Vettel dominates windy and lively qualifying session at Suzuka

Over the last nine Grand Prix weekends, he had been dominated by his young garage neighbor in qualifying. Some have been announcing its decline for months. It took a qualifying session on the Suzuka justice of the peace to remind everyone what we had perhaps forgotten a little quickly, namely that Sebastian Vettel remains a formidable pilot. 

The German had a great first lap in Q3, which he further improved during his final attempt to stop the clock at a mark of 1'27"064, a new track record. Vettel eclipsed his teammate Charles Leclerc by just under two tenths and took the 57th pole position of his storied career, the second this season after Montreal. 

Slight disappointment and hint of surprise for Mercedes, who must be satisfied with the second line. Dominant in free practice, the Silver Arrows are subjected to the law of the SF90 this Sunday morning. Already ahead of Friday, Valtteri Bottas ahead of his rival for the title Lewis Hamilton, only 4th. 

On Honda land, the Red Bull drivers have to settle for 5th and 6th places, Max Verstappen before Alexander albon. Note that the runners of Milton Keynes signed exactly the same time – 1’27”851 – an excellent result for the Thai rookie on a legendary track that he is discovering this weekend.

Behind, a nice performance from McLaren, 7th and 8th on the grid, Carlos Sainz taking the best of Lando Norris. Finally, a great performance from the French Pierre Gasly et Romain Grosjean, which complete the Top 10 for Toro Rosso et Haas. 

Big disillusionment on the other hand in the clan Renault with the premature elimination of Daniel Ricciardo from Q1. The Australian did not cross the threshold for 99 thousandths against Daniil Kvyat and finished in a poor 16th place. 

The bitterness is double among the Yellows and Blacks since his teammate Nico Hulkenberg will be right in front of him on the grid. Victim of a loss of hydraulic pressure in Q2, the German could no longer shift gears on his gearbox. Hülkenberg was accompanied in the intermediate cart by the Alfa Romeo by Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen, the Racing Point of Lance stroll, and Kvyat's Toro Rosso.

The qualifying session started brutally with two red flags in Q1. The first was caused by Robert Kubica. The Pole veered wide in the last corner, put a wheel in the grass, and lost control of his car. Williams which ended up in the wall outside. 

A few minutes later, when the session had just resumed, Kevin Magnussen spun at the same point and hit the tire wall in reverse. Despite the damage, the Dane managed not to stall and was able to return to his stand. 

The other surprise elimination from Q1 was Sergio Pérez, whose Racing Point had shown good pace in free practice on Friday, and George Russell, who flirted for a time with Q2 for Williams. 

The teams now have just two hours before the pit lane is opened again for grid setting. The start of the Japanese Grand Prix will be at 14:10 p.m. local time (07:10 a.m. in France). 

CLASSIFICATION: END OF QUALIFYING

Confirmation of a @ScuderiaFerrari front row lockout, as Sebastian Vettel secures his fifth pole at Suzuka #JapaneseGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/7VTkYiPEv5

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 13, 2019