Overview
- Following Saturday's qualifying, Mercedes secured another 1-2 with Kimi Antonelli on pole and George Russell second, with Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc on row two.
- Franco Colapinto reached Q2 but missed the top ten and will start 15th, while Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly qualified seventh and was about eight-tenths quicker in Q2.
- Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 and will start 11th, and he said the Red Bull felt difficult to drive through corner entry and mid-corner.
- Two steward matters remain open before lights out, including a review of Colapinto impeding Verstappen in FP2 and a summons after Sergio Pérez and Alex Albon collided late in FP1.
- Suzuka’s high-speed, technical layout makes clean starts and track position vital, and the race precedes a multi‑week pause caused by the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cancellations.