Ferrari secures first two places on grid in Japan’s GrandPrix qualification

Mercedes appeared to be the team to beat after Friday practice at Suzuka, but Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel caused a shock as he delivered a lap so sweet, he chose to tell his team how good it was on the radio as he secured pole position in a delayed Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session.

F1.com reports that the pressure was on for the entire grid after third practice was cancelled and qualifying rescheduled for Sunday morning courtesy of the impending arrival of Typhoon Hagibis. While the conditions weren’t as bad as anticipated, as the typhoon changed course late on, the heavy rain did wash off all of the rubber laid down during Friday practice.

It meant conditions were tricky in qualifying, with the sun out but strong gusts blowing across the circuit, with Robert Kubica and Kevin Magnussen both caught out and crashing early on. But when it got down to the sharp end, it was Ferrari – rather than Mercedes – who impressed, with Vettel delivering the goods on the track he calls his favourite.

The four-time world champion nailed a cracking lap on his first run and then went one step better on his second to clock a 1m27.064s, to secure his first pole position since the Canadian Grand Prix – incidentally the last he outqualified team mate Charles Leclerc – and give Ferrari their fifth successive pole position.

Leclerc ended up 0.148s adrift, as Ferrari locked out the front row for the first time at Suzuka since 2006, with Valtteri Bottas outperforming Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton as they finished third and fourth respectively.

Via F1.com

Get your weekly review of events and insights on The CorporateDispatch Week.