Hamilton on pole for the Japanese GP, Vettel trapped by the rain

Mercedes once again has a first row on the grid for the Japanese GP with Lewis Hamilton on pole ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Sebastian Vettel is behind after being trapped by the rain.

Published on 06/10/2018 à 09:20

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Hamilton on pole for Japanese GP, Vettel trapped by rain

Lewis Hamilton earned his 80th Grand Prix pole, his 8th of the season, by winning qualifying for the Japanese GP on the Suzuka circuit. With a time of 1’27”760, the Championship leader preceded his teammate by 3 tenths Valtteri Bottas before the rain deteriorates conditions too much.

While Scuderia Ferrari launched its cars in Q3 with intermediate tires, the team Maranello called his drivers back to the pits to put on the slicks as the rain increased on the track. Result, Sebastian Vettel is only 9th while his teammate Kimi Räikkönen is 4th behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

Romain Grosjean (Haas) took 5th position ahead of the Toro Rosso de Brendon Hartley et Pierre Gasly. The Force India ofEsteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez surround the Ferrari of the four-time world champion.

Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) will have to start from 15th position. The Australian had to return to the pits after suffering an engine problem.

A sudden downpour brought the session to a premature end. Charles Leclerc (Sauber) failed at the gates of Q3 with 3 hundredths behind Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso). The Monegasque was ahead Kevin Magnussen (Challenge), Carlos Sainz Jr. (Renault) and Lance stroll (Williams).

After his crash in EL3, Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) was the first driver to be eliminated at the end of Q1 at the Japanese GP at the Suzuka circuit. The former winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans failed half a tenth of Lance Stroll (Williams) and preceded Sergey Sirotkin (Williams). THE McLaren de Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne followed the Russian.

Q1 was suspended following Marcus Ericsson's crash 10 minutes from the end of the session. The Sauber driver appeared unhurt, but the C37 suffered damage after crashing into the wall.