FORMULA ONE action returns at top speed with the racers battling it out at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen surrendered the opportunity to clinch a second successive championship win in Singapore last weekend.
However, the Red Bull driver will get a second bite of the cherry on the Suzuka Circuit.
He has taken pole position despite a stewards' enquiry after coming close to hitting Lando Norris, but Verstappen remains in pole position despite the enquiry.
- Qualifying: 7am UK
- Race: Sunday, October 9 – 6am UK
- Live stream: Now TV
- TV channel: Sky Sports F1
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Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
- James Colasanti
Tyre pressure caused Norris incident
The Stewards' report into the dangerous incident involving Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Japanese Grad Prix qualifying concluded in was due to a mechincal failure.
Red Bull star Verstappen turned slightly to his left while at a crawl, causing McLaren's Norris to have to swerve to avoid him as he raced through from behind him on the track.
The report said that lack of tyre temperature meant Verstappen temporarily lost control of his car and it 'snapped' anti-clockwise.
- James Colasanti
Verstappen' pole survives stewards' enquiry
Max Verstappen will keep pole position for tomorrow's Grand Prix after a decision from The Stewards.
The Red Bull ace has been reprimanded for an incident involving McLaren's Lando Norris but has not been given a grid penalty.
- Ben Hunt
Verstappen takes pole
Leclerc comes up short on his final lap. He is unable to beat the Dutchman.
It is Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Vettel and Norris.
BUT…Verstappen is due in to see the stewards for that near miss with Norris.
Remember too, he can win the title tomorrow if results go his way.
- Ben Hunt
Near miss for Norris
The McLaren man almost gets clattered by Verstappen, who loses control of his Red Bull at slow speed.
- Ben Hunt
Verstappen takes provisional pole
The Red Bull man sets the quickest time on his first run.
- Ben Hunt
Q3 is go
Here we go, shootout for the top 10. This is looking like a three-way fight for pole. Verstappen – Sainz and Leclerc.
- Ben Hunt
All eyes on Ferrari
Can they stop Verstappen from taking pole? They look like the only team capable of taking the fight to Red Bull.
- Ben Hunt
Tight finish to Q2 – Russell escapes, but only just
He is in to seventh but Ricciardo is out. The Aussie is joined by Schumacher, Zhou, Bottas and Tsunoda.
- Ben Hunt
Halfway in to Q2
Verstappen leads Sainz and Leclerc. In the drop zone are Tsunoda, Schumacher, Zhou, Vettel and Norris.
It is looking close in the middle between Alonso, Perez and Russell.
- Ben Hunt
Q2 is go
We lost Gasly, Latifi, Stroll, Magnussen and Albon in Q1.
- Ben Hunt
Gasly is furious
He is out in Q1 and not happy. News coming out this morning that he has now agreed to join Alpine for 2023.
- Ben Hunt
Hamilton and Russell recover
They currently sit in P8 and P6 and that should be safe enough. In the drop zone are Albon, Latifi, Vettel, Magnussen and Zhou.
- Ben Hunt
Hamilton and Russell in trouble?
The two Mercedes men are languishing in the time sheets. Both are on the slower medium tyres. Will they have enough to get in to Q2?
Meanwhile, BOTH AlphaTauri drivers have brake problems and are in the pits.
- Ben Hunt
Qualifying is go in Japan
And it is fitting that Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda sets the early pace for AlphaTauri.
But here come the bigger teams. Verstappen is on a flying lap that is looking mighty impressive.
- Nyle Smith
What Max Verstappen has said
Max Verstappen will be aware of how close he is from securing a second successive championship.
But the iconic F1 racer realises that he has a tough task at the Japanese GP with the ever-changing weather conditions.
Luckily it wasn't a complete disaster with the weather at least we could get around and do a little bit of stuff. In terms of knowing where you are with pace, in the wet, it's always a bit tricky.
We did the basic things (to learn) and not more than that so that's why I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see how we can be in the dry.
- Nyle Smith
How Verstappen can win the title
Verstappen has one hand on the F1 title and he can incredibly clinch it without finishing first.
But it would require him scoring a minimum of eight points more than Leclerc and a minimum of six more than Perez.
If the Red Bull racer was to finish second, Leclerc would have to rank fifth or higher to keep the title alive.
Verstappen finishing third with the fastest lap bonus point will mean Leclerc having to chart fifth or higher or Perez needs to finish a minimum of fourth to deny him.
But a third place finish without the bonus point means sixth place for Leclerc or fourth place for Perez would be enough for the title race to go beyond the weekend.
Fourth for Verstappen would see Leclerc needing only seventh place and fifth means that Leclerc just needs to avoid falling below eighth on the leaderboards to survive another day.
- Nyle Smith
Crash but no burn
Here is the major talking point of the Practice sessions. Thankfully Mick Schumacher escaped the car with no injuries.
But my guess is that Haas will need to supply him with a new car.
Credit: Rex - Nyle Smith
Current F1 standings
Here are the current top ten in the 2022 standings:
- Max Verstappen – 341 points
- Charles Leclerc – 237 points
- Sergio Perez – 235 points
- George Russell – 203 points
- Carlos Sainz – 202 points
- Lewis Hamilton – 170 points
- Lando Norris – 100 points
- Esteban Ocon – 66 points
- Fernando Alonso – 59 points
- Valterri Bottas – 46 points
- Nyle Smith
Welcome to the Japanese Grand Prix
Congratulations if you managed to drag yourself out of bed to tune in for this very early coverage of the Japanese GP Practice & Qualffying. We will make it worth it.
The rain in yesterday's Practice sessions added to the ever-present drama in Formula 1.
We had Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton seal a one-two in Practice Two.
Mick Schumacher CRASHED out of Practice and completely damaged his Haas car
And we even witnessed Michael Latiffi take a wrong turn during the second session, meeting with a dead end due to his visibility on the track.
But the Canadian cannot afford to do something like that again as today is the last chance for all the racers to get a good spot in Sunday's race which, judging today's weather, could be very difficult to overtake.
Keep up to date with our live blog as we will have ALL the latest gossip from Qualifying right through until the big race in Suzuka.
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