F1 Japan GP LIVE: Race start time, stream and grid as Verstappen starts on pole ahead of Norris in Suzuka – UK Times

*Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty after impeding Lewis Hamilton in qualifying

“In FP3, I was lost, I had zero confidence, I was really struggling to improve.

“Qualifying was a good step forward, I had to make such a step it was too big. I need to be more proactive in practice, try and find the limit a bit better.”

“For sure, I think the lap was really, really good. Not much I could have done better. We unlocked some performance yesterday, today in quali it started to go away from us a little bit, especially in Q3.

“Overall, the lap I done… I was really happy with it. Still a big gap to McLaren and Red Bull, but as a whole, it’s been positive, I feel a lot more confident with the car.”

Sainz has been given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton during qualifying.

Looked a slam-dunk to be fair. It means Sainz drops from 12th to 15th.

“Not good enough from my side, P8 is not great,” Hamilton said afterwards.

“I was happy to get into Q3, it’s a really tight battle, just didn’t get great laps in in Q3.

“Charles did a great lap. I had a lot of understeer and couldn’t dial it up for qualifying.”

On the potential for a wet-race, the 40-year-old added: “I’m excited, I love the rain.

“It’ll be tricky, if you have a qualifying like that you hope for rain, so hopefully it stays.”

“Hats off to Verstappen, he pulled off a lap which was quite impressive. He is the world champion four times, there’s a reason for that – well done to him.”