Checo Pérez will start in fourth place at the Japanese Grand Prix y Max Verstappen leader and virtual champion of the Formula One World Championship, will come out first this Sunday at Japanese Grand Prixthe eighteenth of the championship, which takes place at the Suzuka circuit, where this Saturday the Dutchman dominated the qualifying session.
Verstappen, 25 years old, achieved the nineteenth ‘pole’ since he runs in F1 -the sixth of the season- when covering, at his best, with the soft tire, the 5.807 meters of the Japanese track in one minute, 29 seconds and 304 thousandths, ten less than the Monegasque Charles Leclerc and with 57 on the other Ferrari, that of the Spanish Carlos Sainz.
Sainz will start from the second row, next to the driver from Guadalajara, which was 405 thousandths of his Dutch partner, for which his first attempt in the third round (Q3) was enough -a piece of the car came off in the second- to sign a ‘pole’ from which will try to leave mathematically sentenced the revalidation of the title this same Sunday, with four races to go before the conclusion of the World Championship.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon will start from the third (Alpine) y the seven-time English world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who finished in fifth and sixth position, respectively.
Alonsowhat of among his 32 victories he achieved two in Japan (2006 y 2008) will start seventh. The double Asturian world champion will start from the fourth row, where He will be accompanied by the other Englishman from Mercedes, George Russellwhich marked the eighth time of the ‘cuali’.
From the fifth row they will take the exit the four times world champion Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) y English Lando Norris (McLaren), who finished qualifying in ninth and tenth position, respectively.
Verstappen will be champion again mathematically this very sunday if he wins the race with fast lap, if he wins and Leclerc does not finish second; or if he adds eight points more than the Monegasque and six more than the Mexican Checo Pérez at Suzuki.