Berlin, 28 March 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Kimi Antonelli led a Mercedes one-two ahead of team-mate George Russell to claim pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday.

Antonelli clocked 1 minute 28.778 seconds, beating Russell by 0.298 seconds. McLaren's Oscar Piastri completed the top three, 0.354 seconds behind the leader.

"I'm super happy with the session. It was a good one, it was a clean one. I felt very good in the car and every run I was improving and improving," Antonelli said.

This is the second consecutive pole for the Italian, who also qualified on the top spot ahead of his maiden F1 win at the Chinese GP two weeks ago.

He locked up in a shabby final qualifying lap, leaving the door open to Russell. But the British driver also had a messy lap himself and stayed second.

"It was a really strange session for us. We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after practice, and then at the beginning of qualifying, we were nowhere," Russell said.

"So, we need to kind of understand. Very lucky again to be in second. But the race is tomorrow and there’s still a lot to play for."

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had the fastest first sector and looked like he could beat Antonelli's time, but lost all that time with a scrappy second sector to only finish fourth.

Piastri, meanwhile, is aiming to start his first race of the season after failing to do so in the previous two rounds in Australia and China.

"This weekend we have looked good and we have executed well. We clearly don't have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes but we are getting closer," he said.

Title holder Lando Norris was fifth, Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari was sixth and Max Verstappen of Red Bull was only 11th after being eliminated in Q2.

Verstappen's father, Jos, has warned that the four-time world champion could lose his motivation to race in F1 in the wake of sweeping rule changes.

"Driving these cars doesn't challenge him. To be honest, I'm afraid Max is losing his motivation," he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

"He used to think that racing in Formula 1 was the greatest thing ever. But now I'm pretty pessimistic. I'd like to say that's not the case, but I see it as a problem for his future."

Max Verstappen has had a difficult start to the season without a podium in the first two races.

The Dutchman has also heavily criticized the new regulations, which place an onus on drivers managing battery power as well as using a boost button to overtake.

He said "it's not racing" and compared it to the popular video game Mario Kart.

The Japanese Grand Prix is on Sunday.

Photo: epa