Vettel on pole in Japan

Red Bull led the way in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel pipping Mark Webber to pole position at Suzuka.

German lines up ahead of championship leader Webber

Red Bull led the way in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix as expected on Sunday, when Sebastian Vettel pipped Mark Webber to pole position at Suzuka. The session, which had been cancelled on Saturday after heavy rain flooded the track, was dominated by Vettel, who set the fastest time in all three segments. Session three saw the German produce a lap of one minute 30.785 seconds on his second attempt to edge his team-mate by just under a tenth of a second. The pole was Vettel's eighth of the season and came after he had set the fastest time in Friday practice. The 23-year-old also won at Suzuka last year. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton set the third fastest time but dropped to eighth on the grid owing to a five-place grid penalty he picked up on Saturday following a gearbox change. As such, Renault's Robert Kubica starts third ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who won both the last two races and who stands second in the drivers' championship, 11 points behind Webber. However, Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa will be little help to him in the race after qualifying only 12th. World champion Jenson Button starts fifth after opting for a different strategy in the final segment of qualifying and setting his time on hard compound tyres - with which he will start the race - rather than soft. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg lines up sixth ahead of Williams' Rubens Barrichello, whose team-mate Nico Hulkenberg lines up ninth behind Hamilton. Stewards rejected a complaint by Williams that Hamilton had blocked Hulkenberg when looking for a clear run. Michael Schumacher lines up 10th for Mercedes after pipping Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in Q2.

Times

1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault 1:30.785
2. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:30.853
*3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:31.169
4. Robert Kubica (Poland) Renault 1:31.231
5. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1:31.352
6. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:31.378
7. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:31.494
8. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams - Cosworth 1:31.535
9. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Williams - Cosworth 1:31.559
10. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1:31.846
11. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber - Ferrari 1:32.187
12. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:32.321
13. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 1:32.422
14. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) BMW Sauber - Ferrari 1:32.427
15. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1:32.659
16. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:33.071
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Force India - Mercedes 1:33.154
18. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:33.568
19. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus - Cosworth 1:35.346
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus - Cosworth 1:35.464
21. Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil) Virgin - Cosworth 1:36.265
22. Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin - Cosworth 1:36.332
23. Bruno Senna (Brazil) HRT - Cosworth 1:37.270
24. Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) HRT - Cosworth 1:37.365
* Drops five places because of grid penalty