As a fierce typhoon was bearing down on Japan and the Suzuka circuit another massive storm erupted in the paddock that made Qualifying for a race that may or may not happen on Sunday seem like an afterthought. Come with me below the fold to find out all the major doings from Japan…

Mercedes on top with front row lockout: Rosberg regains momentum with Pole, Hamilton 2nd and Williams’ Bottas grabs another 3rd in Quali — But bigger news rocks the F1 paddock in Japan

Vettel and Alonso won’t be wearing these colors next year (pics from the always excellent GrandPrix247.com)

On a race weekend at the famed Suzuka circuit where all eyes should have been on the intense Drivers’ Championship rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, ominous weather and momentous news out of the Red Bull & Ferrari camps relegated Saturday Qualifying to a mere sideshow and sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the F1 paddock. As dangerously powerful Typhoon Phanphone threatened Japan from the south, Sebastian Vettel announced on Saturday morning that he was leaving Team Red Bull in 2015, the only racing home the German 4-time World Drivers’ Champion has ever known. While it has not yet been made official, team boss Christian Horner confirmed in remarks to reporters that Vettel was departing for Scuderia Ferrari. That bombshell further reverberated with the interrelated news that current Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso would also be moving and most likely to McLaren, the team he rather cruelly left only seven years ago. That would seem to leave veteran pilot Jenson Button out in the cold for next season and the graceful English former champion may be driving his last five Formula 1 races. Horner also announced that Daniil Kvyat, the 20-year-old Russian phenom, would be promoted from Torro Rosso to the senior team to partner impressive Aussie Daniel Ricciardo and form a very young and dynamic one-two punch for the Renault-powered Red Bulls in 2015.

The news about Vettel was as explosive as that from Lewis Hamilton two years ago, when the Englishman announced he was leaving McLaren for Mercedes. Seb can only hope to repeat Hamilton’s success in abandoning what appears to be a team in near-peak form for one that is struggling. More than likely and as the great F1 commentator Steve Matchett has mentioned, Sebastian Vettel is trying to recreate the trick that Michael Schumacher produced when he joined Ferrari in 1996 and eventually led the Prancing Horse to an unprecedented 5 consecutive titles (2000-2004). Having already won 4 consecutive double World Championships with Red Bull but unable to come to terms with this year’s RB10 chassis, perhaps the German was ready for a new challenge, as well as fulfilling every Formula 1 driver’s dream of donning Ferrari red and driving for Maranello. With the recent shake up at the top of Ferrari’s management, there is no doubt massive resources will be poured into the F1 team to make next year’s car better than this year’s disappointing — some would say awful — version.

In actual Qualifying and with major doubts over the ability to run the race on Sunday, Rosberg regained his mojo with a stellar Pole position. The German looked to have the better of Hamilton throughout the day and can only hope that his car performs as well in the anticipated wet conditions tomorrow in order to regain the momentum he lost two weeks ago in Singapore. Rosberg scored no points in that Grand Prix due to mechanical failure. Hamilton, who now carries the points lead after his win in that race, did take second position as the Mercedes was free to fly on the fast and very technical Suzuka circuit, regaining their obvious advantage over the rest of the field, which had been somewhat neutralized by the tight confines of the Marina Bay street circuit.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was just under half a second behind Hamilton for another strong 3rd and teammate Filipe Massa took 4th on the grid. Alonso put aside distractions to come home 5th for Ferrari with soon-to-be ex-teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who has another year left on his contract, barely doing enough to grab the last spot in the top 10. For Red Bull, Ricciardo once again out-qualified Vettel, 6th vs. 9th, and Kevin Magnussen did the same to McLaren teammate Jenson Button, 7th to 8th.

Top 10 qualifiers and lap times here:

Complete results available at Formula1.com.

We’ll think a good thought for Japan and hope that the typhoon is not too terrible and therefore that the race comes off tomorrow. Despite the seemingly momentous doings off the track in Formula 1 this weekend, the most important thing is the safety and well being of Japan and its people.

The race is scheduled to air live at 1:30 AM Eastern on NBC Sports Network in the States. If you are DVR’ing it, add lots of extra time because even in a best case scenario there could be extensive red flag periods as the stewards wait for the track to dry out sufficiently for safe racing. Fingers crossed for all involved!