Japan 2011 - Qualifying - Button looks strong, as Vettel crashes - what will this mean for pole position?
Published by Christine
Jenson Button led the way in both Free Practice sessions on Friday, whilst Sebastian Vettel crashed out of FP1. The chances of similar things happening over the rest of the weekend are slim, but anything can happen. Before we get to the race, we've got one hour of qualifying to set things up nicely.
We've seen a few drivers struggling with the trickier corners around Suzuka, and there's always a chance that the weather might play its part too - although that's not looking too likely either this weekend.
The action begins at 6am GMT+1 with the Factbyte Factbox opening half an hour beforehand for some fabulous build up.
Statistics
Suzuka Circuit, Saturday
23℃
- Low 14℃
- Humidity 41%
Sunny
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S Vettel | Red Bull | 1:30.785 | 20 |
| 2 | M Webber | Red Bull | 1:30.853 | 21 |
| 3 | L Hamilton | McLaren | 1:31.169 | 22 |
| 4 | R Kubica | Renault | 1:31.231 | 21 |
| 5 | F Alonso | Ferrari | 1:31.352 | 26 |
One to Watch
I'll be very curious what Williams can achieve today. Their season is not going well for them so far, and yesterday was particularly tricky. Neither driver managed to get to the end of either practice session, so they're already on the back foot. They had to hurriedly reorganise their FP3 programme to try to cram and prepare for qualifying.
