Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Suzuka

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Kimi Antonelli took his second pole position in a row as he beat Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Antonelli was fastest throughout the session and beat Russell by 0.298 seconds, despite not improving on his final run at Suzuka.

Russell also did not improve but still had enough to beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who will be joined on the second row by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Lando Norris was fifth after a troubled weekend so far, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari, while Max Verstappen was knocked out in the second session and will start 11th.

Antonelli's first lap in the final session was 0.298secs quicker than Russell's. He was on course to improve on his final run but locked up into the hairpin and lost time.

Read the full report here

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The most important news first: Remember the clocks go forward in the UK early Sunday morning.

Tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix starts at 06:00 BST, so change any manual clocks or watches before you go to bed so you don't miss it.

We should be in for an interesting race at Suzuka, with the Mercedes drivers going head-to-head again and Oscar Piastri high up the order in third. Will the Australian make lights out this weekend? We'll have everything crossed for the McLaren man.

Join us for build-up on the live page from 05:00, with the commentary team up and running at 05:30 on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

See you on Sunday!

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc spoke to Sky Sports after qualifying P4 at Suzuka and addressed what he considers the "very frustrating" elements of qualifying while also having to recharge the battery.

After saying "you're always compromising one thing for another", he added: "I feel for some reason we are little bit more exposed to that compared to maybe the Mercedes engine, which is something we need to look at. I know the FIA is trying to understand what other things we can do to fix those issues going forward because it's still something everybody has. Apart from that, I was very happy with my lap. I had a moment in Turn Eight but this doesn't have any implications with the engine or power unit."

When asked if he felt like his skill was being limited, he said: "I feel like it would be quite arrogant to say it like that but I think for everybody, going into Q3 is just not the nicest feeling because we want to be at the limit of the car and whenever you play with those limits not only do you pay the price of a small snap but you also pay triple the price in the straight.

"This is very frustrating because qualifying is all about us trying to find the limit and play with the limit, and at the moment whenever you play with the limit you get destroyed in the straights. So you've got to stay right underneath it, which is an art in itself. All the good drivers make the difference anyway but I think it's less rewarding for the drivers that like to push over [the limit], most of the time in Q3 that's paying off but not with these cars."

Pierre Gasly booked a seventh-place grid slot for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after making it through to the pole shootout in his Alpine. The Frenchman is starting four spots higher than Max Verstappen at Suzuka, and is also one point above the four-time world champion in the drivers' standings.

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Peter: Great qualifying by Gasly in the Alpine. Able to show his qualities again in a competitive car!

Mike: OMG! Are we going to talk about that Alpine pace!?

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Mercedes have locked out the front row for the third consecutive race in 2026, with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell each celebrating a race victory from pole position so far.

As the two team-mates start side-by-side for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix - and if they stay ahead of their competitors - who do you think will win at Suzuka?

Give a left thumb if you fancy Antonelli for victory, or hit the right thumb if Russell is your choice for the win.

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McLaren's Lando Norris after finishing fifth: "I haven’t done any high-fuel runs, it’s definitely been a tricky weekend. I’ve been playing catch up all the way, even into qualifying. I wouldn’t put today’s gap down to that alone though.”

"It hurts a little bit more knowing that gap was small. I feel like I did a good job. Could it have been better? Yes, it also could have been a lot worse though. I'll take it on the chin and prepare the best I can for tomorrow.”

Daniel: I'm wondering what Hamilton is thinking right now. He made the wrong choice leaving Mercedes. After so many years with the sport, he should've known that every team has a down period, then they bounce back. He's missed out on an opportunity this year, in a car that's not competitive.

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton after qualifying sixth: "I was feeling pretty decent. We're just not very quick compared to the guys in the Mercedes and a little bit in the McLaren. My first lap, I was up and then I lost two and a half tenths, just on the straights. I had a snap and then it changed the deployment and then that was it. So, at that point I was up, if we didn't have that problem, I probably would have finished fourth. It's just the way it is with the deployment situation."

On tomorrow's race: "I don't know whether we can turn it into a podium but our race pace has been pretty decent. It looks McLaren have taken a step forward. They've got the Mercedes engine which is a long way ahead of us at the moment. We've got a huge amount of work to do. To be eight tenths off or seven tenths off, even if you bring an upgrade of a couple of tenths it's still a long way off. To close that gap is going to take a mighty push from everybody."

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What might have been for Charles Leclerc in qualifying.

The Monegsque driver will start in fourth place at the Japanese Grand Prix - and we've already seen him bolt into the lead off the line from the same position this season - but his moment of oversteer at the exit of Spoon dented any hopes of threatening Kimi Antonelli's pole status.

Leclerc, like a few other drivers, isn't a massive fan of this new style of driving in 2026. "I honestly cannot stand this qualifying. ******* joke," he said. "I go faster in corners, throttle earlier and I'm losing everything in the straights."

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff speaking to Sky Sports after Kimi Antonelli took pole: "When you hear his radio communications and also on the intercom in the garage, it's just calm. He's not putting himself under too much pressure. It's really pleasing to see."

On George Russell: "We did a set-up tweak on the other side. Something we expected to have less impact than it did and it put the car on the nose. There was too much oversteer and that made it very difficult for him. He needs to carry this into the race now, which is a disadvantage but these things happen."

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McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who starts third on the grid: "Qualifying has been OK. Nice to get into the top three this weekend.

"We've looked good, we did well. We clearly don't have the pace or the grip to beat Mercedes still but we're getting closer."

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

If there's a gap going into Turn One tomorrow, I will be very surprised if George Russell doesn't put his car all the way down the inside.

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Mercedes' George Russell, who starts on the front row in P2: "He [Antonelli] did a great job again. It was a really strange session for us. We were both very fast all weekend.

"We made some adjustments after FP3, and then at the beginning of qualifying, we were nowhere. So, we need to kind of understand.

"Very lucky again to be in P2. The last two weekends it’s kind of both gone wrong come qualifying. But the race is tomorrow and there’s still a lot to play for.”

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who secures his second career pole position at Suzuka: "I'm super happy with the session, it was a good one, it was a clean one. I felt very good in the car and every run was improving and improving.

"It was a shame about the last lap because I locked up in Turn 11 but it was a good one as well. Really happy for the session and I look forward to tomorrow.

"The fans here in Japan are pretty incredible, there's so much passion and racing on such a historic track is an incredible feeling. The track is unbelievable to drive with these kind of cars and the fans give us a little bit of a boost."

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

George Russell has been saying it from the start that he was feeling he didn't have the car underneath him and to be fair to him it didn't look like he did.

Fresh from becoming the youngest polesitter in F1 history in Shanghai, Kimi Antonelli will lead the field off the line for a second weekend in a row. There was a slight nervous twitch with that lock-up on his final run but no harm done for the teenager in the end.

World champion Lando Norris was fifth, which is a good spot considering his troubles in practice. Lewis Hamilton ended his session in sixth, Alpine's Pierre Gasly will be just behind the Ferrari in seventh, then comes Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in eighth, Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth and Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad in 10th.

Engineer: "Nice work Kimi. Pole position."

Antonelli: "Let's go man! It's a shame the last lap because it was a good one but yeah, I'm happy. Was a good quali, I'm happy."

So George Russell is on the front row but he will have to settle for second place, unless Charles Leclerc get so something special? The Monegasque driver looks rapid but a snap of oversteer knocks the wind out of him and ends his lap fourth on the grid.