Double world champion Max Verstappen produced a superb performance to secure pole position in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was back in dominant form after the fifth place in Singapore last time out, finishing 0.581 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri in second, with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris third.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth, ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who was 0.773 secs slower than teammate Verstappen.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was sixth, ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
It was Verstappen’s ninth pole of the season but first since the Dutch GP a month ago.
“Incredible weekend so far and especially in qualifying when you can really push it to the limit, the car felt really nice,” Verstappen said.
“We had a bad weekend in Singapore but I already felt from the preparation we had that this was going to be a good track.
“You never know how good it is going to be but from lap one it has felt really nice and to be on pole is fantastic.”
The Dutchman saw his record streak of 10 consecutive wins end at Marina Bay – where Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was victorious – but looks to be back in winning form at the Suzuka circuit where he clinched his second consecutive drivers' championship last year.
Australian rookie Piastri will start from the front row for the first time in his F1 career.
“It will be cool, there is only one car ahead to overtake so I will try to make it happen,” said the 22-year-old Piastri, who just signed a contract extension with McLaren until the end of the 2026.
Norris completed an impressive day for McLaren. “A great job by Oscar and Max today, but a good day for us in P2 and P3,” Norris said.
“It is tricky to put everything together around the lap and the smallest mistake can cost a lot of lap time. It is still a good day and I am happy.”
A front-row start is key at Suzuka. The winner has only come from behind the front row once in the past 12 races when Valtteri Bottas took the chequered from third in 2019.
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Name: The Protein Bakeshop
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Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
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Match info
Costa Rica 0
Serbia 1
Kolarov (56')
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
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Name: JustClean
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
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Rating: 3/5
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the pledge
I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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STAGE 4 RESULTS
1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51
2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo
General Classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21
2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43
3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03
4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45