Japenese Grand Prix: Qualifying Report

SUZUKA, JAPAN – OCTOBER 06: Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme after finishing first during qualifying for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit on October 6, 2012 in Suzuka, Japan.

Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position for the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.This is Vettel’s fourth consecutive pole position in Suzuka. Mark Webber made it a Red-Bull front row lock out after setting the second fastest time.Jenson Button was third fastest but will drop five places due to gearbox change.

Home hero Kamui Kobayashi was fourth fastest. He was followed up by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.Both Kamui and Grosjean may get grid penalties for not slowing down under yellow flags.

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were sixth and seventh fastest repectively. Fernando didn’t look quick throughout the qualifying session but did manage to outpace Felipe Massa who had been quicker than Fernando whole weekend.

Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton didn’t set a proper lap as Raikkonen spun at the spoon curve while Hamilton had to slow down on his fastest lap due to yellow flags as a result of Raikkonen’s spin.

Nico Hulkenberg didn’t set a time in q3 and was tenth fastest but has five place grid penalty for gearbox change.

Further back Felipe Massa couldn’t make into q3 and lines up 11th on the grid.Both of the Mercedes drivers couldn’t make into q3. Michael Schumacher had the pace but decided to save tyres as he has ten place grid penalty.He will start from P23. Nico Rosberg had been struggling throughout the weekend and he could only manage fifteenth fastest time.

The current qualifying order is most likely to see number of changes due to many grid penalties.

Here are the full results at the end of Qualifying:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:32.608	1:31.501	1:30.839	11
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:32.951	1:31.950	1:31.090	15
3	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:33.077	1:31.772	1:31.290	14
4	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.042	1:31.886	1:31.700	16
5	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:32.029	1:31.988	1:31.898	20
6	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.147	1:32.169	1:32.022	20
7	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:32.459	1:31.833	1:32.114	17
8	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:32.221	1:31.826	1:32.208	18
9	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:33.061	1:32.121	1:32.327	17
10	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.828	1:32.272		12
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:32.946	1:32.293		12
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.898	1:32.327		14
13	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:33.349	1:32.469		10
14	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:32.834	1:32.512		11
15	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:33.015	1:32.625		16
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:33.059	1:32.954		14
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:33.370	1:33.368		14
18	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1:33.405			8
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:34.657			6
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:35.213			8
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:35.385			6
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:35.429			8
23	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:35.432			8
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:36.734			6
		Q1 107% Time		1:38.471