Vettel keeps pole streak alive; wins 12th in Japan

SUZUKA, Japan-R.I.S- Edging ever so close to the all-time pole record held by Nigel Mansell, Sebastian Vettel put in one good final lap of 1:30:466, to win his 12th pole just by nine thousands of a second ahead of McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan at the legendary Suzuka circuit.

"I went off in the free practice yesterday and damaged the front wing,” said Vettel.  “So it wasn't ideal to prepare the car for today. We suffered a bit from that this morning regarding the car's balance and were too slow. We sat down after P3 and looked at where we could improve and we were able to extract everything out of the car in qualifying, which was crucial. There wasn't much between me and Jenson! I want to say thanks to the team and the factory for getting another front wing out for me, I would not sit here now without them, so I'm very happy and very proud.”

The hero of the three knockout sessions early on was not Vettel, but home hero Kamui Kobyaschi, who surprised everyone by taking the fastest time of 1:32:434 in his Sauber. But Vitantonio Luizzi and Nico Rosberg did not even go out onto the track at all, with Rosberg suffering from hydraulic issues.

"On my first lap out in Q1, the team advised that I had a problem and asked me to come back into the pits”. He said. “We tried to fix it in time for me to complete a lap, however the hydraulic systems are quite complicated and there just wasn't enough time. So for the race, I have a promising strategy with all the new tyres that I have! But seriously, I will push and try to get into the top ten. That will be my aim tomorrow."

Hamilton managed to take the second session’s best time of 1:31:139, but Kobyaschi still received the most attention, as he just advanced to the final session for just only the second time this season with a tenth place result.

Hamilton once again took control of the final session, with a 1:30:761 best time, but was unable to go out onto the track again, because there was not enough time to complete a lap on the nearly three and a half mile track. Button took the lead momentarily, but Vettel was still out on the circuit,and timed everything right to get another successful pole position. The mistake that the 2008 World Champion made got him quite upset. But in all of the Englishman’s spirit, he managed to be grateful in what position he finished.

"I'm happy to be third.” He said. “I'll be starting from the cleaner side of the grid, and we can have a good race from there. And I'm pleased that we've been extremely competitive all weekend. We've definitely shown an improvement: to be so close at a high-speed circuit like this means we're doing well. It's very encouraging, because if we'd had this car at the beginning of the season, I think the championship could have been a different story.”

Ferrari teammates Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso took fourth and fifth, respectively, while Mark Webber finished in sixth. Fearing the fact that they did not want to wear out the best tires that they needed for the race, Michael Schumacher, and Renault teammates Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov stayed in the pits, and would start in the next grid positions, while Kobyaschi would start next on the grid, but in a show of sportsmanship for his home crowd, the Japanese took a honorary lap with hard tires before returning to the pits. Kobyaschi in his generosity was at the end promoted to seventh because the other three did not even attempt to go out for the final session.

Vettel in the end, gave a lot of credit to the circuit he likes to drive, but still needing one point to clinch his second world title, he was very open minded about the situation.

“Tomorrow is a long race and it's challenging, stated a cautious Vettel. “ I'm looking forward to it. We really love to come here, it's a special atmosphere and the fans are so passionate and crazy. When we leave the hotel in the morning, it's full of people and they're all screaming, so it's a nice feeling to be part of that and starting from pole tomorrow will be special. It's a long race and a lot of things can happen."