The world champion led a Red Bull 1-2 in qualifying with a dominant display as he looks to bounce back from retiring from the Australian GP due to a brake issue.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was Red Bull’s closest challenger, 0.292s off pole, and he will line up third on the grid for Sunday’s race in Suzuka.
Australian GP winner Carlos Sainz claimed fourth for Ferrari ahead of fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso in fifth for Aston Martin and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri in sixth.
Lewis Hamilton led the Mercedes charge down in seventh with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc eighth after the Ferrari driver completed just one run in Q3 having lost a set of soft tyres due to a poor lap in the first part of qualifying.
George Russell will start from ninth for Mercedes as home hero Yuki Tsunoda sneaked into the top 10 at the expense of his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the biggest disappointment in qualifying as he was knocked out in Q1 and will start in 16th.
The fourth round of the 2024 F1 season, the Japanese GP, gets under way at 2pm local time on Sunday 7 April.
Source: Autosport