Qualification: Carnage at Suzuka and Vettel takes pole!

The qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix has finally ended, with a delay of around thirty minutes and only one word to describe it: disaster, given the high number of accidents and red flags. In the end, Sebastian Vettel managed to stand out and takes pole position at Suzuka ahead of Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton. Sutil and Force India put in a strong performance, unlike Renault. Buemi, Kovalainen, Glock, Alguersuari, and Webber were the victims of the accidents.

The weather was nice this afternoon in Suzuka, Japan, for the qualifying session, but many incidents overshadowed this session. Three red flags limited track time and disrupted the session, but most importantly endangered the lives of three drivers in less than an hour.

Already this morning, Buemi and Webber had heavy crashes during Free Practice 3. As a result, Mark Webber did not participate in qualifying and will start from the pits, having to change his engine and thus incurring a nearly useless 10-place penalty here for the first time this season. This afternoon shortly after the start of Q2: Jaime Alguersuari, carried away by centrifugal force, went straight off at Degner. The Spaniard stayed in his car for a long time, likely stuck before he could get out. Taken to the infirmary, he returned to the paddocks about ten minutes later without injuries. The green flag was given once the debris was cleared, and the Toyotas were the first to go out. 80 seconds later, the red flag was activated again. This time, the accident was more serious: it involved Timo Glock. The German violently hit the tire wall at 200 km/h in the last sequence of corners. The doctors intervened but took almost 10 minutes to extract the driver from his Toyota on a stretcher. Glock was conscious during his evacuation, waved to the crowd, and as the replays show, he did not lose consciousness in the crash. He was airlifted to the nearest hospital with back and left leg pain. Already ill on Friday, his weekend seems quite compromised.

Sebastian Buemi narrowly avoids a crash at the end of Q2 and plays bumper cars along the safety barrier, scattering debris on the track and triggering a yellow flag that prevents some drivers from improving their lap times. The last red flag is caused by Heikki Kovalainen three minutes after the start of Q3. The Finn was also too optimistic with his trajectory, goes off and then returns to the track but fails to recover the McLaren. He hits the tire barriers at an angle but this time escapes without assistance.

This highly disrupted session leaves little room for competition. Only Q1 took place under usual conditions. Thus, the Renault driver, Romain Grosjean, did not find the pace in Q1 and qualified only in 18th position, ahead of Tonio Liuzzi in the Force India. Nakajima, on home soil, and Fisichella in the Ferrari also did not make it to Q2.

Alguersuari due to his accident, then Timo Glock have no time in Q2. They will likely start from the last row or the pits if there is an engine or chassis change. At the very end of Q2, Buemi’s yellow flag caused great uncertainties in the classification. Forced to slow down, Alonso, Rosberg, and Kubica could not qualify for Q1. Less honest, it seems that the Brawn GP drivers and Adrian Sutil did not lift off even though they did not yet have a time in this session – taking the place of the three men mentioned above. The FIA should clarify the situation during the day.

In Q1, Buemi, Kovalainen, Sutil, and Heidfeld were among those present. Once the Finnish driver’s accident was cleared, less than seven minutes remained for the 9 drivers to secure their performance. Vettel quickly showed speed. Trulli then kept things suspenseful to clinch the home pole for Toyota, but the Red Bull was too fast. The German secured a new pole, his first since the British Grand Prix. Trulli will occupy second position ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Force India driver Adrian Sutil achieves an impressive 4th fastest time and once again brings the Indian team into Q3. He is ahead of Barrichello’s first Brawn GP. Button, for his part, is 7th, but these three drivers are under investigation for setting their best times under yellow flags. Nick Heidfeld in the BMW is 6th, while Kimi Räikkönen is 8th and the last driver to have set a time in Q3. Rain is not expected tomorrow for the race either.

Results of the Qualifying – Japanese GP – Saturday, October 3, 2009: