Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) took pole for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, though timing sources differ on his lap time — listed as either 1:28.778 or 1:29.362. It is his second consecutive pole and teammate George Russell completed a Mercedes 1–2, around 0.3 seconds behind Antonelli.

Behind Mercedes, McLaren put Oscar Piastri third and Lando Norris fifth, with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) fourth; Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was sixth. Pierre Gasly was seventh, Isack Hadjar eighth, Gabriel Bortoleto ninth and Arvid Lindblad tenth. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) suffered an unexpected Q2 exit and will start 11th, while Sergio Perez (Red Bull) will start 19th.

The official entry list and primary reports use the spelling Oliver Bearman; he was eliminated in Q1 and will start well down the grid, though some outlets give different exact slots. Qualifying was run in the standard three-part knockout format (Q1/Q2/Q3) and the FIA reduced the allowed energy recharge per lap for qualifying from 9 MJ to 8 MJ for this weekend.

Practice times suggested Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari were closely matched. The race is scheduled to start Sunday afternoon local time (reported as either 14:00 or 15:00 JST) and will run 53 laps of the 5.807 km Suzuka Circuit. Teams and drivers face a tactical contest over tire degradation, energy deployment and track position on the high-speed figure-of-eight layout; consult the official timing and grid for any remaining discrepancies (pole time, exact start time and some grid slots).

Sources