Max Verstappen surprisingly takes pole position at the Japanese GP

Red Bull is already making a splash in Suzuka with the new livery of its racing cars. They're saying goodbye to the long-standing dark blue and switching to a fresh new white. But today's qualifying also produced a clear surprise. With McLaren's dominance in Formula 1 set to continue into 2025, the victories so far have primarily been in McLaren's favor, along with Ferrari's victory in the sprint race in China. Max Verstappen has been able to keep up well so far – in contrast to his disappointing teammate Liam Lawson, who consistently sits at the bottom of the standings – but he has never been a threat to McLaren. Is the new white livery meant to signal a kind of fresh start, a new beginning? After the orange team's clear dominance in qualifying so far this season, the Dutchman surprised everyone by taking pole position in Suzuka, which he secured in his final attempt with a razor-thin margin of 1 hundredth and 12 thousandths of a second, respectively. Is this the start of a tough battle between Red Bull and McLaren? Charles Leclerc in Ferrari also positioned himself surprisingly well, starting fourth on the grid, about three-tenths behind. Rookies Antonelli in Mercedes, Isack Hadjar in Racing Bulls, and Oliver Bearman in Haas, who finished in tenth place, also demonstrated that they have arrived in Formula 1 and are here to win, not just to compete.