Lewis Hamilton buoyant despite qualifying seventh at Japanese GP as Max Verstappen takes pole
Seventh and ninth in qualifying would not normally be grounds for celebration for a team which won a record eight constructors’ crowns in a row from 2014 to 2021.
But Lewis Hamilton and George Russell cut noticeably upbeat figures after Saturday’s shootout at Suzuka, with both men apparently increasingly optimistic Mercedes are beginning to get on top of the issues which have dogged the team so far this year.
Their optimism may have vanished by the end of Sunday’s race, of course, which begins at 6am UK time. But after a strong showing in practice on Friday, when both Mercedes cars finished within half a second of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, the team managed to maintain that gap when it came to qualifying, which has been an issue for them so far this year.
Hamilton was incredulous the deficit was even that much. “Half-a-second! Where is there half-a-second?” the seven-time world champion demanded after his flying lap, on being told how far behind Verstappen he was. But after getting out of the car and heading to the media pen, he was clearly delighted to be halfway competitive.
The fact a number of other drivers had managed to wedge themselves between himself and Verstappen – McLaren’s Lando Norris was third fastest after arguably the best individual lap of the day, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri all also ahead of Hamilton – mattered little.
When Hamilton qualified seventh in Japan six-and-a-half months ago, he was more than a second from pole in a car from which he derived no confidence. This time he felt far more comfortable. Indeed, Hamilton was actually faster than pole-sitter Verstappen through the high-speed Esses at Suzuka, another area which has been a major weakness for the W15 this year.
“It’s been a night-and-day different weekend so far,” Hamilton commented, comparing the Japanese weekend so far with Melbourne two weeks ago when Mercedes were all over the shop and finished with zero points.
“Just in terms of how comfortable I felt in the car. I think we did a really good job over this past week, just the analysis everyone’s done at the factory to try and understand how we can get the car in a sweeter spot.
“The car’s been much nicer to drive this weekend and particularly at a track like this, where you need a nice balance, this is the nicest it’s felt over the last three years. I think last year we were over a second off.”
There is the obvious caveat, of course, that Mercedes’ performance could fall away again on Sunday. Russell, who qualified behind Hamilton for the first time this year, showed just how narrow the operating window on the W15 still is, losing grip by Turn 8 of his final flying lap and haemorrhaging time from then on.
But overall, Mercedes are clearly increasingly optimistic they now understand their car and have a basic platform from which to start building aero load.
Off the track, most of the talk revolved around the fluid driver market for next season, with Verstappen questioning rumours linking double world champion Alonso with the second Red Bull seat currently occupied by Sergio Perez.
“I always believe in myself and in my opinion I am the boss of everyone,” he told De Limburger. “But if you ask me, I would find it strange to sign a 42-year-old driver. Red Bull has always had the tradition of training young drivers itself.
“I can get along with Fernando – that’s not it. But I also look at the future of the team.”
Final positions after qualifying
Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 28.197secs
Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:28.263
Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:28.489
Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:28.682
Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:28.686
Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:28.760
Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:28.766
Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:28.786
George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:29.008
Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) RB 1:29.413
Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) RB 1:29.472
Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 1:29.494
Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Kick Sauber 1:29.593
Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:29.714
Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:29.816
Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:30.024
Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:30.119
Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:30.131
Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:30.139
Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Kick Sauber 1:30.143
Japanese Grand Prix qualifying: As it happened
08:53 AM BST
Russell and Piastri are seeing the stewards as we speak
We will be back tomorrow from around 5am for the build-up to the Japanese Grand Prix itself, which starts at 6am BST. Would be interesting if Perez and Verstappen collided at turn one but my strong suspicion is that Verstappen will take the lead and keep it there...
08:44 AM BST
Hamilton says he thinks Mercedes have a direction now...
I was giving it everything, the team did a really great job the past week making adjustments to the set-up. It’s the first weekend I’ve not gone crazy with set-up and I think we got the car into a much nicer working window. It’s been really nice driving, the guys are just faster. Maybe if we could have done something a little different we could have been a tenth faster maybe, but other than that I think that was everything. I’m hoping the race will be stronger tomorrow, I’ve really enjoyed driving this weekend.
