You dont have javascript enabled! Please enable it!

Lap Time Watch

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/F1 Statistics/Lap Time Watch/Max Verstappen/McLaren

McLaren admit Verstappen’s pole lap was “near-perfect”: Lap time data

Admin
on

Even McLaren had to admit there was something special about Max Verstappen’s lap for pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Either of their drivers could have taken pole position. Together they could have locked out the front row of the grid. But minor errors handed Verstappen the slimmest of opportunities, and he seized it brilliantly.

Sector times

On a day when shifting conditions made it harder than usual for drivers to string together their best sector times, Verstappen was the only driver who reached Q3 to pull it off.

He wasn’t fastest in any of the three individual sectors – the McLaren drivers were. Each of them produced sector times which, taken together, could have put them in front of Verstappen.

But they didn’t manage it when it mattered. “We looked like we were on the way to pole position when Max managed to pull off what looks like a near-perfect lap,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted, “so credit to Max.”

P.#DriverS1S2S3Ultimate lap (deficit)
181Oscar Piastri30.514 (5)39.197 (1)17.205 (1)1’26.916 (+0.111)
24Lando Norris30.358 (1)39.301 (2)17.307 (6)1’26.966 (+0.029)
31Max Verstappen30.387 (3)39.355 (4)17.241 (2)1’26.983
416Charles Leclerc30.535 (6)39.352 (3)17.292 (4)1’27.179 (+0.120)
563George Russell30.376 (2)39.560 (8)17.281 (3)1’27.217 (+0.101)
644Lewis Hamilton30.506 (4)39.454 (5)17.406 (12)1’27.366 (+0.244)
712Andrea Kimi Antonelli30.669 (12)39.503 (7)17.295 (5)1’27.467 (+0.088)
86Isack Hadjar30.663 (11)39.471 (6)17.401 (10)1’27.535 (+0.034)
923Alexander Albon30.604 (8)39.581 (10)17.399 (9)1’27.584 (+0.031)
1087Oliver Bearman30.646 (10)39.639 (12)17.403 (11)1’27.688 (+0.023)
1155Carlos Sainz Jnr30.760 (14)39.579 (9)17.408 (13)1’27.747 (+0.089)
1210Pierre Gasly30.593 (7)39.840 (15)17.389 (7)1’27.822
1322Yuki Tsunoda30.707 (13)39.672 (13)17.449 (14)1’27.828 (+0.139)
1414Fernando Alonso30.633 (9)39.705 (14)17.559 (18)1’27.897
1530Liam Lawson30.879 (15)39.634 (11)17.393 (8)1’27.906
165Gabriel Bortoleto30.974 (17)40.000 (17)17.542 (17)1’28.516 (+0.106)
1727Nico Hulkenberg31.082 (20)39.984 (16)17.504 (15)1’28.570
1831Esteban Ocon31.012 (18)40.137 (18)17.518 (16)1’28.667 (+0.029)
197Jack Doohan30.949 (16)40.186 (19)17.608 (19)1’28.743 (+0.134)
2018Lance Stroll31.034 (19)40.483 (20)17.754 (20)1’29.271

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Teams’ performance

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Suzuka, 2019
Verstappen broke Vettel’s Suzuka course record from 2019

McLaren and Red Bull had around three tenths of a second over Ferrari and Mercedes. George Russell was disappointed with his lap for fifth on the grid, having been consistently higher than that in practice, blaming low tyre temperatures for a poor start to his final lap.

Racing Bulls threatened to get in among the front runners during practice, but were one of several teams which appeared to be caught out by the shift in wind conditions overnight.

“Somewhere along the way, I think with the wind change, we struggled more,” admitted Liam Lawson following his return to the team. “It’s a shame because the potential of the car has been very, very good this weekend.”

Sauber was the only team to lose both drivers in Q1, which somewhat exaggerates their deficit to the competition, as the track conditions continued to improve in Q2.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Williams chalked up the biggest year-on-year improvement of any team. Moreover, Carlos Sainz Jnr finally seems to be getting to grips with the car, lapping just five hundredths of a second off Alexander Albon in Q2.

Field performance

Thanks partly to the resurfacing at the start of the lap, Suzuka saw record-breaking times during qualifying. Verstappen trimmed the former record, held by Sebastian Vettel since 2019, by 0.081 seconds.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

2025 Japanese Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Japanese Grand Prix articles

2025 Chinese Grand Prix/2025 F1 season/F1 Statistics/Ferrari/Lap Time Watch

F1 Lap Time Watch: 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Admin
on

Lewis Hamilton may have pulled off a surprise pole position for the sprint race, but when it came to qualifying proper the Ferraris slipped back to the third row of the grid.

That’s one row better than they managed in Australia but still a disappointment for their drivers. “We’re just not fast enough,” Charles Leclerc told Viaplay after qualifying, echoing his words of one week ago. “The potential of the car is just not there.”

That may be so, but the gaps between the leading teams is still impressively slim, and the difference between some of the midfielders is almost non-existent.

Teams’ performance

Unlike in Australia, Ferrari at least managed to avoid getting sniped by a couple of midfielders this time, and therefore ranked fourth-quickest once qualifying was done.

Racing Bulls showed great pace around Shanghai, getting within a quarter of a second of the senior Red Bull team. Behind Williams there was almost nothing to separate Haas, Aston Martin and Sauber.

Alpine sank back to the position they found themselves in last year, and by quite a margin, too. It remains to be seen whether, on a weekend where teams have been alarmed by higher than expected tyre degradation, they or anyone else have sacrificed one-lap performance in favour of a set-up which will ease the strain on their rubber.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Sector times

Esteban Ocon deserves special mention for hauling his VF-25 up to 11th, having come closer than most to stitching his three best sector times together. George Russell grabbed a surprise place on the front row with a tidy lap as well.

P.#DriverS1S2S3Ultimate lap (deficit)
181Oscar Piastri23.984 (3)27.163 (1)39.418 (1)1’30.565 (+0.076)
24Lando Norris23.954 (2)27.257 (7)39.435 (3)1’30.646 (+0.141)
31Max Verstappen23.945 (1)27.238 (6)39.523 (4)1’30.706 (+0.111)
463George Russell24.068 (5)27.221 (5)39.434 (2)1’30.723
544Lewis Hamilton24.070 (6)27.175 (2)39.604 (6)1’30.849 (+0.078)
616Charles Leclerc24.094 (8)27.320 (9)39.572 (5)1’30.986 (+0.035)
76Isack Hadjar24.127 (9)27.213 (4)39.660 (8)1’31.000 (+0.079)
812Andrea Kimi Antonelli24.176 (14)27.301 (8)39.626 (7)1’31.103
922Yuki Tsunoda24.171 (13)27.203 (3)39.759 (9)1’31.133 (+0.105)
1023Alexander Albon24.170 (12)27.477 (11)39.789 (10)1’31.436 (+0.067)
1127Nico Hulkenberg24.080 (7)27.481 (13)39.895 (14)1’31.456 (+0.176)
1214Fernando Alonso24.067 (4)27.539 (16)39.866 (12)1’31.472 (+0.216)
1318Lance Stroll24.133 (11)27.391 (10)40.039 (19)1’31.563 (+0.210)
1455Carlos Sainz Jnr24.231 (15)27.480 (12)39.859 (11)1’31.570 (+0.058)
1531Esteban Ocon24.244 (16)27.489 (14)39.890 (13)1’31.623 (+0.002)
1610Pierre Gasly24.128 (10)27.601 (18)40.029 (16)1’31.758 (+0.234)
175Gabriel Bortoleto24.318 (17)27.517 (15)40.071 (20)1’31.906 (+0.235)
1887Oliver Bearman24.427 (19)27.599 (17)39.992 (15)1’32.018
197Jack Doohan24.407 (18)27.652 (20)40.030 (17)1’32.089 (+0.003)
2030Liam Lawson24.522 (20)27.622 (19)40.030 (17)1’32.174

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Teams’ improvement

Racing Bulls made the biggest year-on-year improvement of any team in Shanghai. But Williams look in good shape too, as this is the second week running they’ve posted the second-largest gain of any team, on two very different circuits.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Field performance

When F1 returned to Shanghai last season, following a five-year absence, the cars lapped slower than they did when the championship first visited the track two decades earlier.

Their performance around the re-laid, ultra-smooth course has been a shock to the system for many. Oscar Piastri’s pole-winning lap was three seconds quicker than the best time seen last year and four tenths of a second under the former record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2018.

“The track’s like a bowling alley at the moment, super smooth,” said Russell after qualifying. “Like here and like Jeddah, that’s like the gold standard of resurfacing that the drivers want because it’s so enjoyable to drive and it’s so quick.”

Saturday’s sprint race was dominated by tyre management and some teams have reworked their set-ups to prepare for that in the grand prix. However as no driver has run the hard tyre compound yet it remains to be seen how hard they’ll be able to push in the grand prix.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Chinese Grand Prix articles

2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/F1 Statistics/Lap Time Watch

F1 Lap Time Watch: 2025 Australian Grand Prix

Admin
on

“We are too slow for now,” was Charles Leclerc’s verdict on a disappointing first qualifying session of the season for Ferrari.

