Max Verstappen was ecstatic after taking a surprise 41st career pole at Suzuka, but warned Red Bull's problems haven't gone away

F1 Champion Max Verstappen tries out the Honda 0 SUV prototype ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Honda. Honda has a long history of getting Formula 1 drivers that win championship

McLaren had set the pace by topping all three practice sessions but Verstappen claimed a fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka

Max Verstappen stunned McLaren by snatching pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix with a new track record at the Suzuka Circuit. Verstappen had been more than 0.2s down on Oscar Piastri’s

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen smashed the track record to snatch pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's Lando

QUALIFYING for the Japan Grand Prix was clouded by smoke from trackside fires causing red flag chaos throughout the session. Suzuka Circuit looked more like a wildfire than a race track as grass

Oscar Piastri won the last race in China, as he looks to take the title fight to McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who has an eight-point lead to Max Verstappen in the world championship. Ferrari will be looking to bounce back after both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the race in China due to two technical infringements.

Team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were the clear favourites for pole at the Japanese Grand Prix after McLaren dominated practice ahead of the Suzuka race

Max Verstappen stole pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix from McLaren's Lando Norris with a remarkable lap of the Suzuka circuit on Saturday.