I personally believe so, yeah [that they have a direction]. From track to track it has been really hard to get set-up and it’s been so far out each time. This weekend is much more in the sweet spot so I hope that continues in the coming races and then we’ve got to add performance.
08:35 AM BST
George Russell speaks
I think it’s just so tight out there... if you nail the lap you will be at the front of the pack and if you don’t you will be at the back of it. We knew this surface would be a bit of a challenge for us. I expect to be better tomorrow. If you do a great job and you nail it you will be jumping three, four or five positions. Last year that may have been one position.
He talks about the difference in speed between qualifying and practice, in essence going faster pushes their car into their weaker aspects (higher speeds).
08:32 AM BST
Russell still has to go to the stewards
For that earlier incident in the pit lane with Piastri. Could things get worse for him?
08:30 AM BST
Nothing yet on Sky’s F1 coverage on Mercedes
As I said, it will be interesting to see what they say after speaking to a downbeat Fred Vasseur.
08:22 AM BST
Leclerc: ‘We didn’t do a good job’
It’s one of those sessions, maybe you get it once in a season but it’s definitely not a good feeling. Everything feels OK, the balance is not way off. If I rely on the feeling at the end of the lap I am ‘ok, this is quite a good lap’ and then you look at the board and you are a second off. I have tried many different things today and it didn’t work, any of the things I have tried. On a track like this qualifying is extremely important and today we didn’t do a good job.
08:20 AM BST
Sainz speaks after qualifying fourth
After P3 we didn’t have the same pace as FP1 and we saw it was going to be a tougher weekend it was actually a good quali. I did some very good laps in this quali and I am happy with my performance, the Ferrari is not the fastest car around [here]. We know it will come. We’ve been better on the race pace this weekend, I hope we can fight [McLaren] in the race because in qualifying it was impossible. I think the Red Bulls are unfortunately in a different league.
08:18 AM BST
Verstappen says his lap could have been better
"Not bad - could've done a better lap" 💁♂️
Max ALWAYS looking for perfection... pic.twitter.com/AujwzFctt2— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 6, 2024
08:14 AM BST
Well, in the end Verstappen did not need to improve
Both of his laps were good enough for pole. But not by a great deal. Perez might think he could have nicked it and he is right. But he should be encouraged by that, really. It’s more of what we want to see from him. Last year the gaps at the front here after qualifying were as follows:
VER 1:28.877
PIA +0.581
NOR +0.616
LEC +0.665
PER +0.773
SAI +0.973
The top two separated by just 0.066sec this year, first and third 0.249sec and first and sixth this year is 0.563, so smaller than the gap between first and second last year. That is some encouraging, despite Verstappen being again a clear favourite.
08:09 AM BST
Verstappen after his fourth pole of the year
It was close quite at the end. Overall this track is quite sensitive with the tyres, when you want to go to the limit it doesn’t always work out. Of course it is important to be on pole. You want every lap to be perfect but on a track like this it isn’t always the case. It’s great as a team to be P1 and P2 but hopefully we can keep that going for tomorrow.
08:08 AM BST
Perez on a front-row start
It was close today with Max. It felt like a good lap. It was quite tricky out there, it was quite easy to lose a couple of tenths in the last section in the chicane... we hooked it together but unfortunately it was enough. I think we’ve been really close all weekend, all the way through qualifying as well... when you are [this close] anything can make a difference. Our long-run pace hasn’t been that strong but we worked quite a bit so hopefully we can be strong [tomorrow].
08:07 AM BST
Lando Norris speaks after qualifying third
You don’t get many chances but we had a good car today, we could fight. I did some good laps, especially in Q3. We had a good race here last year, we had a good race last weekend. We’ve had a good car all weekend, we’ve made some good steps forward, we are trying to catch up to these two Red Bulls. We are working hard and the hard work is paying off.
