Max Verstappen surprised himself with pole position at Japanese Grand Prix

Defending champion Max Verstappen surprised the field, and himself, with pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix

Friday at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix was a frustrating affair for Max Verstappen. The defending Drivers’ champion finished off the pace of the leaders in both FP1 and FP2, and following Friday’s dual practice sessions he admitted that he lacked the “confidence and commitment” one needs to put in the quality lap to capture pole position in Suzuka.

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.

And he set a new track record in the process.

Speaking after qualifying, Verstappen conceded that the result surprised him.

”Yeah, I am,” began Verstappen when Naomi Schiff asked him if the result surprised him. “I mean, we tried the best we could, I think, to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy, even in qualifying. But every session we just kept on making little improvements.

“I think that’s where we made the difference. And then, yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit—or maybe even a bit over in places—is incredibly rewarding.”

The pole position is the 41st of Verstappen’s career, and the living legend noted that given how Red Bull has started the season, this pole position stands out.

“I mean, I’ve had some really nice ones also in other places,” said Verstappen in the FIA Press Conference. “But I think if you look at how our season started, even during this weekend... yeah, it’s very unexpected, I would say. And I think that makes it probably a very special one.”

Even with pole position, Verstappen and Red Bull are still looking for ways to improve the RB21. In the driver’s mind, balance in the corners, and not tire degradation, remains the issue.

“Yeah, honestly, I don’t think it has to do with the tires – for me, at least. It’s just the through-corner balance that is very difficult to manage,” described Verstappen. “But we clearly got it in a window where at least it was drivable to push.

“Luckily, it was enough for first, but it’s still not... I don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m first, now everything is perfect.’ We still have clear issues that we need to solve and that’s what we’re continuing to work on.

“This is a very tough track for the car in general. It’s really high speed, so any little balance limitation you have can be multiplied in some places around the lap. Some tracks might work out a bit better for us, some might be worse,” continued Verstappen. “But it was clear that up until now this whole weekend we have been really experimenting a lot to find that drivable balance. At least it allowed me to push a bit more.”

Spinning it forward to the Grand Prix, with rain in the forecast there is the potential for even more chaos on Sunday.

But at the line, Verstappen will have two very fast McLarens behind him.

The driver admitted that holding the two back will be “very hard,” but he will give it his best shot.

“It will be very hard, but that’s fine. I’ll try to do my best. So far this season we have not been able to fight them. But it’s not like we just sit there and accept it.

“We try to do the very best and we’ll give it a good fight tomorrow if we can. But at the end of the day, it’s a very long championship and you need to keep on scoring points whenever you can in the best way possible,” concluded Verstappen. “At least we’re starting from the front – then we’ll see where we go.”

So many times before, Verstappen’s “very best” has been enough for P1. It was on Saturday, and may be again on Sunday in Suzuka.