Latest news with #JAPANGP
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lewis Hamilton falls short of Ferrari potential in Japan GP qualifying: ‘Not good enough'
Lewis Hamilton acknowledged his final laps in qualifying were 'not good enough' as he qualified a lowly eighth for the Japanese Grand Prix. While Max Verstappen took a sensational F1 pole position at Suzuka ahead of both McLaren drivers, seven-time world champion Hamilton struggled and looked short of table-topping pace throughout the session. Advertisement In the end, he was only eighth-fastest – behind both Mercedes drivers and Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar – and was three-tenths off Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth. 'Not good enough from my side, P8 is not great,' Hamilton said afterwards. 'I was happy to get into Q3, it's a really tight battle, just didn't get great laps in in Q3.' Hamilton admitted that Ferrari are running a higher ride-height on their car this weekend, as a result of their disqualifications a fortnight ago in China, but insisted there was optimism ahead of the race on Sunday – which could be impacted by rain. 'We are running higher than we'd like,' Hamilton said. 'I don't know if everyone is in the same boat in that respect, it's higher than we want to be from the weekend before. Advertisement 'Charles did a great lap. I had a lot of understeer and couldn't dial it up for qualifying.' Lewis Hamilton qualified in eighth place for the Japan GP (Getty Images) On the potential for a wet-race, the 40-year-old added: 'I'm excited, I love the rain. TOP-10 - JAPAN GP QUALIFYING 1. Max Verstappen - 1:26:983 2. Lando Norris +0.012 3. Oscar Piastri +0.044 4. Charles Leclerc +0.316 5. George Russell +0.335 6. Kimi Antonelli +0.572 7. Isack Hadjar +0.586 8. Lewis Hamilton +0.627 9. Alex Albon +0.632 10. Ollie Bearman +0.884 'It'll be tricky, if you have a qualifying like that you hope for rain, so hopefully it stays.' Hamilton is currently ninth in the championship standings, having won the sprint race in Shanghai, but will be looking for a strong start on Sunday to make up some positions early on. Advertisement The Brit's teammate Leclerc, however, was satisfied with his lap in the final stage of qualifying. 'I think the lap was really, really good,' he said. 'Not much I could have done better. We unlocked some performance yesterday, today in qualifying it started to go away from us a little bit, especially in Q3. 'Overall, the lap... I was really happy with it. There's still a big gap to McLaren and Red Bull, but as a whole, it's been positive, I feel a lot more confident with the car.' The race on Sunday takes place at 6am (BST).
The Independent
05-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Max Verstappen shows his class to take shock Japan GP pole position ahead of Lando Norris
Max Verstappen produced an incredible lap to stun McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and claim a shock pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. McLaren have won both races so far this season – one each for Norris and Piastri – and had set the pace by topping all three practice sessions this weekend. Verstappen's Red Bull has been off the pace throughout practice, with the four-time world champion saying he was lacking confidence in his car ahead of qualifying. But the Dutchman showed his quality when it mattered to beat Norris by just 0.012 seconds. Verstappen's race engineer told his driver over the radio that the lap was 'insane'. Piastri will line up from third on his birthday on Sunday, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. George Russell, who has finished third in the first two races of the season, had appeared to be the nearest challenger to the McLarens at Suzuka but could only manage fifth in his Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton struggled to find pace for Ferrari and will start Sunday's race from eighth. Verstappen said: 'Every session we just kept on making little improvements, I think that is where we made the difference and the last lap was just flat out. 'We will look to tomorrow and do our best.' Norris added: 'I'm happy, congrats to Max he did a good job. You've got to credit something when it's a lap that good that he must have done. 'It's going to be an exciting race.' British driver Oliver Bearman enjoyed a superb session, putting his Haas into Q3 for the first time this season and qualified 10th. TOP-10 - JAPAN GP QUALIFYING Home favourite Yuki Tsunoda suffered a disappointing Q2 exit on his Red Bull debut, having replaced Liam Lawson who was ditched after just two races and returned to Racing Bulls. Tsunoda qualified 15th and one place behind Lawson – the New Zealander making it out of Q1 for the first time this campaign. Qualifying was disrupted by grass fires at the side of the track, an issue which has plagued the action throughout the weekend. Friday's second practice and Saturday morning's session were each red-flagged twice when dry grass caught fire. The FIA had taken preventative measures heading into Saturday's action and again doused the grass ahead of qualifying, with concern that the weekend's first competitive racing could be affected. Another fire, primarily caused by sparks thrown up by the skid blocks under the cars, began with eight minutes of Q2 remaining as the session was halted for more water to be put on the affected area. The race on Sunday takes place at 6am (BST).