08:05 AM BST
Q3 - Classification
VER 1:28.197
PER +0.066
NOR +0.292
SAI +0.485
ALO +0.489
PIA +0.563
HAM +0.569
LEC +0.589
RUS +0.811
TSU +1.216
Will be interesting to hear from Mercedes. Promising in practice but yet again the fifth fastest car over one lap...
08:03 AM BST
MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE FOR THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
A fine lap. Perez really threatened there, just 0.066sec between them. That is more like it from Perez. Norris in third and within three tenths. I think that’s OK. Verstappen was right, it was a lot closer than last year.
08:02 AM BST
Q3 - Alonso in fifth as Q3 climaxes
That’s OK. Russell is looking committed here and hoping to improve on his ninth place... I think he is going to struggle. He’s lost time in the middle sector. Hamilton does not improve and neither does Russell. It’s seventh and ninth for Mercedes... after all that.
Nobody can dislodge Verstappen, nor Perez from second, either...
08:01 AM BST
Q3 - Perez can’t find the time to beat Verstappen!
He’s not far off, though! Verstappen improves marginally but it should well be a front row start for Perez, with less than a tenth of a second in it. Unless Norris can disrupt and split them?
08:00 AM BST
Q3 - Perez with his best first sector
However, Verstappen improves to post the fastest of anyone. As we would expect, really...
Perez posts a very good middle sector, just over a tenth up on Verstappen...
Verstappen is slower, just, at the sector two point...
07:59 AM BST
Q3 - Leclerc is also perplexed
That’s the best I can do. Honestly. I don’t get it.
07:59 AM BST
Q3 - Leclerc challenging the front row here?
Maybe. The fastest middle sector of anyone but he loses a lot of time - three tenths - in the final sector and only goes seventh. That is a bit of a blow.
Given everyone else is doing another run he might well end up in ninth...
07:57 AM BST
Q3 - Leclerc comes out
And will have the track, mostly, to himself. A bit of a scrappy session for him today. Ferrari not quite there but Leclerc has still been the slower Ferrari driver on balance, having to use an extra set of tyres to get through in Q1.
Hamilton sounds perplexed when he is told he’s half a second down on Verstappen. “How’s that half a second, man?” Hmmm. Quite. It was a decent lap from him, I think. That Red Bull is a rocket ship in Max’s hands, though.
07:55 AM BST
Q3 - Order after the first runs
VER 1:28.240
NOR +0.249
PER +0.365
SAI +0.442
PIA +0.520
HAM +0.526
ALO +0.609
RUS +0.768
TSU +1.951
LEC (NO TIME)
07:54 AM BST
Q3 - Norris splits the Red Bulls!
Great lap! He’s in second and has a provisional front-row start. 0.249sec off Verstappen. Perez third, Sainz fourth and Piastri fifth.
07:53 AM BST
Q3 - Verstappen goes fastest!
It’s a fine lap, as we would expect - 0.365sec faster than Perez who crosses the line shortly after...
07:53 AM BST
Q3 - Russell with the fastest middle sector so far
But he doesn’t make much time back. That time is then comfortably beaten by Verstappen...
Hamilton crosses the line with a 1:28.766 and Russell is a couple of tenths off that...
Verstappen will likely beat that by a fair margin...
07:52 AM BST
Q3 - First runs under way
Fastest first sector time from Hamilton, but he is the first driver to do that. Russell is a couple of tenths behind, though. He’s just been off Hamilton in that first sector today.
Verstappen and Perez beat the Mercedes comfortably in S1 but there’s not much between them really...
07:49 AM BST
Q3 begins!
12 minutes to go, 10 cars, one pole sitter: and it’s going to be Max Verstappen? Would be good if Perez could beat him for once.
07:49 AM BST
So, Q3 line-up...
It’s two Red Bulls, two Mercedes, two McLarens, two Ferraris, one Aston Martin and one RB.
07:46 AM BST
Big lap from Tsunoda
YUKI 🙌💯
It's Q3 in Suzuka for the home hero as Tsunoda heads through to the top-ten shootout 💪#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/1Uh9LGqFGh— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2024
07:44 AM BST
Q2 - Classification
These drivers are through:
VER 1:28.740
PER +0.012
HAM +0.147
NOR +0.200
ALO +0.342
SAI +0.359
RUS +0.400
PIA +0.408
LEC +0.456
TSU +0.677
07:43 AM BST
Q2 ends - Drivers out
Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Ocon.
