‘Insane’ Max Verstappen ambushes Oscar Piastri to take pole at Suzuka

Oscar Piastri’s car was going so fast it shouted yippee. The young Australian looked set to start the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position – only for Max Verstappen to produce an even more thunderous lap.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, left, is accompanied with McLaren driver Lando Norris , center, and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, right, after qualifying session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix. Picture: AP Photo/Hiro Komae

Oscar Piastri’s car was going so fast it shouted yippee. The young Australian looked set to start the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position on his 24th birthday after setting a blistering pace in qualifying – only for Max Verstappen to produce an even more thunderous lap to remind Piastri that this year’s Formula One world championship is on for young and old.

On the famously breathless, challenging track at Suzuka, a true test of a driver’s capabilities, filled with S-bends and high-speed corners after a flying downhill start, Piastri clocked 1min27.027sec. Fellow Australian Jack Doohan, following his frightening crash at 313km/h in Friday’s practice session, which he was lucky to walk (gingerly) away from, qualified second last in 19th for Alpine. His car was going so slowly, relatively speaking, it was puffing and panting before flopping over the line from exhaustion and disappointment.

“I’m pushing through,” Doohan said of his shaky weekend. “I don’t want to use any excuses.”

Piastri held provisional pole after his sizzling run – yippee – but Verstappen fearlessly threw around his Red Bull – “to the limit and perhaps even over it” – to steal the Australian’s thunder with a track record of 1:26.983. Piastri qualified third in a sport of the finest margins – in this case, 44/1000s of a second. Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris (1:26.995) was second in qualifying.

Verstappen was cock-a-hoop after upsetting the McLaren applecart. His Red Bull looked off the pace until he threw caution to the wind and peeled off a lap his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase called “insane.” Verstappen screamed into his headset, “Yes! Let’s go! What a lap! Yes, guys! I’m really happy. Wow.”

A lot can go wrong in F1 as a season unfurls, crisscrossing the globe for 24 breakneck races, but everything has gone wonderfully right for Piastri since his disappointment at snatching eighth from the jaws of the podium at the Australian Grand Prix. He rebounded by winning the Chinese Grand Prix and takes momentum galore into Sunday’s main event.

“Incredibly tight margins,” Piastri said. “I think we have it all to play for tomorrow. We’ve got a great car and there was just a little bit left on the table today. We try again tomorrow. It felt good through most of qualifying. There was a good lap but then my last lap just didn’t come together as I wanted.”

Piastri versus Verstappen versus Norris could be the theme of the year. Winner becomes world champion.

“We’ve got good pace,” Piastri said. “The other teams have not been as far away as people think. You never quite know with engine modes and stuff like that. It’s not a massive surprise. Max has obviously done a great job to end up on pole but we’ve still got a great car for tomorrow and we’re still fighting for the win. I welcome whatever comes. Let’s see what we get.”