Sebastian Vettel kept alive his slim hope of snatching the drivers championship with a stunning pole in a chaotic qualification session at Suzuka.
But it looks to be a nervy weekend for Jenson Button as the championship favourite qualified in seventh, two places behind main rival Rubens Barrichello.
Button, remember, needs to finish five points clear of Barrichello to secure the title this weekend, an outcome that looks unlikely after a quali session disrupted by three red flags for big crashes.
Button’s task could become even trickier if he is found to have set his best time in Q2 when yellow flags were out. If the Briton is penalised, however, it seems likely that Barrichello will also be demoted.
Toyota’s Timo Glock, suffering from a heavy cold, suffered the biggest crash of the day, understeering massively through the final chicane and slamming into the wall at 165mph. He was stretchered from the track, conscious but complaining of a ‘leg wound’. It is not clear whether the German will race tomorrow.
It was a hectic session all round, with Sebastien Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen also finding the wall and Red Bull’s Mark Webber sitting out the entire session, his Red Bull requiring a new chassis after his crash in practice. The Australian will start from 20th on the grid.
Which means it’s a Red Bull grid sandwich tomorrow, with Webber’s teammate Vettel storming every session for his fourth pole of the year. Jarno Trulli sneaked second for Toyota, with Lewis Hamilton qualifying in third.
We’ll have to wait for the fuel loads to be published to determine the cars’ true pace, but it’s clear that Vettel is going to be hugely quick tomorrow, while the Brawns don’t seem quite right.
“It wasn’t a great qualifying,” admitted Ross Brawn after the race. “We’re fuelled about 17 laps but I don’t think we did the lap time we thought we could do on that load.”
But if the race follows the pattern of quali, just about anything could happen at Suzuka tomorrow. Prediction time: who are you tipping for the podium?
First!!! I think that Vettel is gonna win it tomorrow.Forza ferrari!!
kimi for the win up ferraris a.s
that was quite the quali. why cant all f1 be that interesting? tmrw is gonna be friggin awesome.
Vettel rules – awesome drive and domination which looked so easy for him this time
Button is doing the right thing – just get some points is enough – don´t risk anything.
Why so many accidents? Looking forward to the race tomorrow
i love suzuka!it’s smashing fun!mind the pun..
hamilton for the win 3rd in qualifying is a great position 1st would have bin better but he did well
i want barachello to win champion ship but if button wins that would be okay
why cant vettel go to mclaren instead of kimi or heikki? also can finns be banned from racing? they may be good but they are so boring.
Woo, come on Vettel! I agree with Lauren TG Fan, I want Rubens to win.
P.S. Get well soon Timo, you were awesome at the Golf Club at Silverstone with the glasses.
Was anyone at the hotel or Silverstone to see him in the shades?
Button will get 0 points from this race, he starts from position 11 with a light car. No chance unless something unusual happens.
Here’s my predicted top 8 finishers.
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Nick Heidfeld
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Jarno Trulli
5. Heikki Kovalainen
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Adrian Sutil
8. Jaime Alguersuari
I doubt Jenson will get any points & i hope Rubens can finish quite high, & novk a few points off Jenson & the same to Vettel. COME ON BARRICHELLO!!!!
Shouldn’t Button be allowed to refuel since he is no longer in the top 10?
Vettel for Win!
Top 8:
Vettel
Hamilton
Trulli
Heidfeld
Kovalinen
Sutil
Buemi
Alguersauri
Hard to see Vettel not winning, but Alguersauri to make up 3 places? With Button, Fizi and Webber behind I think it’s more likely he’ll fall away through the race.
Tough one this, I can see more drivers spinning off again tomorrow, which will bring out safety cars. I’m having to wait and see.
WTF jake humphery should be hanged by his meat and 2 veg he says they have penalties but not what they were for i could do better and go hamilton 2moz
Button to Win!
Top 8:
Button
Hamilton
Vettel
Heidfeld
Barrichello
Trulli
Nakajama
Buemi
Button will probably be saved by lady luck again – he’ll drift back like in the last race but also (like in the last race) the inevitable safety car(s) will allow him to catch up and he’ll save his best tyres and light fuel load (when the car handles best) for the last part of the race.
I’m so bored of seeing JB get ever closer to the championship after yet another average performance. Oh, well, maybe he’ll do something special and I promise to eat my words…
Maybe with heavy fuel load Button can do top3 result.