Having topped the times on Friday, Ferrari were dismayed to find themselves the sixth-fastest team in qualifying. While that does not appear to be an accurate reflection of exactly how quick their car is, the stopwatch won’t be argued with.
“The feeling overall is not great,” Leclerc told Viaplay after qualifying. “We were struggling quite a lot with the car.

“The balance was tricky, but eventually when you start to struggle a lot with the balance it’s because you’ve got to push more than the actual limit of the car.”

Ferrari appeared to take a misstep with the SF-25 on Saturday. In Leclerc’s efforts to get on top of the car, and those of new team mate Lewis Hamilton who is still adapting to it, the pair fell short of its potential.

Leclerc abandoned his final lap after a series of errors. From his and Hamilton’s sectors it’s clear they were capable of a 1’17.4-1’17.5, instead of the 1’17.7 Leclerc managed. That would have put them in the thick of the fight for the second row, not relegated to the fourth behind a Williams and a Racing Bulls.

Teams’ performance

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

McLaren demonstrated they are the team to beat, at this track at least, by emphatically claiming the front row. Their margin was slightly larger than Red Bull’s at this race last year, though they qualified first and third on that occasion (before Sergio Perez’s penalty).

As looked likely after yesterday’s running, Alpine confirmed themselves as the most improved team year-on-year at this track. However while Sauber appeared to have made the second-biggest step yesterday, they fell to sixth once qualifying was over. Curiously, all three Ferrari-powered teams made smaller gains than their rivals overnight.

Haas find themselves in the worst position, having improved their lap time year-on-year by less than three tenths of a second. The slow corners of the Bahrain International Circuit failed to show a weakness of their car, said team principal Ayao Komatsu. “We’re lacking a lot in high-speed corners and we didn’t see that coming from Bahrain testing,” he remarked, “but this is the reality currently and we need to find a solution as quickly as possible.”

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Sector times

The McLaren pair rebounded from poor first laps to produce their best times in all three sectors with their final efforts. Only one other driver put their quickest sector times together in one lap: Yuki Tsunoda, who claimed an impressive fifth.

Don’t overlook his team mate Isack Hadjar, however, who got within 0.009s of his potential best lap. However George Russell must be looking at his sector times and reflecting that Verstappen was beat-able. And in his first qualifying session at Ferrari, Hamilton left a lot of time on the table, but at least showed potential.

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

P.#DriverS1S2S3Ultimate lap (deficit)
14Lando Norris25.961 (1)16.997 (5)32.138 (1)1’15.096
281Oscar Piastri26.082 (3)16.952 (3)32.146 (2)1’15.180
363George Russell26.104 (4)16.951 (2)32.297 (4)1’15.352 (+0.194)
41Max Verstappen26.055 (2)16.915 (1)32.421 (5)1’15.391 (+0.090)
544Lewis Hamilton26.150 (5)17.060 (10)32.263 (3)1’15.473 (+0.446)
622Yuki Tsunoda26.190 (8)17.005 (7)32.475 (7)1’15.670
716Charles Leclerc26.184 (6)17.025 (8)32.466 (6)1’15.675 (+0.080)
823Alexander Albon26.186 (7)16.978 (4)32.513 (8)1’15.677 (+0.060)
955Carlos Sainz Jnr26.269 (9)17.000 (6)32.584 (10)1’15.853 (+0.078)
1010Pierre Gasly26.293 (11)17.051 (9)32.560 (9)1’15.904 (+0.076)
1114Fernando Alonso26.300 (12)17.107 (11)32.747 (14)1’16.154 (+0.134)
126Isack Hadjar26.345 (13)17.139 (12)32.682 (11)1’16.166 (+0.009)
137Jack Doohan26.270 (10)17.150 (13)32.784 (16)1’16.204 (+0.111)
1418Lance Stroll26.364 (14)17.151 (14)32.744 (13)1’16.259 (+0.110)
1512Andrea Kimi Antonelli26.443 (16)17.166 (15)32.754 (15)1’16.363 (+0.162)
1627Nico Hulkenberg26.506 (17)17.201 (17)32.722 (12)1’16.429 (+0.150)
175Gabriel Bortoleto26.423 (15)17.220 (19)32.801 (17)1’16.444 (+0.072)
1830Liam Lawson26.548 (18)17.191 (16)32.913 (18)1’16.652 (+0.442)
1931Esteban Ocon26.678 (19)17.206 (18)33.114 (19)1’16.998 (+0.149)

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Field performance

This is the fourth race weekend on the revised configuration of the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. The teams’ lap time gains have been quite consistent over that time.

How close will next year’s radically different cars get to the new benchmark set by Norris today?

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

2025 Australian Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Australian Grand Prix articles