Sebastian Vettel has taken pole for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix with a superb lap amidst a hectic qualifying session around the Suzuka circuit.
Jarno Trulli brought much joy to the local Japanese fans with second on the grid for Toyota. Lewis Hamilton rounded off the top three.
Qualifying was full of drama as the session was red flagged on a number of occasions due to driver incidents.
Jaime Alguersuari was also caught out in the second Degner curve, stopping segment two and sending the Spaniard to the medical centre.
Timo Glock also brought Q2 to a hault when his Toyota crashed into the tyre barrier on the final corner. The Toyota driver remained in his car for a long time and was later flown to hospital with a suspected leg wound.
Sebastien Buemi also found himself running wide on the exit of Spoon curve – crashing into the barrier and discarding his front wing onto the track. This incident created much controversy as a number of drivers, including championship rivals, Button and Barrichello, set flying laps despite the yellow flags. Buemi also appeared to spoil flying laps for a number of other drivers as he drove his wrecked car back to the pits.
After much delay, the final segment of qualifying was stopped once more when Heikki Kovalainen also ran wide at Degner two and collided with the tyres.
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:30.883 1:30.341 1:32.160 2. Trulli Toyota 1:31.063 1:30.737 1:32.220 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.917 1:30.627 1:32.395 4. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:31.386 1:31.222 1:32.466 5. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:31.272 1:31.055 1:32.660 6. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:31.501 1:31.260 1:32.945 7. Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:31.041 1:30.880 1:32.962 8. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.228 1:31.052 1:32.980 9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.499 1:31.223 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.196 1:31.103 11. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:31.286 1:31.482 12. Alonso Renault 1:31.401 1:31.638 13. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:31.417 1:32.341 14. Glock Toyota 1:31.550 15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.571 16. Fisichella Ferrari 1:31.704 17. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:31.718 18. Grosjean Renault 1:32.073 19. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:32.087 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault
