Sebastian Vettel charged to yet another pole position as he
bids to become Formula One’s youngest ever double champion at the Japanese
Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was able to out-do closest rival Jenson Button
by nine thousandths of a second in the final reckoning, while his McLaren
teammate Lewis Hamilton begins third after denying himself the chance to
improve his time at the end of the final qualifying session.
Q1
Vettel began the opening session of the afternoon as he meant
to go on by topping the times with a 1’33.1 on the harder medium compound
tyres; the other Red Bull of Mark Webber was able to match this initially.
Jenson Button kept up his strong form in practice as he beat the Milton-Keynes
built cars by a tenth, though Fernando Alonso knocked the Brit off his perch
with a surprise visit to P1 for Ferrari on a 1’32.8. Hamilton began the session
off the pace of his teammate, his second time being only good enough for fifth
place after the first was marred by an error at the challenging Spoon Curve. He
did however later improve to second position, beating Button by a tenth but
still a small margin away from erstwhile teammate Alonso. The usual hierarchy of
teams was disturbed when the midfield contenders began to set times on the
softer tyre, the speed advantage it offers clearly demonstrated by fastest
times first by former Japanese F3 champion Adrian Sutil for Force India and
then by home hero Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber. The bottom seven were never in
doubt however as a hydraulic issue prevented Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from leaving
the pits; Vitantonio Liuzzi was also unable to set a time due to engine
maladies. The pair will start from the back row of the grid.
Eliminated – Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli
(Lotus), Jerome D’Ambrosio (Virgin), Timo Glock (Virgin), Daniel Ricciardo
(Hispania), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania)
Q2
Once more it was Vettel who laid down the benchmark, which
on soft compound tyres was a 1’31.4. After failed attempts by Button and Webber
to dislodge the German from P1, Hamilton successfully shaved three tenths off
the time to head the standings. Ferrari were decidedly slower relative to the
competition on the softer rubber, Alonso and Felipe Massa only managing fifth
and sixth places, suggesting a Red Bull-McLaren shootout for ultimate honours.
With Michael Schumacher seventh fastest and the other Mercedes of Rosberg out
of the running, three extra Q3 spots were up for grabs among the rest of the
pack: Kobayashi took eighth place as the clock neared zero, with Sutil slotting
in behind in ninth. The two Renault drivers Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna were then
able to bounce back from their dismal Singpore showing by taking eighth and
ninth places, bumping Kobayashi down to tenth and Sutil eleventh ahead of teammate
Paul Di Resta. Once again the Toro Rossos and Williams cars never looked
particularly like challenging for a place in the top ten, whilst Sergio Perez
became the second victim of the day of hydraulic problems which consigned the
Mexican to seventeenth on the grid.
Eliminated – Adrian Sutil (Force India), Paul Di Resta
(Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Rubens Barrichello (Williams),
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Sergio Perez
(Sauber)
Q3
As was the case to a certain degree last time out at
Singapore, Q3 proved farcical in more ways than one. Such was the desperation
to preserve tyres for the race that no less than four of the top ten set no
time, the culprits being Schumacher, Senna, Petrov and Kobayashi, though the
latter was promoted to seventh on the grid on virtue of having started
(although not having completed) a flying lap. To be fair to Schumacher, he did attempt to start a flying lap, but he
failed to cross the starting line to commence it before the session time
expired. The reason was that he and Webber were both behind Hamilton in the
queue of cars as they left the pits, but the McLaren driver’s leisurely out lap
gave both Webber and Schumacher no choice but to try and pass Hamilton at the
Casio Triangle to avoid running out of time – Webber dived up the inside of
Hamilton and was the only one of the trio able to start another flying lap.
Hamilton was thus forced to rely on his earlier time of 1’30.6, which
incidentally was the fastest at the time it was set, though it was narrowly
beaten first by Vettel, who took his twenty-seventh career pole, and then by
Button who consequently secured a place on the front row. Massa will line up
alongside Hamilton in fourth place ahead of Alonso and Webber, both of whom
were lacklustre in the final showdown.
Top Ten – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Jenson Button
(McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso
(Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Michael Schumacher
(Mercedes), Bruno Senna (Renault), Vitaly Petrov (Renault)
My Prediction
Call me Mr. Unadventurous, but I just can’t realistically
foresee anything that would stop Vettel from taking a commanding tenth win of
the season:
1. Vettel, 2. Button, 3. Hamilton, 4. Alonso, 5. Schumacher,
6. Kobayashi, 7. Rosberg, 8. Senna, 9. Petrov, 10. Sutil
Hamilton will take a more circumspect approach after his
Singapore woes, meaning he will cruise home to third behind Button. Fourth will
be the maximum for Ferrari and Alonso, although Massa will end up being shunted
by a frustrated Webber, leaving both parties point-less. Schumacher will take a
solid fifth place at one of his strongest tracks ahead of Kobayashi who will
please the home crowds with his best result since Monaco. Rosberg will make a
veritable charge through the field on an alternative strategy to take seventh,
beating the two Renaults of Senna and Petrov, while Sutil will put his Suzuka
knowledge to good use to secure the final point.
Suzuka has had the unique privilege of crowning many world
champions in the past, and few would bet against it crowning another in the
form of Vettel tomorrow. Whether that may be the case or not, be sure to check back
here to read all about everything that happens at a potentially historic
Japanese Grand Prix.
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