Mark Webber takes his first pole of the season at Suzuka

Beautiful sunshine, 23°C in the air and 34°C on the track, the conditions are ideal for qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Qualifying marked by a Q1… of fire! After a fire that was quickly brought under control and was not serious hit the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez while in his box, it was Jean-Eric Vergne who was forced to abandon his car at the side of the track. Toro Rosso, whose two rear brake discs suddenly burst into flames. An incident causing the red flag to be raised. In this second part of the season, the Frenchman is sorely lacking in success. Finally, the best time of this Q1 is to the credit of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean in 1'31"814. The Frenchman is ahead of Ferrari by Felipe Massa, the Mercedes by Nico Rosberg, the Red Bull by Mark Webber and the astonishing Force India of Paul di Resta. The top 10 is completed by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raïkkönen, Sebastian Vettel et Nico Hulkenberg. The Australian from Toro Rosso Daniel Ricciardo, author of the 15th fastest time, is the last qualified for Q2. Those eliminated from this Q1 are, in order, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Eric Vergne, Max Chilton, Charles Pic, Giedo Van der Garde and Jules Bianchi. Note the astonishing performance of Chilton, who is ahead of the two Caterhams and his French teammate. As a reminder, Pic and Bianchi received 10 place penalties following the reprimands received in Korea. Sutil will move back five places on the grid, a gearbox change having been made on the #06 VJM15 after the German went off the track this morning during the third free practice session. .

Red Bull takes things in hand from Q2. The German Sebastian Vettel hoists his RB9 decked out with the No. 1 to the top of the hierarchy thanks to a lap completed in 1'31"290, ahead of his Australian teammate Mark Webber, author of a 1'31"513. Behind, we find a dashing Romain Grosjean who, in 1'31"565, confirms his current good intentions. The Frenchman of the Lotus F1 Team precedes the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (1'31"636) and his teammate Kimi Räikkönen (1'31"662) who complete the top 5 of this second phase of qualifying. Followed by Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Nico Hülkenberg. Those eliminated from Q2 are therefore Sergio Pérez (McLaren), Paul di Resta (Force India), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), who will position themselves tomorrow respectively on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th places on the starting grid.

In his first flying lap in Q3, Sebastian Vettel went a little wide at the exit of Spoon. This does not prevent him from signing a 1'31"312. A more than correct time but insufficient to beat Mark Webber, who completed a lap of the Suzuka track in 1'30"975. After a brief stint in the pits following new problems with SREC, Vettel improved to 1'31"089 but that was still too tight, especially since Mark Webber lowered the reference mark to 1'30"915. Lewis Hamilton took third place in 1'31"253, narrowly ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean (1'31"365), who once again took a second row of the starting grid. In third row, we find the Ferrari of Felipe Massa (1'31"378) and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg (1'31"397). The Brazilian and the German precede a once again astonishing Nico Hülkenberg, who completed a lap in 1'31"644. The Sauber F1 Team driver has the luxury of being ahead of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso (1'31"665), the Lotus of Kimi Räikkönen (1'31"684) and the McLaren of Jenson Button (1'31"827). ).

This is Mark Webber's first pole position this season, which prevents his teammate Sebastian Vettel from signing a fourth in a row after those signed in Italy, Singapore and Korea. Renault Sport F1 sets a new record with its 209th pole as an engine manufacturer.

Click on this link to see photos of the Japanese Grand Prix practice sessions.