Qualifying for the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, the 16th round of the season, took place at Suzuka Circuit, with drivers contesting Q1, Q2 and Q3 for their grid positions.
Lewis Hamilton took pole with a 1:27.319. Valtteri Bottas was second on 1:27.651, a gap of 0.332 seconds. Sebastian Vettel was third; the complete times for the top three in Q3 are shown in the classification below.
The top ten in qualifying were Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Pérez, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, in that order.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Nico Hülkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Jolyon Palmer and Carlos Sainz filled positions 11 to 15, respectively.
The remaining classified drivers were Romain Grosjean in 16th, Pierre Gasly in 17th, Lance Stroll in 18th, Marcus Ericsson in 19th and Pascal Wehrlein in 20th.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.047 | 1:27.819 | 1:27.319 | 18 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.332 | 1:28.543 | 1:27.651 | 17 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:29.352 | 1:28.225 | 1:27.791 | 19 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:29.475 | 1:28.935 | 1:28.306 | 13 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:29.181 | 1:28.747 | 1:28.332 | 12 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:29.163 | 1:29.079 | 1:28.498 | 15 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:30.115 | 1:29.199 | 1:29.111 | 16 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:29.696 | 1:29.343 | 1:29.260 | 17 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:30.352 | 1:29.687 | 1:29.480 | 16 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:30.525 | 1:29.749 | 1:30.687 | 13 |
| 11 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:30.654 | 1:29.778 | — | 11 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:30.252 | 1:29.879 | — | 10 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:30.774 | 1:29.972 | — | 11 |
| 14 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:30.516 | 1:30.022 | — | 10 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:30.565 | 1:30.413 | — | 11 |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:30.849 | — | — | 5 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:31.317 | — | — | 7 |
| 18 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:31.409 | — | — | 6 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:31.597 | — | — | 7 |
| 20 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:31.885 | — | — | 7 |
