Kimi Antonelli is making his way on to that pole position grid slot, closely followed by his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc - all on medium tyres.

Watch out for Leclerc in fourth place. Can the Monegasque driver find a way through on the front three like he did at the opener in Melbourne?

Victor: All this hate of the new regs miss an important point. F1 is driving to the limit of the car, which they're still doing.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

Arvid Lindblad has been so impressive. He missed out in FP2 with a gearbox issue, had a great result in qualifying. He did a great job in China. Two tracks he hasn't been to and he has outperformed his team-mate. If I was Liam Lawson, I would be thinking really? Not again. Arvid has taken it to it like a duck to water.

The medium tyres are bolted on for everyone expect Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac, who has been placed on the hard compound to start with down in P20.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

Pierre Gasly is enjoying the new regulations, unlike some by the looks of it. He has had a solid start to the year, mixing in their with the Red Bulls. Can he possibly get in the mix here with Lando Norris? We could see him go even further forward up the grid.

Hadjar has done a great job, to outqualify Max Verstappen is impressive during any season but of course, he made the switch across from the sister team.

Mercedes have been in a league of their own so far in 2026 with the new regualtions, so it's no surprise to see them sit top of the constructors' standings by 31 points ahead of Ferrari.

Reigning world champions McLaren were on the end of a double DNS in China but they are still third in the table, one point clear of surprise package Haas in fourth.

Red Bull, meanwhile, are trailing behind the frontrunners after two grands prix and are level on 12 points with sister Racing Bulls.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies speaking to 5 Live's Jennie Gow on the Suzuka grid: "We haven't managed to give our drivers a car that could push. Of course it's frustrating from inside the car, it's adding to the fact that generally we still have some work to do to get to the level of the competition, when you add to that some strong balance limitations and it's sometimes a bit too much. We have a lot of work to do but that's exactly what we're here for and we'll use the time ahead of us to try to get to the bottom of it."

On Isack Hadjar's performance this season: "Isack has been doing a good job since the beginning of the year - don't get me wrong we are unhappy also with Isack's positions. He's integrating very well into the team and today it's important to take as much learning as we can."

With two races down and the third about to go green, George Russell holds a slender four-point lead over Kimi Antonelli at the top of the drivers' championship.

If Antonelli takes another win today and Russell finishes second, then the Italian teenager will arrive at the Miami Grand Prix three points ahead of the Briton in five weeks' time.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Image

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

George Russell wasn't pleased with the handling of his car. He said he made a set-up change between practice and qualifying and he said it just didn't help the set-up of his car. He was still lagging about two tenths behind his team-mate for that change in practice three. That's what can happen with small changes, it can really upset the balance, it didn't look great on the onboard compared to Antonelli. He was snaking through the chicane, he just could not get the rear to settle down. That helped towards him not really challenging Kimi Antonelli.

The Japanese Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the F1 calendar and the fans never disappoint when it comes to dressing up or supporting every driver on the grid.

And to go with the fresh rules for 2026, Suzuka's famous DRS hats have been replaced with ones with active aerodynamics.

Lando Norris got to meet his little mini me yesterday and Oscar Piastri commented: "He's almost the same size as you."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on representing engine partner Honda in Japan: "It's very special. Suzuka is one of the best circuits on the calendar and one of the best races. For us, this year is even more special, racing for Honda, and we're trying to do our best. It feels like our first grand prix of the year, it's been a bumpy start but were very proud to be racing here for Honda.

"[The fans] are amazing. Suzuka is so special as well because the fans make the weekend special. We want to provide a good show for everyone and we will fight on all the laps."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Suzuka

Image source, Pirelli 2026

The Japanese Grand Prix looks like a locked-in one-stop strategy with the favoured tyres the medium and hard. Strategy computations suggest that it’s hard to justify a two-stop unless there is a late safety car or other similar disruption. Otherwise, the offset is too large.

Suzuka used to be a track with high tyre degradation. It’s still demanding of the tyres because of the long, medium- and high-speed corners but the resurfacing over the past two years, which now spans the entire track, has given an asphalt that works better with the Pirelli tyres.

Suzuka has always been a track where overtaking is difficult but that may change this year with the new engines, and the constantly fluctuating levels of energy for the hybrid system.

