{"id":7245,"date":"2023-09-24T04:52:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T04:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/verstappen-takes-pole-position-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-24T04:52:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T04:52:05","slug":"verstappen-takes-pole-position-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/verstappen-takes-pole-position-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen takes pole position | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSUZUKA:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Runaway championship leader Max Verstappen took pole position on Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix<\/a> as he looks to take a giant stride towards a third-straight title this weekend.<\/p>\n

The Red Bull<\/a> driver topped the timesheets in dry conditions in Suzuka with a fastest time of 1min 28.877sec \u2013 0.581sec ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n

Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris was third.<\/p>\n

Verstappen<\/a>, who leads teammate and nearest rival Sergio Perez by 151 points in the championship standings, cannot clinch the title on Sunday but a favourable result can set him up to seal the deal at the Qatar Grand Prix next month.<\/p>\n

He is looking to bounce back from a disappointing fifth-place finish at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix that ended his record streak of 10-straight wins.<\/p>\n

“Incredible weekend so far, especially in qualifying when you can really push it \u2013 it felt really, really nice,” said Verstappen.<\/p>\n

“I already felt from the preparation that we had that this was going to be a good track.<\/p>\n

“You never really know how good it’s going to be but from lap one it’s been really nice.”<\/p>\n

Verstappen has looked back to his dominant best this week in Suzuka, finishing fastest in all three practice sessions.<\/p>\n

He also wasted little time in laying down a marker in qualifying, unleashing his car’s ferocious power on the high-speed Suzuka circuit.<\/p>\n

Charles Leclerc qualified fourth ahead of Perez and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who won last week in Singapore.<\/p>\n

Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were seventh and eighth, respectively.<\/p>\n

Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda, who signed a new deal to race for AlphaTauri again next season, qualified ninth in his home grand prix, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n

Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen were all eliminated in Q2.<\/p>\n

The first qualifying session was red-flagged when Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams at the final corner.<\/p>\n

The American escaped unscathed but his car sustained serious damage after hitting the grass and slamming into the barriers.<\/p>\n

Sargeant was eliminated in Q1 along with Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll.<\/p>\n

Stroll was returning to action after missing the Singapore race following a huge crash in qualifying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n