F1 Japanese GP qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more

The F1 world champion led a Red Bull 1-2 in opening practice which was red-flagged midway through as Logan Sargeant crashed heavily, which ruled him out of FP2 as his Williams car was repaired.

But the American driver missed relatively little running as damp conditions meant no representative running in the dry or wet was possible in second practice. Oscar Piastri topped the session from Lewis Hamilton with a late lap on the softs.

With track time limited for all the drivers, it means final practice on Saturday will be vital to nail set-up ahead of qualifying and the race at Suzuka.

Qualifying for the Japanese GP starts at 3pm local time (7am BST), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.

Date: Saturday 6 April 2024Start time: 3pm local time – 7am BST

In the United Kingdom Formula 1 is broadcast live on Sky Sports, except for the British GP which is shown live on both Sky Sports and Channel 4, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.

Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £18 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.99p or a month membership of £34.99p per month.

In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Japanese GP qualifying coverage starting at 6:00am BST on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.

Channel: Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main EventStart time: 6:00am BST 6 April 2024

Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying here. 

In the United Kingdom Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of qualifying for the Japanese GP at 11:10am BST on Saturday morning. The full programme will run for 90 minutes, covering both qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.

For the entire 2024 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.

Channel: Channel 4 Start time: 11:10am BST 6 April 2024

Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2024 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.

Coverage of Japanese GP qualifying will start at 6:55am GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.