When the dust settled on Saturday, Verstappen had done just that. The Red Bull driver charged to pole position during qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to take his first pole position of the 2025 F1 season.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull will start from pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix after turning in the top time in qualifying on Saturday in his final attempt. Lando Norris of McLaren will start alongside on Sunday with teammate Oscar Piastri on the second row with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

Max Verstappen’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, rarely sounds as impressed as he did on the radio when his driver’s pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix was confirmed. He had been through this routine 40 times before, congratulating Verstappen after a job well done.