Author: Barkha Roy
Everything remains the same at the Suzuka circuit, with Max Verstappen in the lead. The two-time champion repeated his performance from the first two sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix and began Saturday by leading the third free practice session, setting a best lap of 1’30.267 on soft tires. With a lead of 0.2 seconds, he was ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who also took turns to set the best times of the session.
The session began with laps from Ferrari and McLaren, and Verstappen led for most of the time. However, the British team gained momentum in the final 17 minutes of the session, opening up a gap of 0.4 seconds over the two-time champion. But Red Bull Racing’s advantage and the Dutchman’s good form prevailed in the end, and eight minutes before the checkered flag, he regained first position.
Just one incredible pole lap 🤩
Ride onboard with @MaxVerstappen33 for the lap that made it nine pole positions for the Dutchman in 2023! 👊#JapaneseGP #F1 @Pirellisport pic.twitter.com/ebhz2DbDss
– Formula 1 (@F1) September 23, 2023
Sainz and Leclerc kicked off in Suzuka, with the Monaco driver leading his teammate. Shortly afterwards, it was McLaren’s turn, with Norris beating Piastri’s initial time by 0.7 seconds. The British driver maintained his position even after Mercedes tried to challenge him, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell briefly in the top three in the early stages of the session.
Verstappen managed to beat the times already set, 0.2 seconds ahead of Norris and 0.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez. Leclerc then improved his time and moved into third place, a position he held until the middle of the session.
Same, same, but different 👀
Logan Sargeant and Robert Kubica crashed in the exact same spot for Williams, both in Q1#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kl6o2SCh20
– Formula 1 (@F1) September 23, 2023
It was only 17 minutes before the checkered flag that Piastri’s lap was beaten by 0.4 seconds by his Red Bull Racing rival. After that, Norris was once again ahead of his teammate by just 0.048 seconds, and Guanyu Zhou and Fernando Alonso also did laps that earned them places in the top 5 respectively.
With eight minutes to go, Verstappen did another lap on new soft tires and moved ahead of his two rivals. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc and Sainz returned to the top five, with the Monaco driver ahead of his teammate. However, the pair would be overtaken by Sergio Pérez, who spent most of the session near the bottom of the grid.