Vettel on pole at Suzuka

As Red Bull locks up the front row

Sebastian Vettel took pole position for Sunday afternoon’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The German was the fastest man through the unusual Sunday morning’s qualifying session and will line up in pole position with his teammate Mark Webber alongside him as the RBR team locked up the front row.

Hamilton was 3rd fastest but will lose five places on the grid following an unscheduled gearbox change. Robert Kubica should line up in 3rd place with Alonso in 4th. Button should be on the third row, alongside Mercedes’ Rosberg. Hamilton should start 8th.

Let’s have a look at how the session panned out :

Q1

The track was still damp in places at the start of qualifying meaning conditions were quite tricky at first.

Vitaly Petrov led the field out of the pits as the light went green. Although many of the drivers opted for dry tyres, Jenson Button headed out in inters but pitted at the end of what was an installation lap – probably to check out his McLaren without the revised rear wing.

As the title contenders bided their time, both Williams’ drivers set the pace and were leading the field with 10 minutes remaining. At this point in time, the five title contenders and Robert Kubica were in the knock out zone.

Alonso was the first of them to post a time and moved up to P10. Webber went 11th fastest while Vettel set the 6th fastest time. Button moved up to 12th. Hamilton was the less well placed, in P16.

They all improved in the following laps and Vettel brought Red Bull back at the front thanks to a 1’32’’168. With five minutes remaining, the German was leading his countryman Hulkenberg, Barrichello, Webber and Rosberg.

Vettel found some more improvement at the end of the session and was the fastest driver in Q1. He set a 1’32’’035 to lead from Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Barrichello and Webber.

Buemi, Trulli, Kovalainen, di Grassi, Glock, Senna and Yamamoto were eliminated.

Q2

The Ferrari drivers were the first away. Two minutes in, the only cars remaining in the pits were the Mercedes of Schumacher and Rosberg.

Alonso took the early lead with a 1’31’’819 but was quickly relegated to 3rd as Webber and Button went slightly fastest. He lost one more place when Vettel slotted in 3rd with his first attempt. Lewis Hamilton was fifth.

After the first round of flying laps, Webber was leading from Button, Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton.

They all came back out for a run on the soft tyres and Vettel set a 1’31’’184 to go fastest. His teammate Webber was 2nd while Hamilton was up in 3rd. Button and Alonso completed the top five.

Michael Schumacher narrowly made the cut, while Felipe Massa couldn’t do better than 12th. The Brazilian was eliminated alongside Heidfeld, Petrov, Kobayashi, Sutil, Alguersuari and Liuzzi.

Q3

Lewis Hamilton was the first out and looking to push hard in the face of a five grid place penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change. He set the benchmark time but couldn’t do much against the Red Bull duo.

Vettel set an impressive lap time under the 1’31 to take over at the front, almost four tenths up on Webber. Hamilton hung up to 3rd after the first round of laps while his teammate Button took a gamble and went out on the hard tyre. He set the fourth fastest time.

Both Red Bulls gave it another go but pole position for the Japanese GP stayed in Vettel’s hands as he shaved off some time in his last lap. Webber was a close 2nd with Hamilton 3rd and Kubica 4th.