Qualifying Report
Japanese GP
Sebastian Vettel kept his slim world championship hopes alive by claiming an inspired pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka today. It was a dramatic qualifying session that was missed by Mark Webber after damaging his Red Bull in the morning free practice session. Then in Q2 the session was red flagged early on after Jaime Alguersuari hit the tyre barriers head on at the Degner curves. Fortunately Alguersuari emerged unscathed. The same could not be said for Timo Glock whose Toyota hit the barriers head on at high speed after the final chicane with its driver having to be airlifted to hospital with abrasion to his upper thigh and amazingly still potentially able to drive on Sunday. Glock's accident caused another red flag and further disruption to the session. Jarno Trulli recovered the situation for a worried Toyota team by taking second place on the grid with Lewis Hamilton third. Adrian Sutil was again at the front end for Force India with a great fourth place. Title contenders Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button finished fifth and seventh fastest with the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld sandwiched between the two Brawn cars in sixth place. Kimi Raikkonen was eighth fastest with Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Buemi rounding out the top ten.
