Qualifying for round 3 of the 2026 F1 season at the Japanese GP has been completed, view the full report here.
Three different drivers led in practice: George Russell in FP1, Oscar Piastri in FP2, and Kimi Antonelli in FP3.
Mercedes had a scary gap of 0.8s to the field in the final one. Ferrari and McLaren were comfortably the second and third quickest teams. Audi were the positive surprise as Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto both placed in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin were almost a second slower than the Cadillacs in FP3, finishing over 4s off P1.
Q1
Liam Lawson kicked things off with a 1:31.785, before Arvid Lindblad beat it by 0.151s.
A 1:30.438 from Oscar Piastri was the first time from one of the big guns. However, Charles Leclerc quickly beat that by 0.360s. On his first attempt, Kimi Antonelli bested that by 0.043s as he logged a 1:30.035.
Antonelli, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Hülkenberg, Hamilton, an oversteering Russell, Hadjar, Verstappen and Bortoleto was the top 10 with seven minutes left.
After setting two purple sectors, Charles Leclerc pumped in a 1:29.915 to reclaim P1. Hamilton went 3rd with green Sectors in 1 and 3. Russell would eventually make it a Mercedes 2-3 as his second attempt was far stronger.
Albon, Sainz, Bottas, Pérez, Stroll and Alonso was the bottom six ahead of the last runs.
Having initially got himself out of the relegation zone, Alex Albon was bumped out as teammate Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto beat him by over a tenth at the end.
The big shock was Ollie Bearman as he only qualified P18.
Out in Q1 at the 2026 Japanese GP F1 qualifying: Albon, Bearman, Pérez, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll
Q2
Kimi Antonelli went out first and smashed in a 1:29.774. Charles Leclerc got very close, ending up 0.011s away. Russell and Hamilton were three tenths away from their teammates. They were all on used tyres.
On new softs, Oscar Piastri did a very strong lap on a 1:29.451 to go 0.323s clear. Lando Norris slotted into 4th, a couple of hundredths away from Antonelli and a hundredth from Leclerc.
Bortoleto, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Hadjar and Verstappen completed the top 10 with six minutes left.
Putting on new tyres, George Russell only went P2, finishing up 0.316s slower than the Australian. A phenomenal first sector from Charles Leclerc did see him take P1, going 0.148s ahead of the McLaren.
At the end of Q2, two purple sectors from Kimi Antonelli saw him end up fastest with a 1:29.048. Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Russell and Norris completed the big six.
Great laps from Gasly, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Lindblad saw them complete the top 10 in Q2 in qualifying at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP.
Four-time World Champion Max Verstappen missed out in P11 as he was 0.158s slower than his teammate. Nico Hülkenberg was also a very big surprise to not make Q3 after his pace in Q1 and throughout the weekend; he ended up 0.397s adrift of his Brazilian teammate.
Out in Q2: Verstappen, Ocon, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto and Sainz
Q3
Once more Kimi Antonelli was first out on track and he did a 1:28.778, 0.298s faster than teammate George Russell. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris put themselves in P3 and P4, although nearly 0.3s covered them also.
Ferrari had a very disappointing first run as Leclerc and Hamilton were 0.656s and 0.789s away from the Italian driver in P5 and P6. Hadjar, Gasly and Bortoleto also logged a time, with Arvid Lindblad doing a single run at the end.
As drivers struggled to improve on the final runs, Charles Leclerc did manage to split the McLarens, despite a massive snap of oversteer out of Spoon.
Gasly, Hadjar, Bortoleto and Lindblad rounded out the top 10.
