Toru Takahashi/Associated PressSebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, center and right, celebrate first and second spots after qualifying, while Lewis Hamilton appears to ponder a lost opportunity, after “bad luck” saw him finish third fastest.
SUZUKA, Japan – We finally we had an interesting qualifying session for the front-runners. Never mind that Sebastian Vettel took the pole position again, his 12th in the 15 possible this season. The last laps of the session were worth the wait to watch the suspense as the leading drivers crossed the line probably the thickness of a sheet of paper apart: Jenson Button, who was fastest in every one of the three practice sessions this weekend, lost the pole position to Vettel by a few thousandths of a second.
The top three finishers were the last three world champions: Vettel, Button and Lewis Hamilton. But Hamilton just missed his final lap and was not able to challenge for pole, which he might have been able to take.
“It’s the second row, so it’s good enough,” said Hamilton, still looking a little dejected. “It was a shame we were not able to get our first pole position,” he added.
The problem was that Hamilton said he was cut off by Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber while he went out on his preparation lap, and that cost him the qualifying lap.
“I was coming into the chicane, I looked in the mirror and saw Mark diving up the inside of me,” said Hamilton. “I didn’t even see Michael but as I gave Mark room, Michael nearly crashed into me to the left, so it was quite dangerous.”
Still, while it was interesting at the front, several drivers did not go out in the final part of the session, trying to preserve their tires for the race, which robs spectators of track action during qualifying.
When asked how he felt about those latter drivers not running, Button said, “When you are fighting for pole and it is that close, I think it is a massive spectacle.”