Vettel takes Japan pole

Jenson Button missed out on pole position for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix by just nine thousandths of a second as Sebastian Vettel continued his astonishing run

With Button‘s McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton provisionally in top spot after the first run at Suzuka, the Briton aborted his second and instead it was left to Vettel and Button to battle it out.

Vettel crossed the line first in his Red Bull and ousted Hamilton by only 0.151secs, but that left Button behind him in on the grid.

However, after topping the practice times in all three sessions, the 31-year-old failed to clinch his first pole for 45 races by the narrowest of margins but did vault over his colleague.

It is now five in a row for Vettel and his 12th of the season, with only three drivers ahead of him in F1 history who have managed more in a single campaign - Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost with 13, with record-holder Nigel Mansell on 14.

It is also Red Bull’s 16th consecutive pole, with only McLaren on 17 and Williams with 24 ahead of them.

Needing only a point tomorrow to win back-to-back titles, only a failure and a Button victory can deny him the championship.

Behind the front row, Hamilton will start third alongside Felipe Massa in his Ferrari, and interesting duel likely to develop there in light of their feud a fortnight ago in Singapore.

Fernando Alonso, who blew his first run when he made a mistake, lines up fifth, with Mark Webber sixth in his Red Bull and the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher seventh.

The Renaults of Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov start eighth and ninth, with Kamui Kobayashi delighted his fans by qualifying in the top 10 for only the fourth time this season and first time in six races, with the Japanese starting 10th.

The Force India pair of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta line up on the sixth row in 11th and 12th respectively, the duo separated by just under three tenths of a second.

Then come the Williams’ of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado, split by 0.145secs, followed by the Toro Rosso’s of Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, 0.2secs apart.

Sergio Perez starts 17th after failing to set a time in Q2 in his Sauber, with the Mexican suffering with a high fever.

The usual names dropped out of Q1, spearheaded by Heikki Kovalainen in his Lotus in 18th, albeit the Finn was only a third of a second away from what would have been a surprise slot in Q2.

For Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes, the German faces an uphill battle just to get into the points after an hydraulic problem resulted in him failing to set a time.

The issue occurred after he returned to the pits after completing an installation lap, with Rosberg then forced to frustratingly sit in the car as his mechanics worked around him, but to no avail.

Rosberg, though, will not be last on the grid as that dubious honour falls to the Hispania of Vitantonio Liuzzi, whose problems in practice in which he managed just 12 laps overall, continued to plague his car as he too failed to post a time due to an engine misfire.

Vettel, who has won this race the last two years from pole, said: ``We struggled yesterday to set up the car.

“I made the mistake in P1, losing the front wing, but the team did a great job, so this is a great way to say thank you.

“I enjoyed it a lot. I knew after the first run in Q3 it was possible – that I could set a lap of one minute 35 (seconds) if all went well.

“Once I crossed the line I knew it was close, then I got the radio call we had just done it by nine thousandths, so I’m very happy

“Regarding the point I need, I’m not focusing on that, but in what is a special race, starting from pole is very special.”

Button was naturally a little downbeat as he said: “You’ve always got to be a bit disappointed when it’s that close.

“I’m happy I’ve a car underneath me that feels good. I thought the last lap was enough, I got everything out of the car, but it was nine thousandths (off), which was not good enough.

“Fair play to the whole team, they’ve taken it to Red Bull here on a circuit where they’ve dominated, and I still feel we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Hamilton, who just failed to cross the line in time in order to go again for a second fastest lap, said: “It is what it is.

“The team did a great job, I had time, maybe a couple of tenths in hand.

“But as I tried to give myself a gap to Jenson ahead of me, I saw Mark (Webber) coming up fast behind me going into the final chicane, so I pulled to my right.

“I didn’t even see Michael (Schumacher), but he was there and he nearly crashed into me. It was quite dangerous.

“It’s a shame because the car is clearly competitive, and it’s a shame we weren’t able to get pole, but it was an interesting situation I found myself in.”