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Australian Daniel Ricciardo has come agonisingly close to starting Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix inside the top 10, being pipped late in qualifying.
The McLaren driver was knocked out of the second qualifying session after finishing 11th, just 0.03 seconds behind Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel who snuck into Q3 for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June.
Ricciardo was audibly frustrated over this team radio, swearing when he was told he missed out by three milliseconds.
Max Verstappen qualified on pole at Suzuka ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The top three were separated by just half-a-tenth of a second.
Verstappen is under investigation from the race stewards after an incident with McLaren's Lando Norris in the final qualifying session.
While both drivers were preparing for a flying lap, Norris sped up to overtake Verstappen who was trying to warm up his tyres.
The rear tyres of Verstappen's car started to slide, meaning the Red Bull driver veered into Norris's path.
The McLaren driver had to quickly move to the left to avoid a collision.
"I was driving quite slow and I wanted to accelerate but my tyres were quite cold so I had a big moment," Verstappen said.
"Lando was trying to pass me at the same time so he had to avoid me a little bit, but luckily nothing happened."
Verstappen can win his second drivers' championship on Sunday with victory and a bonus point for fastest lap.
The Dutchman will also be crowned champion if he scores eight more points then Leclerc and six more points than teammate Sergio Perez, who will start fourth.