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A delighted Sebastian Vettel kept alive his slim challenge for the drivers world championship on Saturday when he claimed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old German in his Red Bull clocked a scorching fastest lap in the final minute of qualifying to secure his fourth pole of the year. AFP
Trulli from Toyota will start second, while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton rolls off third and Adrian Sutil from Force India begins fourth.
“There’s three races to go, and it’s quite a big gap,” Vettel said. “Every race has to be a chance if you still want to keep our chances alive.” MiamiHerald.com
Vettel admitted it was a difficult session with all the delays and accidents but was pleased to secure his place at the front of the grid.
“I did my best not to get distracted today; it was a strange session with a lot of incidents. The most important thing is that all the drivers are okay,” he said in the post-qualifying press conference.
Formula 1: Japanese Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
“It’s not easy through the s-bends and the tyres don’t really last for a second lap. I’m very happy; we’re back to full strength since Singapore and have now put the car on pole. CNN International
Vettel is 25 points behind Button with three races remaining and must score six points more than the Englishman if he is to maintain his title challenge.
Button qualified only seventh and also clocked his best lap when yellow warning flags were waving around the circuit, a fact that may mean his lap is annulled and push him down the grid.
Button’s team-mate Barrichello qualified fifth. AFP
All of the top three drivers had team mates who crashed, with the three-part qualifying halted on three separate occasions.
Toyota’s Timo Glock had the most serious accident, plunging into the barriers at the final corner only hours after he had been passed fit to race.
A spokeswoman for the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said Glock was complaining of back pains and had a wound in his left leg.
Vettel’s Australian team mate Mark Webber did not take part in qualifying and will start from the pit lane in last place after damaging his car in a crash in the morning’s final practice.
McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen went into the tyre wall at the Degner corner in the final phase of qualifying. Telegraph.co.uk
