Watch Max Verstappen's Mind-Bending Suzuka Pole Lap

In a road car, Suzuka is an impressive track. Speeds are high, corner types are varied, and at one point you cross over the rest of the track surface on a bridge. Get in a car with enough downforce and the home of the Japanese Grand Prix becomes a whole different beast, a cathedral to enormous mid-corner speeds punctuated by a hairpin and a tight chicane that have each produced more than their share of in-race drama. An on-board video of a lap in a Formula 1 car, like Max Verstappen's pole lap earlier today, quickly shows why it is one of the most impressive racing venues in the world.

Suzuka starts with high loads of G-force immediately, opening with an enormous sweeping right-hander that leads into a series of esses that act as something like the world's fastest slalom. Two rare mid-speed corners follow before the lead-up to the track's hairpin, the slowest point on the circuit. Then, a curved run-up to the sweeping Spoon Curve, which feeds into another curved straight punctuated by the flat-out 130R.

This is just about the worst place on the schedule for anything to go wrong, something the SuperGT field experienced in spectacular fashion earlier this season. The lap ends with a tight chicane, one made famous by Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna's most controversial run-in.

Verstappen would go on to take pole by over half a second, an impressive bounce-back for the expected 2023 world champion after missing the final round of qualifying last weekend. He enters the race as the heavy favorite, as he has most races since aerodynamic regulations changed significantly ahead of the 2022 season.

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