Vettel takes pole in crash-marred Japanese Grand Prix qualifying

SUZUKA - German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel Saturday took pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix here after a crash-marred qualifying session.

The qualifying was stopped three times after accidents and five drivers failed to record times in their sessions.

Vettel described the qualifying as very strange. “The key is not to get distracted, but it was a strange session. The most important thing is that the drivers are OK.”

The 22-year-old said he believed the accidents occur because drivers put so much into competing. “It is usual that in qualifying you try to find out where the limit is. It is about setting one fast lap time.”

Vettel, who secured his fourth pole position of the season and his fifth overall, posted a time of 1 minute 32.160 seconds for the 5.807-kilometre long lap, to edge out Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.

Trulli, who was earlier in the week told that he would not drive for Toyota in the new season, said he was concerned about the start. “I am a bit worried about the start because we are not known to be good starters, but we will see what happens.”

McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took third place on the grid with the third-fastest time and will start alongside Adrian Sutil in a Force India.

The defending champion Hamilton, whose previous experience of the Suzuka track consisted of racing it on computer games, said the track was everything he had dreamt of.

“I dreamt of being here for many years. The track is very special. To any youngster racing Suzuka on a computer game I can only say that it is as special as you can imagine.”

The championship-leading Brawn GP drivers of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button posted the fifth and seventh-fastest times respectively.

Button could win the championship on Sunday if he manages to finish five points ahead of the Brazilian.

The other drivers in the top ten are Nick Heidfeld in a BMW-Sauber who starts from sixth, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in eighth place and Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastien Buemi who failed to record a time in the final session.

McLaren’s Kovalainen went off in the Degner Curve in the final qualifying session, temporarily halting the session with a red flag.

As he had not yet posted a time he will start from ninth on the grid as the tenth place on the grid belongs to Sebastian Buemi in a Toro Rosso, who crashed at the end of the second session and could not start in the final round.

The second round of qualifying was twice red-flagged after accidents.

First time Spanish driver Jaime Alguersuari went off the track in the Degner Curve. Minutes later Toyota’s Timo Glock smashed into the tyres on the final corner.

Unlike Alguersuari, who escaped the crash unscathed, Glock had to be taken to the medical centre in an ambulance with a leg wound after being treated at the crash sight for 11 minutes.

His participation in Sunday’s race is in doubt though the sport’s governing body said his condition was generally fine.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who crashed in the free practice session in the morning, failed to participate in the qualifying as his car needed a new chassis and as a result the Australian will start from the pit lane.

Button leads the standings with 84 points from Barrichello, who is on 69 points. Vettel is third on 59 points.

The German said that he was still fighting for the championship. “There are three races to go and it is a big gap and all we do is race. We want to win and we are in the best position to do so on Sunday.

“We will see. We have a very good chance for the race and then we will see what that means for the championship.