Max Verstappen achieves a "poker" of pole positions.

In football language, a “poker” means four goals in a single game. Max Verstappen has achieved a “poker” of pole positions at the beginning of this Formula 1 season – obtaining the fourth in as many Grand Prix races, now in Japan.

This Saturday in Suzuka, Red Bull and the Dutchman confirmed their superior speed right from the third free practice session. In qualifying, Verstappen was the only one to lap in the 1m28s in Q1, immediately suggesting that he was the main candidate for pole position. The big surprise in this phase was the elimination of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Mercedes).

Lost in direction, the Canadian failed to qualify by 0.061s, finishing 16th, just behind Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes). Also out were Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Kevin Magnussen (Haas/Ferrari), Logan Sargeant (Williams/Mercedes), and Guanyu Zhou (Kick Sauber/Ferrari) – in that order from 17th to 20th.

Q1 CLASSIFICATION 📋

‘El plan’ out in full force today as Alonso splits the Red Bulls in the first part of qualifying 👏#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/hV46Z6ncfA
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2024

In Q2, it was Verstappen once again setting the pace, this time only 12 milliseconds ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez. The battle to enter the top ten was thrilling: the last qualifier was Yuki Tsunoda (Visa Cash App RB F1 Team), who left out teammate Daniel Ricciardo by just 0.055s.

Just behind was Nico Hülkenberg (Haas/Ferrari) in 12th, so the American team also fell short – as did Kick Sauber with Valtteri Bottas in 13th, Williams with Albon in 14th, and Alpine with Esteban Ocon in 15th – marking the best qualifying of the year for the French team so far.

Q2 CLASSIFICATION 📋

Verstappen beats Checo to top spot in the second part of qualifying by a hundredth of a second ⏱️#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/HtHm0hpyOT
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2024

Finally, the pole position was contested in Q3 and Verstappen showed his pace early on. The three-time world champion stayed ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) after the first attempts, but later improved even further.

The weather initially would have been enough for pole position, but Verstappen raised the bar to 1m28.197s. The closest to beating him was Pérez, who was 0.066s behind. Norris was third, almost three tenths behind.

In a modest qualifying for Ferrari after the victory in Australia, Sainz could only manage fourth, followed by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes), and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

Difficulties for Charles Leclerc, who in the other Ferrari could only achieve eighth place at the start – he was about six tenths slower than Verstappen. George Russell (Mercedes) and Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.

Results: