Japan – Qualifying: Vettel almost alone in the world at Suzuka

As since the beginning of the weekend, the weather conditions are ideal, with the Suzuka sky only obscured by a few clouds, while the temperature is 26°C in the air and 36°C on the track. After his accident in Singapore, Michael Schumacher will be demoted 10 places on the starting grid, while Jenson Button, after a gearbox change on his MP4-27, will be demoted 5 places, just like Nico Hülkenberg.

Q1: We have to wait a few minutes to see Paul di Resta leave the pits and set the first benchmark time at 1:33.661 on Hard tires. Romain Grosjean then Felipe Massa improve, with the Brazilian being the first to go under one minute thirty-three with 1:32.946, at the very moment when Sergio Pérez takes a trip off the track, without any consequences. The Ferrari driver is thus ahead of Webber, Grosjean, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, Senna, Räikkönen, Kobayashi, and Di Resta.

After waiting for the Force India mechanics to finish repairs on his Force India, Nico Hülkenberg finally sets off, as the session comes to an end, just like Michael Schumacher, who, after dropping 10 places on the grid, tries to save tires for the race.

Sebastian Vettel takes the lead with a time of 1:32.608, but Kimi Räikkönen does better… on Soft tires. The Sauber drivers outpace the Finn by flirting with the one minute and thirty-two mark. Romain Grosjean grabs the fastest time with a final effort at 1:32.029, while, in a last attempt, Michael Schumacher, on Hard tires, eliminates Bruno Senna, who was hindered by Jean-Eric Vergne at the chicane’s braking. This incident is under investigation.

Eliminated in Q1: Senna, Kovalainen, Glock, De la Rosa, Pic, Petrov, and Karthikeyan

Q2: Once again, the drivers are not rushing out of the pits as soon as the green flag is waved for Q2. On Soft tires, Kamui Kobayashi is the first to set a benchmark time of 1:32.368 after making a small mistake at the hairpin braking.

As the track temperature has dropped a few degrees since the start of qualifying, Sebastian Vettel is making every effort and grabs the best time with 1:31.501, the best lap of the weekend, ahead of Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, and Felipe Massa. But the traffic is problematic on this circuit, as observed by Paul di Resta who, exiting the 130R, finds himself behind Mark Webber and Romain Grosjean, both going slowly, and the Scotsman has to squeeze through between them.

All the drivers return to the pits before attempting a final practice run, even though Lewis Hamilton is informed over the radio that he shouldn’t need to go back out on track. Michael Schumacher is the first to come back out, on Soft tires, after staying warm in his garage for the entire beginning of Q2.

In the game of musical chairs, at the end of the session, Felipe Massa is the big loser while Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean move into Q3.

Eliminated in Q2: Massa, Di Resta, Schumacher, Maldonado, Rosberg, Ricciardo, and Vergne

Q3: This time, the drivers waste no time and head out as soon as the green flag waves, on Soft tires. Räikkönen is the first to set a timed lap at 1:32.208, while Vettel smashes the Finnish driver’s time with a 1:30.839, followed by Webber at 1:31.090, who made a small braking error at the hairpin, and Button at 1:31.294. They are followed by Grosjean, Räikkönen, and Hamilton, all within a second. Sebastian Vettel’s engineer, however, asks his driver to improve by a tenth in the first sector.

Alonso, Hülkenberg, and the Sauber drivers are waiting in the pits to qualify with a single lap. Perez is actually the first of these four lads to hit the track, quickly followed by the others.

Thus, all the drivers are on track for the final assault on the clock. But Vettel seems untouchable as he found the missing tenth in the first sector. The German’s best time will indeed be uncontestable as Kimi Räikkönen makes a mistake in Spoon and stalls his car in the gravel trap, causing a yellow flag. This spells trouble for Lewis Hamilton, who couldn’t improve and ends up in ninth place, while Nico Hülkenberg couldn’t set a timed lap.

On his home turf, Kamui Kobayashi will benefit from Jenson Button’s penalty to start from third position on the grid tomorrow.

Japanese Grand Prix 2012 Qualifying Standings: