(Motorsport) Max Verstappen narrowly edged out Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to finish in pole position at the Suzuka Circuit. However, the reigning World Champion could potentially lose his position after an incident involving Lando Norris and has been summoned by the stewards. McLaren’s Norris was forced to sharply swerve at the high-speed 130R corner and was forced to take the grass and Verstappen was on the middle of the track, warming up his tyres and raised his hands to apologise. Third place Carlos Sainz also finished within a tenth of Verstappen in a race where Ferrari appeared to be quicker than expected.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished in fourth place while Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was ahead of both the Mercedes cars. Seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton was sixth while his teammate George Russell ended up eighth. The W13 clearly lacked pace on the fast Suzuka track despite topping the charts in Friday’s practice session. Norris, who was involved in the incident with Verstappen finished a lowly 10th behind Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who participated in his last Japanese Grand Prix of his career and was visibly emotional on his favourite track.

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Japanese GP Qualifying Results

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull*
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
5) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
10) Lando Norris, McLaren

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