In same-day qualifying caused by Typhoon Hagibis, the Ferarri team (Vettel, Leclerc) came out on top, while Bottas (Mercedes) claimed third.
SUZUKA, Japan—October 13th—Maybe the wind was strong from the departing typhoon, but it didn’t seem to bother the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, who locked in the early morning (in Japan) qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix. In the unusual same-day qualifying session, Vettel posted a 1:27:064 lap record, beating his Monegasque teammate for the pole for the first time in nine outings. Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes.
Vettel took the best time following a late bathroom break, just minutes from the end of qualifying. Leclerc managed to go out in front with Vettel minutes behind him. Both Mercedes of Bottas and Lewis Hamilton came out at the very end, right after Vettel set the record. But neither Silver Arrows could get close as both drivers had to settle for the second row. Leclerc and Bottas took the first two sessions.
“We are quite surprised,” said Vettel after he won his first pole at this circuit in ten years. “We did not expect to have the front row.
Leclerc had praise for his teammate. “Seb (Vettel) did an amazing lap,” Leclerc said, “and today he just deserves to be on pole. I have been struggling since the beginning of the weekend. But I have been pretty happy with my lap apart from the final sector when I did a few mistakes. But to be honest, the pole was possible, Seb was just too quick.”
Bottas had a feeling that Ferrari would show up soon enough. “We seemed quite strong but we always knew Ferrari might have something to turn up,” he observed. “Through the straights they are unbeatable. But we are quick through the corners.”
Things began a little tough in the first session with both Robert Kubica and the American Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen crashing at the front straightaway minutes from each other due to the heavy tailwind coming all the way from 130 R to the last chicane.
Both incidents caused the only red flag periods and the session resumed 15 minutes later. Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez, along with Nico Hulkenberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Dani Kvyat, and Lance Stroll were five big names that never made it to the final session.
For the top ten, it was teammates two by two, as Hamilton followed Bottas in fourth, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Alex Albon took fifth and sixth, respectively. McLaren’s duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris finished eighth and ninth, while two Frenchman, Pierre Gasly and Hass F1’s Romain Grosjean, closed out the final two top ten positions.
With only three hours between qualifying and race time, engineers will have to make car adjustments quickly. Typhoon Hagibis caused the unusual circumstance of same-day qualifying.
