonelli had the best final sector, his lap time did not improve overall, but that was enough for him to beat Russell who was second fastest, 0.298s behind his teammate.
Piastri was third fastest for McLaren, 0.354s off the pace while Leclerc was fourth fastest in the Ferrari, 0.627s off pole and almost losing his SF-26 coming out of Spoon, but held it beautifully.
Norris was fifth fastest in the second McLaren ahead of Hamilton in sixth as Gasly was a solid seventh.
Isack Hadjar was eighth fastest in the Red Bull RB22 with Bortoleto ninth fastest as Lindblad completed the top ten.
Japanese Grand Prix Provisional Qualifying Classification
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