Japan: Another Red Bull lockout
2010-10-10 07:59
MARK WEBBER: He and team mate Sebastian Vettel have cornered pole at Suzuka.
Author: Dan Sloan
Sebastian Vettel pipped championship-leading Red Bull team mate Mark Webber to pole in a rain-delayed 2010 Formula 1 GP qualifying session on Sunday.
Australian Webber, 21 points clear of the German, could not match the pace of 2009’s race winner who dominated Friday practice and was fastest in all three qualifying stages.
Renault's Robert Kubica will start third.
The pole, on a sunny morning at Suzuka after pouring rain making it impossible to drive on Saturday, was Vettel's eighth of the season and Red Bull's 13th in 16 races.
McLaren and Williams are the only other teams to have taken as many pole starts in a single season with Vettel and Webber claiming their seventh front-row lockout of 2010 for the championship leaders and looking unbeatable for the race.
"The last two races were a little bit difficult for us but all in all I think we could improve the performance of the car," said Vettel. "We came here with quite some confidence. Obviously this track is kind of made for us."
Webber, winner of four races this season, said he had enjoyed the "tussle" with his team mate.
"The important part is to come. Today there's a chance to put some points on the board," added the Australian.
His closest title rival, Ferrari's double World champion Fernando Alonso who is 11 points behind with three races remaining after Japan, qualified fifth but will start fourth.
"I'm sure the podium is very much possible. We need to pressure Red Bull," said the Spaniard.
'I did best possible'
McLaren's title contender Lewis Hamilton, though third fastest on the track, will have a five-place grid penalty applied after an unscheduled gearbox change on Saturday. He is also the subject of a protest by Williams for allegedly blocking Nico Hulkenberg.
He is third overall and 20 points behind Webber.
The Briton said he had done the best possible and would just have to "grit my teeth and bear it". He revealed also that his problems might have been avoided had the gearbox problem been detected earlier.
"We knew this weekend that Red Bull would be very competitive and it's not been the best of weekends for us," said Hamilton, who crashed on Friday and managed little more than a handful of laps before qualifying.
"The collision I had with Mark (in Singapore) damaged the driveshaft or the diff. Unfortunately we hadn't noticed that and it caused us to have a gearbox change," added Hamilton, who has retired from three of his last four races.
"Nonetheless the guys did a fantastic job last night, stayed up as late as they could to make sure the car was good. It was difficult for me to come here today only having five or six laps on the track through Friday and Saturday."
World champion Jenson Button, hoping to retain his crown but 25 points off the pace, will start fifth for McLaren after finishing the session with the sixth best time.
"We'll have a different strategy than everyone else," promised the Englishman.
Provisional qualifying results for the 2010 Japanese Formula 1 GP
1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min30.785
2 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min30.853
3 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min31.169
4 Robert Kubica (Poland) Renault 1min31.231
5 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min31.352
6 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min31.378
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min31.494
8 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 1min31.535
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Williams 1min31.559
10 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1min31.846
11 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1min32.187
12 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min32.321
13 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 1min32.422
14 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) BMW Sauber 1min32.427
15 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1min32.659
16 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 1min33.071
17 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Force India 1min33.154
18 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 1min33.568
19 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus 1min35.346
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus 1min35.464
21 Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil) Virgin 1min36.265
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 1min36.332
23 Bruno Senna (Brazil) HRT 1min37.270
24 Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) HRT 1min37.365
