Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, clinching pole by 0.332s from his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing the session in third.
Bottas had narrowly avoided a big accident early in the session. Haas' Romain Grosjean was not so lucky, crashing out at Dunlop at the end of Q1.
Japanese Grand Prix - Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.047s | 1:27.819s | 1:27.319s |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.332s | 1:28.543s | 1:27.651s |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:29.352s | 1:28.225s | 1:27.791s |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:29.475s | 1:28.935s | 1:28.306s |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:29.181s | 1:28.747s | 1:28.332s |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:29.163s | 1:29.079s | 1:28.498s |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:30.115s | 1:29.199s | 1:29.111s |
| 8 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:29.696s | 1:29.343s | 1:29.260s |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:30.352s | 1:29.687s | 1:29.480s |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:30.525s | 1:29.749s | 1:30.687s |
| 11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:30.654s | 1:29.778s | |
| 12 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:30.252s | 1:29.879s | |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:30.774s | 1:29.972s | |
| 14 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:30.516s | 1:30.022s | |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:30.565s | 1:30.413s | |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:30.849s | ||
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:31.317s | ||
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:31.409s | ||
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:31.597s | ||
| 20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:31.885s |
Q1: Grosjean crashes out of qualifying
Title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were quick to get out on track once the lights went green. Both were running the soft compound. First blood went to the Mercedes, which went a quarter of a second faster than the Ferrari.
However there was a scare for Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas. He slid off at Degner and came close to a massive accident before successfully gathering it up. The Finn quickly recovered his composure: his first clean lap was only seven thousandths off Hamilton's latest benchmark, albeit on supersofts.
Hamilton continued pushing. His fastest lap of Q1 proved to be 1:29.047s, putting him ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen followed by Bottas and Vettel. At the other end of the timing screens, the five drivers not making it through to the second round were Haas' Romain Grosjean, Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, Williams' Lance Stroll and the two Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.
Their final last-gasp attempts to avoid elimination were thwarted by a red flag with 1:18s remaining on the clock. It was triggered by Grosjean losing control going through the S-curves and crashing heavily into the barriers at Dunlop. He was winded but unhurt, and able to quickly climb from the crumpled car.
Q2: Hamilton moves up a gear
Hamilton was first out in Q2. Straight onto supersofts, his time of 1:27.819s was a new track record for Suzuka. It was almost seven tenths faster than Vettel's initial flying lap. Bottas slipped into third ahead of Verstappen, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel shaved the gap to Hamilton to four tenths in his second run at the end of the round. Neither Red Bull felt it necessary to make another outing, and Raikkonen was also secure enough to stay in the garage as the time expired.
A late flier from Fernando Alonso put the McLaren into the top ten. However it was at the cost of dumping his team mate Stoffel Vandoorne into the elimination zone by 0.029s. The good news for the Belgian is that he will start in the top ten anyway as a result of Alonso's latest slew of engine penalties.
Also dropping out of qualifying at the end of Q2 were the two Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Jolyon Palmer. The Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso were also out.
Q3: Hamilton seals the deal with new track record
Hamilton once again led the field out once the track opened for the business of the pole shoot-out. He found another half a second compared to his Q2 lap and opened his account with a time of 1:27.345s, six tenths faster than Bottas.
This time Vettel was able to get slightly closer, but he was still more than four tenths slower than his rival. Everyone else was over a second off provisional pole with their first efforts, while just Raikkonen and Alonso initially opted to stay in the garage.
All ten cars were out on track for a final push with two minutes to go. Hamilton marginally improved his newly-acquired track record to 1:27.319s, thereby securing his first-ever pole at Suzuka.
He had previously been on pole for the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 and 2008, when the race was held at Fuji Speedway. It's Hamilton's 71st career pole, his tenth of the season, and the 85th for Mercedes in Formula 1.
Bottas was able to push ahead of Vettel for second place. However, the Finn will be demoted five places to seventh on the grid for Sunday's race due to his gearbox change.
That promotes Vettel back on to the front row, and sets up an all-Red Bull line-up behind them with Ricciardo edging Verstappen. Raikkonen finished qualifying in sixth but will drop out of the top ten due to his own gearbox grid penalty.
Rounding out the final round in qualifying were the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, followed by Williams' Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso's penalty-laden McLaren which will drop to the back for Sunday's race.
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