Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has taken another step towards clinching his second Formula 1 title, after clinching pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.
But the German’s 11th success in qualifying this season did not come as easily as the previous ones.
The McLarens looked dominant thought out all the training sessions at the Suzuka circuit, but when the real action took place, Vettel beat Jenson Button by just nine-thousandths of a second, showing the result of 1 minute 30,466 seconds.
The Red Bull man needs just a single point to become the Formula 1 champ for the second year in a row as he is 124 points ahead of Button in the drivers’ standings.
“Tomorrow is a long race and a very challenging race,” Vettel told Autosport.com. “We start from pole position and it will be very special tomorrow. Lot of things can happen and DRS can open a couple of chances so we’ll see where we are.”
“I am looking forward to the race, not the point,” he added.
Another McLaren representative, Lewis Hamilton, took the third position on the grid, with Felipe Massa of Ferrari right behind him.
Lotus Renault, who failed several of their previous races, also had a strong qualification in Japan. Both of their cars made it to Q3, but did not appear on the track in it on order to save tires for the Sunday’s race.
Bruno Senna will enter the race from 9th spot, with F1’s only Russian, Vitaly Petrov, showing the tenth result.
The Japanese Grand Prix in the 14th race of the 2011 Formula 1 season, with four events remaining.