Max Verstappen hit out at Lando Norris as the Formula One champion-elect narrowly avoided a collision with the McLaren on his way to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Verstappen set the fastest time, just 0.010 seconds faster than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with Carlos Sainz third – the Dutchman will retain his title if he wins and takes the fastest lap in Sunday\u2019s race and he gave himself the best chance of doing so by going quickest in qualifying.<\/p>\n
But it could have been a different story after Norris took evasive action having sped up to the back of a slower Verstappen as the pair prepared for their respective flying laps; Norris called for Verstappen to be given a penalty afterwards but the Dutchman was handed a reprimand by the stewards and keeps his pole position.<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon\u2019s Alpine was fifth behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the Mercedes pair of George Russell \u2013 who had gone fastest in Friday\u2019s wet session \u2013 and Lewis Hamilton will start the race eighth and sixth respectively, with Fernando Alonso in-between.<\/p>\n
Here is everything you need to know.<\/p>\n
What is the race schedule?<\/p>\n
(All times BST)<\/p>\n
Sunday 9 October<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen starts on pole, with Charles Leclerc second and Carlos Sainz third <\/p>\n
(AP)<\/p>\n
How can I watch it online and on TV?<\/p>\n
The entire race schedule will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event from 4:30am (BST). Highlights will be aired on Channel 4 for the race at 12:30pm (BST) on Sunday.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.<\/p>\n
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n
What is the starting grid? <\/p>\n
1) Max Verstappen <\/p>\n
2) Charles Leclerc<\/p>\n
3) Carlos Sainz <\/p>\n
4) Sergio Perez <\/p>\n
5) Esteban Ocon <\/p>\n
6) Lewis Hamilton <\/p>\n
7) Fernando Alonso <\/p>\n
8) George Russell <\/p>\n
9) Sebastian Vettel <\/p>\n
10) Lando Norris <\/p>\n
11) Daniel Ricciardo<\/p>\n
12) Valtteri Bottas <\/p>\n
13) Yuki Tsunoda <\/p>\n
14) Zhou Guanyu <\/p>\n
15) Mick Schumacher <\/p>\n
16) Alex Albon <\/p>\n
17) Pierre Gasly <\/p>\n
18) Kevin Magnussen <\/p>\n
19) Lance Stroll <\/p>\n
20) Nicholas Latifi <\/p>\n
Current driver standings<\/p>\n
1. Max Verstappen – 341 points<\/p>\n
2. Charles Leclerc – 237 points<\/p>\n
3. Sergio Perez – 235 points<\/p>\n
4. George Russell – 203 points<\/p>\n
5. Carlos Sainz – 202 points<\/p>\n
6. Lewis Hamilton – 170 points<\/p>\n
7. Lando Norris – 100 points<\/p>\n
8. Esteban Ocon – 66 points<\/p>\n
9. Fernando Alonso – 59 points<\/p>\n
10. Valtteri Bottas – 46 points<\/p>\n
11. Daniel Ricciardo -29 points<\/p>\n
12. Sebastian Vettel – 24 points<\/p>\n
13. Pierre Gasly – 23 points<\/p>\n
14. Kevin Magnussen – 22 points<\/p>\n
15. Lance Stroll – 13 points<\/p>\n
16. Mick Schumacher – 12 points<\/p>\n
17. Yuki Tsunoda – 11 points<\/p>\n
18. Guanyu Zhou – 6 points<\/p>\n
19. Alex Albon – 4 points<\/p>\n
20. Nyck de Vries – 2 points<\/p>\n
21. Nicholas Latifi – 0 points<\/p>\n
22. Nico Hulkenberg – 0 points<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Max Verstappen hit out at Lando Norris as the Formula One champion-elect narrowly avoided a collision with the McLaren on his way to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen set the fastest time, just 0.010 seconds faster than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with Carlos Sainz third – the Dutchman will retain his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n