Max Verstappen took pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, just outpacing his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez for top spot, while Japan's Yuki Tsunoda grabbed 10th place.
Dutchman Verstappen, the three-time reigning Formula One champion, clocked a lap of 1 minute, 28.197 seconds around the Suzuka International Racing Course, doing just enough to qualify ahead of his Mexican teammate by 0.066 second, with McLaren's Lando Norris taking third for Britain.
"Most important is to be on pole, you want every lap to be perfect but it is not always the way," said Verstappen, lamenting some small mistakes.
"Overall it was a very good day...but of course, tomorrow is what counts."
Local hero Tsunoda reached the final stage of qualifying for the third time in the season's first four races, continuing his dominance over Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who will start Sunday's race from 11th on the grid.
"I felt a little pressure coming into this weekend after our strong performance in Australia, but I'd say it's good pressure and I'm very happy I was able to get into Q3," Tsunoda said.
"The qualifying itself wasn't as easy as we expected, but overall, as a team, we did a fantastic job."
Tsunoda finished a season-high seventh place at the most recent race in Melbourne, Australia, to record the RB team's first points of the season.
Carlos Sainz, the winner last time out in Australia, will start fourth on Sunday as the fastest Ferrari qualifier, ahead of two-time world champion and fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin.
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