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Lewis and George start the race from rows 4 and 5

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Qualifying in iconic Suzuka was hotly contested. In Q3, the top 10 were within eight tenths of each other, with P3 and P9 separated by just half a second.

Lewis and George will start the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon from seventh and ninth on the grid.

Both had two fresh sets of Soft tyres for their two attempts in Q3, but were unable to improve on their second attempts in the closing stages. Lewis was just a tenth off P4.

Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix took place on Saturday afternoon in cool temperatures, which were similar to those in FP3 in the morning.

In Q1, both drivers made it through to the next qualifying segment. They finished the session in ninth and twelfth position after just one run, saving a set of Soft tyres.

Both drivers also progressed safely in Q2. Both Lewis and George initially drove on a used set of Soft tyres before switching to fresh Softs on their second run. In the end, they finished third and seventh and took two new sets of Soft tyres into Q3.

Now it's time to wait until the lights go out. The action continues on Sunday afternoon at 14:00 local time (06:00 UK time) with the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.

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Lewis Hamilton

Qualifying was generally a really good session. I think we’ve made some good improvements to the car and its balance so far this weekend. I was overall much happier in the car than I have been this year, although there are clear areas of improvement. We have taken steps in the right direction though. When we raced here just six months ago, we were over one second adrift and we’ve closed that gap to the front a little, and to our nearest competitors. Of course I was hoping for more and we are never going to be happy with P7, but we know our car is a work in progress.

Tomorrow’s race will be all about tyre degradation. Our long run pace looked similar to others on Friday, so we will see if that is the case on Sunday. I think it will be very close tomorrow so I hope we can maximise all the various factors and take home some good points.

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George Russell

It was so tight out there between ourselves, the McLarens, the Ferraris, and the Aston Martins. After FP3, we knew there would only be one tenth or two between all those cars and so it proved. If you didn’t do a great lap you would end up P9 and that is what happened with me today. I made a mistake on my final lap; it’s a little bit disappointing but that is how it goes sometimes. It isn’t the most difficult race to overtake at though, and with tyre degradation and different strategies, hopefully we can move forward tomorrow. A lot can certainly happen.

We’ve started this season with several high-speed circuits. We know that is where our weakness is with this car, and we knew this weekend wouldn’t be our best. It is good that we are exposing these weaknesses as it gives us the understanding of the platform we are building on and adding performance to. It sets a clear direction for us to improve.

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Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

The headline result of P7 and P9 is not great. The positive though is that we are not too far off the second row, just one tenth or so, at a track that was one of, if not the worst, last year. We seem to have taken a step in the right direction with the car this weekend. Everyone is pushing so hard to understand more about the W15 and how we can build on the platform we have. To see progress is therefore encouraging.

It is difficult to predict what tomorrow’s race will look like. The pack behind Red Bull is very tight so we will see what we can do. The long run data from Friday, and today’s qualifying session, shows that it could be close. We will look to maximise everything we do and the package we have to score the best result possible.

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Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We headed to Japan focused on trying to make the car more consistent and drivable over the weekend. Pleasingly, it looks like we've made some progress in that regard. We'd be a lot happier of course if we were a tenth quicker. That would have put us several positions higher up on the grid. The reality at the moment though is we are the wrong side of a tight bunch of cars and need to find some more performance.

Despite that, we have halved our gap to pole position from last year and can also be encouraged by the fact that even small steps forward will move us up the grid. The red flag and rain yesterday have meant we're short of long run data, but this is a race where you can move forward if you have good pace. We will be looking to make the most of the car we have, execute our strategy well, and hopefully can finish higher up than where we are starting.

2024 Japanese GP Qualifying Results

<table><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Max Verstappen</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>1:28.197</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Sergio Pérez</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>1:28.263</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Lando Norris</td><td>McLaren</td><td>1:28.489</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Carlos Sainz Jr.</td><td>Ferrari</td><td>1:28.682</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Fernando Alonso</td><td>Aston Martin</td><td>1:28.686</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Oscar Piastri</td><td>McLaren</td><td>1:28.760</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Lewis Hamilton</td><td>Mercedes-AMG</td><td>1:28.766</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Charles Leclerc</td><td>Ferrari</td><td>1:28.786</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>George Russell</td><td>Mercedes-AMG</td><td>1:29.008</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Yuki Tsunoda</td><td>Racing Bulls</td><td>1:29.413</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Daniel Ricciardo</td><td>Racing Bulls</td><td>1:29.472</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Nico Hülkenberg</td><td>Haas</td><td>1:29.494</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Valtteri Bottas</td><td>Sauber</td><td>1:29.593</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Alexander Albon</td><td>Williams</td><td>1:29.714</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Esteban Ocon</td><td>Alpine</td><td>1:29.816</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Lance Stroll</td><td>Aston Martin</td><td>1:30.024</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Pierre Gasly</td><td>Alpine</td><td>1:30.119</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Kevin Magnussen</td><td>Haas</td><td>1:30.131</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Logan Sargeant</td><td>Williams</td><td>1:30.139</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Zhou Guanyu</td><td>Sauber</td><td>1:30.143</td></tr></tbody></table>

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2024 Japanese GP FP3 Results

<table><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Max Verstappen</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>1:29.563</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Sergio Pérez</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>1:29.832</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>George Russell</td><td>Mercedes-AMG</td><td>1:29.918</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Lewis Hamilton</td><td>Mercedes-AMG</td><td>1:30.037</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Fernando Alonso</td><td>Aston Martin</td><td>1:30.082</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Lando Norris</td><td>McLaren</td><td>1:30.137</td><td>14</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Carlos Sainz Jr.</td><td>Ferrari</td><td>1:30.171</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Oscar Piastri</td><td>McLaren</td><td>1:30.226</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Yuki Tsunoda</td><td>Racing Bulls</td><td>1:30.341</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Charles Leclerc</td><td>Ferrari</td><td>1:30.383</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Alexander Albon</td><td>Williams</td><td>1:30.533</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Valtteri Bottas</td><td>Sauber</td><td>1:30.546</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Daniel Ricciardo</td><td>Racing Bulls</td><td>1:30.682</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Esteban Ocon</td><td>Alpine</td><td>1:31.022</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Zhou Guanyu</td><td>Sauber</td><td>1:31.067</td><td>16</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Nico Hülkenberg</td><td>Haas</td><td>1:31.139</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Pierre Gasly</td><td>Alpine</td><td>1:31.141</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Lance Stroll</td><td>Aston Martin</td><td>1:31.342</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Logan Sargeant</td><td>Williams</td><td>1:31.452</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Kevin Magnussen</td><td>Haas</td><td>1:31.462</td><td>22</td></tr></tbody></table>