Ricciardo again out-qualified by his team-mate but not by much: one place in this session and 0.055sec overall. That’s more encouraging.
07:42 AM BST
Q2 - Good lap from Hamilton as the session ends
He improves to go third, 0.147sec off Verstappen. Not quite as good from Russell in seventh, four-tenths down. Hulkenberg goes 10th!
Albon only 12th. What can Tsunoda do as he crosses the line? 10th! He’s knocked Ricciardo and Hulkenberg out! Bottas can’t find the lap time he did at the end of Q1 and is only 13th. Still a good effort.
07:40 AM BST
Q2 - Let’s see what these Mercedes cars have
Both in danger of dropping out here. Decent first sector for Hamilton, within a tenth of Verstappen’s previous. Russell a couple of tenths down on Hamilton... Hamilton has yet to out-qualify Russell this year, will that change today?
After two sectors Hamilton is 0.041sec off Verstappen. Again, good stuff. Russell hasn’t lost a great deal more time but is still three tenths down on Verstappen.
07:39 AM BST
Q2 - Final runs under way here
A lovely shot of Yuki Tsunoda’s family in the RB garage. He’s having a good season. A very likeable man out of the car, sometimes an angry and petulant one inside of it. Still, he’s in good company there.
07:37 AM BST
Q2 - It doesn’t look great on paper for Mercedes
However, they did not set their laps on fresh soft tyres so there is more lap time for them to find here.
1:29.8s for both Lewis and George to kick off Q2. That puts them P8 and P9 on the used Softs pic.twitter.com/aArIdGOiFd
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 6, 2024
07:36 AM BST
Q2 - Five minutes remain
Carlos Sainz says he felt his throttle pedal bit softer at the top. It’s usually a spongy brake pedal that is the issue. Well, sometimes not an issue but an excuse.
07:34 AM BST
Q2 - Leclerc’s time to set a lap
How does it look? Hmm. Average. Sixth and 0.456sec off the pace. Sainz improves on that to go fifth ahead of Piastri but still 0.359sec off Verstappen. Ferrari do not have the greatest pace over one lap here today. A bit baffling for them.
Anyway, here is who is in the drop zone currently:
Tsunoda, Ocon, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Albon.
The last two of those have not yet set a time. Well Hulkenberg did but had his lap deleted.
07:32 AM BST
Q2 - Some interesting sector times here
Alonso looking good for Aston Martin, Norris sets the fastest first sector...
Alonso goes third, 0.342sec off Verstappen. Not too bad.
Hamilton in fifth, more than a second behind, but on old tyres. Norris dislodges Alonso in third two tenths exactly slower than Verstappen. OK.
07:31 AM BST
Q2 - This is a very good lap from Perez
He crosses the line with a 1:28.752. Is that enough to beat Verstappen? Not quite, but it’s close. Verstappen beats him by just 0.012sec.
07:29 AM BST
Q2 - Verstappen starts his first hot lap
He has to negotiate a bit of traffic early on in the lap but it’s Perez who is the faster Red Bull driver in sector one, albeit by milliseconds.
07:27 AM BST
Watch: Here’s the Russell/Piastri pit-lane incident
"That wasn't very British of George Russell" 🇬🇧
Russell pushes in front of Piastri in the pits, and the incident will be investigated after the session... pic.twitter.com/xDHNXz9i8x— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 6, 2024
You can make your own mind up but I think this will simply be a reprimand and he will avoid a racing penalty.
07:26 AM BST
Q2 begins!
The two Red Bulls are the first two drivers out as Perez leads Verstappen. He probably will not be leading him for a great deal longer when it comes to the order...
07:25 AM BST
Should Stroll be in that Aston Martin?
He had a pretty strong weekend in Melbourne. But too often his qualifying pace is poor. Not sure if he had an issue but to be nearly eight-tenths off your team-mate is unacceptable.
