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

The anthem warmly applauded by the thousands in the grandstands in Suzuka!

7. Aston Martin – 10 points

9. Racing Bulls – 3 points

It was the straw which broke the camel’s back for Yuki Tsunoda in Formula One: a final unleashing of road rage, with sparks flying on the asphalt and over the airwaves.

Disgruntled over a late-race position swap at last year’s season-opener in Bahrain, Tsunoda was eager to vent his exasperation after the race concluded. As cars trundled aimlessly back to the pits, Tsunoda divebombed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo before swerving erratically – and dangerously – towards the second RB car. “Yeah thanks guys,” Tsunoda ranted, sarcastically, over team radio. “I appreciate it.”

Ricciardo, generally not one to lose his cool, momentarily did: “What the f*** is wrong? I’ll save it… f***ing helmet.”

It is the instance of immaturity Tsunoda himself brings up, at the end of a 15-minute conversation with The Independent, which flicked a switch in his mind: the fiery blow-ups could not continue.

“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.”

“I’m happy, congrats to Max, he did a good job, hat’s off. Got to credit a lap that good. I got everything out of the car today, it’s tiny, Max did an amazing lap. For both of us to be up there is good but not enough.

“That’s the goal, no-one knows what the weather will do tomorrow. It will be an exciting race, I’ve been there before, excited for it.

7. Aston Martin – 10 points

9. Racing Bulls – 3 points

1. Max Verstappen – 1:26:983

4. Charles Leclerc +0.316

Saturday night is expected to bring cooler temperatures around 12C, with a chance of 3-10mm of rain by Sunday morning.

The FIA’s own internal forecast predicts for Sunday morning: “A high chance of light intermittent rain or drizzle, becoming unsettled with showers possible around midday.”

The race is set for a 2pm start. Currently, the chances of rain stand at 40% by 2pm, decreasing to 20% as the race progresses. Temperatures will be around 17C.

The probability of rain overall on Sunday is 80%.

It was the straw which broke the camel’s back for Yuki Tsunoda in Formula One: a final unleashing of road rage, with sparks flying on the asphalt and over the airwaves.

Disgruntled over a late-race position swap at last year’s season-opener in Bahrain, Tsunoda was eager to vent his exasperation after the race concluded. As cars trundled aimlessly back to the pits, Tsunoda divebombed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo before swerving erratically – and dangerously – towards the second RB car. “Yeah thanks guys,” Tsunoda ranted, sarcastically, over team radio. “I appreciate it.”

Ricciardo, generally not one to lose his cool, momentarily did: “What the f*** is wrong? I’ll save it… f***ing helmet.”

It is the instance of immaturity Tsunoda himself brings up, at the end of a 15-minute conversation with The Independent, which flicked a switch in his mind: the fiery blow-ups could not continue.

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