Heidfeld, Trulli, Kubica, Raikkonen are not so fast. So everything is possible.
Top3 most likely is Hamilton, Vettel and one of the Brawns.
I hope its raining tmrw.
*oviousley all cars finish on a light load – i just meant that JB will finish on a short stint
(sorry for the double post!)
…who? of course you’re excussed. But to be fair Button has as many wins as the next 3 put together which could hardly be described as ‘average’ I see the point you’re making tho.
If McLaren and Ferrari both had two drivers on top preformance we would be seeing a very different second half season. Discuss.
Hamilton WILL use his KERS to get past Trulli off the start but it’s getting past Vettel without out-brakig himself is the problem, hopefully he can do it.
Button however seems lucky to get any points, this is oddly good for him as the points gap is smaller the further down the grid they finish so if he does lose out to Barrichello it wont be by much. Vettel in my opinion is out of te title race unless Button fails to finish any race for the rest of the season however i think he will do well here.
braking*
the*
Sorry terrible spelling mistakes
Button will finish within the top 8. After all Ross is the brain behind the wheel so to speak. He’ll probably pull something spectacular out the cold one like usual.
Off course the grey heads of the FIA had to interfear;
1st row:
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)
2nd row:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW-Sauber)
3rd row:
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes)
4th row:
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW-Sauber)
5th row:
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes)
6th row:
Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes)
7th row:
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari)
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
8th row:
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota)
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault)
9th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)
Tonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India-Mercedes)
Pitlane: Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)
someone else is going to crash into button and barichello is going to make a big mistake!
so vettel wins…….
So many red flags… What happened?
The FIA wants to take it to the wire.
In the end it could well be that, out of the drivers who know this circuit best and can hold it together, the one with the best-tuned car is the winner. This track is a brilliant test of both car and driver (Martin Brundle said that 130R starts off the neck pain, and the Dunlop and Spoon turns finish it off). That’s why it’s so awesome!
Of course, it could also easily be down to who can handle Friday Practice-levels of rain best. When it rains, it really really rains in Japan.
Looking forward to it! Early night tonight for sure (or, in F1 language, “For Sure, I will have to sleep earlier tonight”).
Now i have seen all the penelties & fuel waits, i need to change my top 8 prediction to:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Nick Heidfeld
4. Robert Kubica
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Adrian Sutil
Lewis
Seb
Trulli
Nick
Robert
Button
Rosberg
Himie Alguersrai
Thhats my top 8
trulli
vettel
kimi
hamilton
button
rosberg
heidfeld
bar-cello
that’s how i wish!
kimi
fisi
whatever
yea, and in between them, all the other cars
Safety car ftw!
lol these kids can’t handle the classic Suzuka.
I Want Ayrton Senna Back! He Made F1 Great!
An exciting race for Sunday, demanding race on components, seemingly no matter who get through though I expect some drama judging race qualification.
1 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull,
2 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren,
3 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari,
4 Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber,
5 Nico Rosberg, Williams,
6 Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP,
7 Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso,
8 Jenson Button, Brawn GP,
So, if Barichello crashes, i can turn my TV off, cuz Jenson wins the chimpions title? Sounds almost too good to me.I want to see more/nicer cars on the grid.And get over this season asap.
Alguersuari too crashed at the beginning of Q2, bringing out the red flag for the first time in today’s qualifying sessions. Five drivers ended qualifying without setting a timed lap in the respective sessions: Mark Webber didn’t participate at all, Glock and Alguersuari didn’t set a time in Q2, Kovalainen and Buemi didn’t set a time in Q3. Nine drivers were demoted due to penalties, gear box changes or because they will start in a new chassis. Three red flags, two yellows (if I remember correctly) and a broadcast of over 90 minutes. Quite some stats!
I’m pushing for a Vettel win. I’m not keen on Button, I think he’s an egotistical prat and if he wins will only escalate that ten fold. What’s FIA going to do about the bogus drive-through penalty for going 1.4km/h too fast in the pit lane that they handed Vettel in Singapore? His telemetry shows he wasn’t speeding, in fact, he was going under the speed limit.
He lost valuable points for that crap.
well done Vettel. Rubens really has to watch his back or risk loosing second place on a track he really suffers at.
vetel will win the race