07:22 AM BST
Q1 - Classification
VER
ALO +0.388
PER +0.437
LEC +0.472
PIA +0.559
SAI +0.647
NOR +0.670
BOT +0.736
HAM +0.795
RIC +0.861
TSU +0.909
RUS +0.933
OCO +0.945
HUL +0.955
ALB +1.097
ELIMINATEDSTR
GAS
MAG
SAR
ZHO
Pretty close in the pack of around eighth to 16th.
07:20 AM BST
Q1 ends - Drivers out
Stroll, Gasly, Magnussen, Sargeant, Zhou.
Great lap from Bottas to go eighth. Zhou, his team-mate, down in 20th!
07:20 AM BST
Q1 - Magnussen is eliminated
He cannot improve enough... his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg does though! He’s through! Ricciardo makes it into ninth, well done! Tsunoda is 12th but improves anyway to 10th.
Stroll in danger of being eliminated here! And he is out as Bottas goes eighth fastest!
07:19 AM BST
Q1 - Leclerc does improve
He posts the fastest middle sector of anyone and crosses the line to improve to fourth, but still nearly half a second off Verstappen. Sargeant slips into the drop zone and will be out as he is not on track... can’t see him driving the Williams or in F1 in 2025.
07:18 AM BST
Q1 - Final runs getting under way
Ocon, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Zhou in the drop zone. Haas struggling here this weekend. Albon in 11th with a decent time.
Leclerc begins his final hot lap and looking to improve from his 10th. Albon says his tyres “are gone by turn 8”, which is never good on this track.
07:13 AM BST
Q1 - Top 10 and gaps after the first runs
VER 1:28.866
ALO +0.388
PER +0.437
PIA +0.559
SAI +0.647
NOR +0.670
HAM +0.795
RUS +0.933
TSU +0.955
LEC +1.020
07:12 AM BST
Q1 - Drivers in the drop zone
Gasly, Hulkenberg, Sargeant, Magnussen, Zhou.
Ricciardo 13th and needs a good weekend.
Six minutes remain.
07:11 AM BST
Q1 - Norris only sixth
Behind both Piastri and Sainz. Not too far off what his team-mate did, though. Tsunoda with a good lap to go ninth, ahead of Leclerc and within one second of Verstappen.
07:11 AM BST
Q1 - Piastri with a good lap
Relatively, anyway. He’s the fastest non-Red Bull car in third. That is until Alonso splits the Red Bulls with a time 0.388sec off Verstappen’s time. Nicely done.
07:09 AM BST
Q1 - Perez posts a 1:29.303
But Verstappen beats that by nearly 0.437sec. I think the gap between them in the final reckoning will be about that. Not good news for Ferrari: Leclerc is a second off the pace and Sainz is better but more than 0.647sec off Verstappen.
Russell slots into fifth before being dislodged by Hamilton.
07:08 AM BST
Q1 - Verstappen starts his first flying lap
Fastest in sector one, no surprise and by well over a second...
Meanwhile, Sargeant goes top of the two drivers to have set a time and by half a second over Magnussen. Albon then beats that by 0.274sec.
07:07 AM BST
Q1 - Russell moves out into the pit lane
And nearly into Oscar Piastri as he leaves the Mercedes garage slot. Piastri not very happy with it and he has to take evasive action, albeit at a very slow speed. That incident is now under investigation.
07:06 AM BST
Q1 - Albon was not happy with the car in FP3
He is now on track as a slow-crawling slug of cars queue at the end of the pitlane, leaving at several-second inteverals. It looks a bit odd.
07:04 AM BST
Q1 - 15 mins remain
Right, nobody else setting a timed lap yet so let’s see what Magnussen can do. A bit loose through Spoon but nicely done through the final chicane and he crosses the line with a 1:31.203.
07:01 AM BST
GREEN LIGHT: Q1 begins!
It’s a Haas out there first and it’s Kevin Magnussen. A decent start to the season for Haas, three points finishes from a possible six.
06:56 AM BST
Just under five minutes until qualifying
Predictions? Here’s my top six on the grid.
