Japanese GP: Too close to call as Verstappen snatches pole in Red Bull front row lockout

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for a third straight year at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, with Sergio Perez qualifying a close second to ensure a Red Bull front-row lockout.

Verstappen set the pace with a lap of one minute 28.197 seconds - 0.066 seconds clear of Perez - becoming the first driver to take pole in the opening four races of a season since Lewis Hamilton nine years ago.

But with McLaren's Lando Norris, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in the other top five spots and all within half a second of Verstappen, Sunday's race promises to be a closer affair than the Dutchman's 2023 procession.

"It was very close in the end," said Verstappen, looking to bounce back from a mechanical issue that prevented him from finishing the race last time out in Melbourne. "Nevertheless most importantly to be on pole - of course you want every lap to be perfect but at a track like this it isn't always the case".

Norris, who finished second in Suzuka last year, will start Sunday's race third on the grid, qualifying 0.292 seconds behind Verstappen.

"We had a good car today, we could fight," said Norris. "We are trying to catch up to the Red Bulls, but they are doing a good job so hats off to them."

While Sainz, who won the last race in Australia after Verstappen's withdrawal, qualified in fourth, his team mate Charles Leclerc had a difficult drive, which will put him back in eighth for Sunday's start.

"That's the best I can do. Honestly, I don't get it," a frustrated Leclerc said over the team radio towards the end of qualifying.

Aston Martin's Alonso and McLaren's Oscar Piastri, celebrating his 23rd birthday, finished in fifth and sixth respectively.

Seven-times world champion Hamilton and George Russell, both of Mercedes, finished in seventh and ninth, but Hamilton sounded optimistic that a season beset by technical problems may be turning a corner.

"It’s actually the first weekend I have not gone crazy with setup... It's been really enjoyable driving. It's just the guys are just a little bit faster," the Briton said.

Mercedes incurred a €5,000 fine in qualifying for an unsafe incident after Russell nearly collided with Piastri in the pit lane when exiting his garage.

Alonso's Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll struggled meanwhile and was knocked out in the first round of qualifying. He will start near the back of the grid in 16th.