Drivers will have to be careful how they use the boost button, though, as if it’s used on one straight, then the car runs out of energy much earlier on the next, making a car vulnerable to being re-passed. Racing with another car is also a major lap-time compromise because it stops the ideal deployment schedule.

The race at the front is likely to devolve into three sections - Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

Although McLaren have made a step forward this weekend and are now no longer losing out to Mercedes in knowledge of engine usage, they are still slower than both their rivals in the corners.

In the race, the corners become longer, so McLaren don’t expect to be able to beat Ferrari. It won’t stop them trying, of course. A pit stop costs about 23 seconds, or 11 seconds under a safety car, real or virtual.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown talking to 5 Live's Jennie Gow on the grid at Suzuka: "This is a great race, great crowd. We had a good result here last year so hopefully we can repeat that. I think Mercedes are in a league of their own but let's see, anything can happen."

On McLaren's reliability issues: "We're making progress. Reliability, given what we've been through so far, is definitely a concern but we've put the car together as well as possible and hopefully everything sees us to the end and we give our drivers the opportunity to fight for some podium positions."

On how they can beat Mercedes: "I think on outright pace Mercedes are faster than us so we have to beat them on strategy."

Image source, Getty Images

The Chinese Grand Prix delivered Lewis Hamilton his long-awaited first podium finish for Ferrari and not only did he get to celebrate the achievement with former Mercedes engineer Pete Bonnington, who was with his new driver, race winner Kimi Antonelli, he also had his mum in Shanghai with him all week.

Hamilton said qualifying on Saturday was "OK", but he's a row behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc in sixth place. The two were fighting each other for position in China, with both drivers agreeing the battle was very fun.

We know the Scuderia hold an advantage when it comes to blasting off the line but the seven-time world champion thinks there is more performance to unlock, and the gap to the cars ahead is "still significant".

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

Antonelli feels like Norris last year, where he just couldn't get the start nailed. The turbo is a little bit bigger than Ferrari's so when it comes to getting off the line, Ferrari just leapfrog Mercedes. But then the race unfolds and they get back into their natural order. Kimi knows what he has to do, they've had time in the simulator between China and here.

Matthew: Four of us here from Portsmouth, England. All cheering on the British drivers.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen has been a critic of Formula 1's new engine rules - the power units are now a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power - and the need for energy managment throughout the lap, especially in qualifying when drivers should be on the limit.

The Dutchman said he has "a lot of stuff to personally figure out" after his Q2 elimination. "You know how I think about a lot of stuff, right?" Verstappen said. "I don't need to mention it again.

"I'm not even frustrated any more. I'm beyond that."

Many drivers joined Verstappen in airing their grievances with the qualifying. Fernando Alonso said high-speed corners on the calendar have now become "a charging station for the car", and the challenge of driving the famous Suzuka had gone.

World champion Lando Norris said while Japan hasn't completely lost its magic, he added: "It still hurts your soul when you see your speed dropping so much, 56km/h down the straight."

For Charles Leclerc, he let his frustrations out on the team radio after his threat for pole failed to materialise following a snap of oversteer snap out of the Spoon, telling his pit wall he can't stand qualifying.

"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," said Leclerc.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

It is old school, go through the first sector, you go up the hill and then it goes back down then up again. It is a challenging circuit physically for drivers. It's just a challenge, a great challenge. That's what drivers like, a challenge.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen has been unstoppable at the Japanese Grand Prix in recent years, sealing wins from pole position at the past four races. His pole lap in 2025 even grabbed headlines for how special it was, stunning rivals McLaren who had looked certain to take the front-row spot.

Fast forward 12 months and all Verstappen can do now is watch on from the media pen as he answers questions about a Q2 knockout. The four-time world champion said his Red Bull was "undriveable" and today he lines-up in P11 after being given the boot in qualifying by rookie driver Arvid Lindblad.

He also didn't see the chequered flag in China two weeks ago, retiring from the race to come away from round two empty handed and leaving him 43 points off leader George Russell in the standings.

Jacob: Charles to finish 1st after a rocket start, Russell in 2nd and Kimi in 3rd.