Today’s Qualifying results from the fantastic Suzuka Circuit below the fold…
Mark Webber snatches Pole from Vettel in Japan
Outgoing Red Bull #2 Mark Webber flew to pole at the always challenging Suzuka circuit in Japan. He out-qualified his teammate Sebastian Vettel for the first time this year, as the Drivers’ Championship points leader was plagued by KERS problems. This was a sweet reversal of fortune for the Australian since it is usually his chassis that suffers from reliability issues that cost him track position, particularly KERS failures. This pole has also got to come as a great balm to Webber’s bruised psyche, his last two races having been upended by fire, DNFs and penalties. However Webber is also a notoriously poor starter, so it remains to be seen on Sunday if he can truly keep the ruthless Vettel (and the other top 5 men) behind him.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the last driver to cross the line in Q3 and captured 3rd spot, besting a fine effort from Lotus-Renault’s Romain Grosjean and pushing the Frenchman back to 4th. Felipe Massa outperformed his Ferrari teammate, Fernado Alonso, for the third time in the last four Qualifying rounds to earn 5th spot on the grid, with Alonso stuck in 8th behind Sauber’s impressive Nico Hulkenberg.
Top 10 Qualifiers here:
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:32.271 | 1:31.513 | 1:30.915 | 13 |
| 2 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:32.397 | 1:31.290 | 1:31.089 | 13 |
| 3 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:32.340 | 1:31.636 | 1:31.253 | 17 |
| 4 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:31.824 | 1:31.565 | 1:31.365 | 21 |
| 5 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:31.994 | 1:31.668 | 1:31.378 | 17 |
| 6 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.244 | 1:31.764 | 1:31.397 | 17 |
| 7 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:32.465 | 1:31.848 | 1:31.644 | 19 |
| 8 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.371 | 1:31.828 | 1:31.665 | 16 |
| 9 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:32.377 | 1:31.662 | 1:31.684 | 19 |
| 10 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.606 | 1:31.838 | 1:31.827 | 15 |
Full 3-round Qualifying results here at Formula1.com.
Suzuka track map (via Wikipedia.org):
Suzuka Circuit, Japan
Note that the great Suzuka Circuit is the only track on the calendar to run both clockwise and counterclockwise due to it’s overlapping Figure 8-meets-Dali layout–a real test of diver skill and chassis handling, which it is why it’s so highly regarded. It flows beautifully and the Japanese fans are worshipful about attending. And with that: Stock up on sake and enjoy tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Japan!