VER
PER
RUS
NOR
HAM
PIA
06:51 AM BST
McLaren did well here last year
They took the final two spots on the podium after Sergio Perez had a poor race. It looks like that might be a bigger ask for them this year with Mercedes looking good which may be a bit disappointing. Shame. Anyway, let’s see. I think Norris could sneak onto the front two rows.
06:47 AM BST
Weather forecast for the weekend
We had some rain yesterday which affected running, though mostly only because the rain was not substantial enough for intermediate tyres. The rest of the weekend looks dry and with temperatures around and approaching 20c, which is a bit warmer than we would have expected.
06:43 AM BST
Average points per race by team for the last few years
Mercedes are trending in one direction, Mercedes the other...
06:37 AM BST
Fair to say that Suzuka and Japan has experienced a few flashpoints in F1
Here Rosina Butcher picked out a few notable moments, some good and some bad, from the Japanese GP’s history.
06:35 AM BST
Here is also how fast each team has been in qualifying so far
No surprised for who is fastest but it is fairly competitive behind them.
Alpine still lagging behind. I imagine they will manage to become not the slowest team by the end of the season but I cannot think they will improve all that much. You get quicker but so does everybody else.
06:25 AM BST
Average qualifying position in 2024 so far
Three poles in three for Verstappen which is, realistically, going to become four in four today... isn’t it?
06:21 AM BST
No Japanese winner in F1 yet
But we have put together the five most successful Japanese drivers. Does Tsunoda have a chance of becoming their first winner? Getting into the Red Bull seat would help but it does not yet look like he is an option...
06:20 AM BST
Watch: Daniel Ricciardo’s tricky start to the season continues
Nothing wrong in itself spinning in free practice. But might it actually underline something more fundamental about his struggles?
Daniel Ricciardo takes a spin across the grass in the first sector 💫 pic.twitter.com/FUS70vLfMX
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 6, 2024
Quite possibly...
06:09 AM BST
Times after final practice
VER 1:29.563
PER +0.269
RUS +0.355
HAM +0.474
ALO +0.519
NOR +0.574
SAI +0.608
PIA +0.663
TSU +0.778
LEC +0.820
ALB +0.970
BOT +0.983
RIC +1.119
OCO +1.453
ZHO +1.504
HUL +1.576
GAS +1.578
STR +1.779
SAR +1.889
MAG +1.899
06:03 AM BST
Good morning F1 fans
Welcome to our coverage for qualifying for the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka. It’s the second time in a little over six months that Formula One has raced at the storied track and that is no bad thing. For my money it is the best track on the calendar and I think a lot of drivers would agree.
We come into this race after a two-week break following the Australian Grand Prix with a narrow margin of four points separating Max Verstappen from Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ championship. The same gap exists between first and second in the constructors’ championship, too, following Red Bull’s poor weekend in Melbourne and Ferrari’s 1-2.
That is all well and good but does not really reflect the reality of the competitive order this year, unfortunately. Yes, Ferrari may well have challenged for the win - and indeed won - without Verstappen’s retirement a fortnight ago... but at worst he would have been second, surely. Still, at least we did not get until September with only one team winning a race as was the case last year.
What to expect from Suzuka? Well, the Red Bull RB20 is an all-round brilliant car and Suzuka should play to its strengths especially. Verstappen was utterly dominant here last year, winning by an enormous margin but he believes that the same will not be the case this year. Not that he will not win, but that the margin will not be so large. Let’s see... certainly the signs are that Red Bull should be the fastest car and perhaps comfortably again, as in the two meaningful practice sessions we have had they have finished 1-2.
There has been some encouragement for Mercedes, too, and on a track they were expected to struggle. After practice yesterday Lewis Hamilton said it was the team’s best session of the year and they appeared to back that up in FP3 earlier today, finishing third and fourth behind Verstappen and Sergio Perez and both cars around half a second off Verstappen. Sure, slim pickings but it something.
Qualifying begins at 7am BST and we will be here for all of the build-up, live updates and reaction from it.
