Formula One: Japan Grand Prix – live

George Russell is briefly grabbed on Sky. “It will definitely be a two-stop,” he says. “I think the other strategies are off the cards.”

Japanese anthem is performed as lights out approaches at Suzuka.

Zak Brown on Sky again: “Realistically Max is still in another league this weekend,” he said. “All we can do is run our own race. We feel like we have a really good race pace. Maybe we can cause some problems for Max if we get the opportunity.”

Ferrari’s team principal Frédéric Vasseur thinks it’s going to be tight behind Verstappen. “It’s so tight between P2 and P7 or P8 it’s very difficult to make a forecast or to think about something,” he told Sky. “We just have to be focused on ourselves to do a proper management of the situation and strategy and we will get what we have to get.”

It’s looking like it’s going to be a hot one at Suzuka - Mercedes are doing a lot of work to keep their cars cool on the grid - and combined with the smoother surface increasing degradation that’s going to open up a new dimension of tyre management and strategy - a two-stopper with hard tyres looks like the best strategy.

Two sets of hards, however, are a luxury that few on the grid actually have: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell of Mercedes, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, and Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen the only ones to have two sets of hard tyres to play with during the race, potentially giving them an advantage over their rivals.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is on Sky. “Tyre strategy is going to play a big role today,” he said. “It’s pretty warm, there’ll be multiple stops. There’s a couple of different tyre compounds people can choose from. So it should be an exciting show.”

Yuki Tsunoda was asked by Sky Sports if points are a realistic target today. “I think it’s possible,” he said. “It’s a realistic target. So far this season our car seems quite good in race pace so I’m looking forward to it.”

Oscar Piastri also locked in his future this week, a multi-year contract extension that will tie him to McLaren through at least 2025 announced on Wednesday. It’s a significant show of confidence in the 22-year-old Aussie just 15 races into his rookie season, one he responded to by becoming the first rookie to secure a start on the front row since Lance Stroll at Monza in 2017. He’s keeping a lid on things, though, telling Sky during the build-up that “Realistically, we’re going to need something pretty special to win the race.”

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel is on hand at Suzuka, unveiling a set of specially-created ‘insect hotels’ at turn two on Thursday to bring awareness to biodiversity in the ecosystem. How old is Vettel? He’s obviously beekeeping age.

Yuki Tsunoda sent a bit of a thrill through his home crowd when he qualified in ninth for today’s race, adding another positive to a week in which the Japanese driver’s 2024 future was confirmed.

The 23-year-old will join veteran Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo in AlphaTauri’s lineup next season, with Liam Lawson, who has impressed while filling in for the injured Ricciardo across the last three races and secured his first career points in Singapore, tapped to serve as a reserve driver across AlphaTauri and Red Bull.

That announcement left the seat alongside Alex Albon at Williams as the only one still undetermined for 2024: Logan Sargeant battling to retain his place. The American’s efforts in that pursuit won’t be made any easier this afternoon, assessed a ten second penalty for breaking ‘third car’ rules when he was already starting from pit lane after a crash in Q1.

Of course, while Max Verstappen has looked ascendant heading into this one it is Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari that took out the last race in Singapore. The Sky Sports commentariat, though, has talked about how that race is looking like it might be an outlier and noting that the Spaniard has been a few tenths of a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc in Japan. Combined with their discussion about the team’s struggle with tyre degradation in the past, the general tone from the broadcast is not to expect back-to-back wins.

And speaking of regulations, Lando Norris is having a whale of a time driving his newly resurgent McLaren – Singapore the team’s best race since the Jenson Button days - but he’s much less impressed with the current regulations governing the sport, which he sees as unduly limiting what drivers are capable of.

Giles Richards again:

It’s not often you’ll hear an F1 driver tell people to go and “suck on an egg,” but that was the… gastronomical, let’s call it, advice from Verstappen following his blistering qualifying performance; responding to the pontifications surrounding Red Bull’s disappointing time in Singapore possibly being down to new technical directives that were imposed.

That and more can be found in Giles Richards’ report on qualifying.

How they’ll line up behind Verstappen

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

8. George Russell (Mercedes )

9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

11. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

13. Alex Albon (Williams)

14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

16. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

18. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

19. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

Welcome one and all, we’re almost set to go at the legendary Suzuka Circuit and after the rare sight of Max Verstappen and his Red Bull not being among the podium places in Singapore last week, normal service appears ready to resume. The runaway championship leader will start from pole position in Japan as he closes in on a third title: setting a qualifying time of 1min 28.877sec that was over half a second clear of the next-best McLaren of Oscar Piastri on Saturday. It was the largest qualifying margin at this track since Rubens Barrichello and his Ferrari finished just a shade under seven-tenths of a second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya back in 2003.

It’s Verstappen’s ninth pole on the season and though he can’t secure the title today, a win today would all-but make sealing the title at the next race in Qatar a fait accompli. His Red Bull, team, however, can take out the constructor’s title today – a remarkable feat with six races still remaining – so long as they are able to equal or better the points that Mercedes take from the weekend while also ensuring that Ferrari do not outscore them by 24 points or more.

It’s not all about Verstappen, though, especially for those Down Under, as rookie driver Piastri will line up on the front row for the first time in his career today – just the fifth time that an Australian driver has accomplished the feat. His teammate Lando Norris, meanwhile, will slot in just behind them in third as the McLaren continues to benefit from the upgrades debuted last week in Singapore. If they or Charles Leclerc, who starts alongside Norris on the second row, want to upset the applecart, though, they’ll likely need to be ahead of Verstappen at the end of the first lap – the Suzuka Circuit one that plays to his RB19’s strengths.

Racing at 6am BST / 2pm JST