F1: Vettel Vaults To Pole In Japan

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Vaults To Pole In Japan

Sebastian Vettel led a 1-2 Red Bull qualifying sweep...

Jared Turner | Posted October 06, 2012 Suzuka (JPN)

McLaren's run of overall consecutive Formula One poles is history. Sebastian Vettel's run of consecutive Japanese GP poles is not.

Ending McLaren's streak of consecutive poles at four, Vettel paced qualifying for a fourth straight year on Saturday at Suzuka Circuit as Red Bull made it a 1-2 qualifying sweep for the first time all season.

Vettel, looking to close the gap on World Championship leader Fernando Alonso down the season's final stretch, led Saturday's decisive Q3 segment with a lap of 1:30:839 in his familiar Red Bull RB8.

RBR teammate Mark Webber was second with a lap of 1:31:090. McLaren's Jenson Button ran third but will drop five places down the grid because of a gearbox penalty.

"I'm very, very happy with today's result," said Vettel, who comes into Sunday's race fresh off a victory two weekends ago in Singapore. "You couldn't really ask for more. The car felt fantastic from the start. I'm very happy the car feels fantastic around here. It came together nicely, and we hope for a good race tomorrow."

Teammate Webber is likewise focused on a strong finish, especially after failing to reach the podium in his last five starts.

"It has been a good weekend for us so far," the Australian said. "Seb (Vettel) and I had clean runs in Q3 when it mattered there. I am happy to be on the front row, and really looking forward to a good result tomorrow."

Button was pleased with his qualifying time but frustrated about the grid penalty, which will make a victory difficult if not impossible on Sunday.

"It hurts a little bit, but today was good," he said. "This morning in practice I wasn't that happy, but we made some good improvements for qualifying. It was a lot of fun but we were just not quick enough. A good qualifying for us, but it's just a pity starting back in eighth."

Kamui Kobayashi and Romain Grosjean completed the top five, followed by Sergio Perez, Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg in positions six through 10.

Hulkenberg faces his own five-place grid penalty, however, for a gearbox change following a crash in P3 on Saturday morning.

As is typical of most Formula One qualifying sessions, Saturday's featured its share of disappointed drivers.

Chief among them was Michael Schumacher, who qualified only 13th and was already facing a 10-place grid penalty for his run-in with Jean-Eric Vergne in Singapore.

The Mercedes driver, who on Thursday announced plans to retire at the end of 2012, will line up 23rd out of 24 cars on the grid.

Qualifying two positions better than Schumacher and facing no grid penalty was 11th-place Felipe Massa, whose failure to reach Q3 will undoubtedly not enhance his quest to remain with Ferrari for 2013.

Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix marks the 15th of 20 events on the 2012 Formula One calendar, which concludes in late November with the Brazilian GP.

Coming into the weekend, Alonso leads the drivers' standings by 29 points over Vettel, 45 over Raikkonen and 52 over Hamilton. Webber (-61) completes the top five.

Alonso and Hamilton both have a season-high three victories, while Webber, Vettel and Button, each with two victories, are the season's other repeat winners.

SPEED coverage of Formula One in Japan resumes at 1:30 a.m. ET Sunday with a live pre-race show, followed by racing at 2 a.m.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.