Saturday: Vettel and Red Bull See Red

Sebastian Vettel is doing everything he can to keep his title hopes alive. The young German took pole position this afternoon in Suzuka, leading each of the three parts of qualifying. Additionally, he somewhat conserved his engine by completing 6 fewer laps than Trulli and Sutil and 7 fewer laps than Hamilton to achieve this performance. It’s his fourth pole position of the season, and no one was able to challenge him for it. Sebastian Vettel must score 6 more points than Jenson Button in tomorrow’s race to stay in the race for the driver’s championship.

His teammate will have a hard time helping him achieve this goal since Mark Webber did not take part in the qualifying session. The chassis of his car was too damaged after an accident in the third free practice session to be repaired in time for qualifying, and the team had to simply change the chassis. The Australian will probably start his race from the pit lane, but there is no doubt he will give his best tomorrow to try to finish as high as possible on the leaderboard.

Mark Webber – 19th and 20th:

Preparation for a weekend like this is always important. So not having the opportunity to race from a decent spot on the grid is really tough for all of us, especially for the mechanics. It wasn’t a big accident, but I caused too much damage to the chassis, so we had to change it. We didn’t have a spare car this weekend, and it’s a shame. We had made some setup changes for my final run and I lost control in turn eight.

Sebastian Vettel – 4th and 1st:

There are 3 races left to contest and there’s a big gap to close. Every race becomes crucial if I want to keep my title chances alive. We came here to race and win. I think we are in the best position for tomorrow’s race. It will be a long race, very tough on the tires, and I think, really difficult for the drivers. We need to stay focused, especially in the esses of the first sector. I think this part is very physical and crucial, but it’s incredible to see how fast you can negotiate them with the car. It’s really fantastic when the car is empty; you want to go for another lap! We expected to be competitive and fortunately, we were right. It’s a shame for Mark Webber, he didn’t crash hard but his car couldn’t be repaired in time, and he missed the qualifying session. Otherwise, he would have been at the front.

Christian Horner – Team Principal:

«An excellent performance from Sebastian and the team. We were the fastest in each of the three parts of qualifying, and we have a significant fuel load for the race. We eagerly anticipate today’s publication of everyone’s fuel loads. So it’s a good start for Sebastian. It’s all the more unfortunate that Mark didn’t have the opportunity to take part in qualifying, as the car is proving to be competitive here. It is important to approach tomorrow’s race with maximum effort, starting from the back of the grid.»