Vettel on pole

Reining champion Sebastian Vettel won pole position today for the Suzuka grand prix, which will be held in Suzuka tomorrow. Reb Bull team-mate Mark Webber starts alongside in second.

An off track incident involving Kimi Raikonnen in the Lotus disrupted the final flying lap of a number of drivers, pushing them down the grid.

Jenson Button (Mclaren) qualified in third and will start from eighth after a gearbox change.

Kobayashi in a Sauber and Grosjean in a Lotus start on the second row, with Alonso in the third. Lewis Hamilton starts in ninth.

The starting grid

1.  Sebastian Vettel (Germany)   RedBull - Renault        
2.  Mark Webber (Australia)      RedBull - Renault        
3.  Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)      Sauber - Ferrari         
4.  Romain Grosjean (France)     Lotus - Renault          
5.  Sergio Perez (Mexico)        Sauber - Ferrari         
6.  Fernando Alonso (Spain)      Ferrari                  
7.  Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)     Lotus - Renault          
8.  Jenson Button (Britain)      McLaren                  
9.  Lewis Hamilton (Britain)     McLaren                  
10. Felipe Massa (Brazil)        Ferrari                  
11. Paul Di Resta (Britain)      Force India - Mercedes   
12. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams - Renault       
13. Nico Rosberg (Germany)       Mercedes                 
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso - Ferrari     
15. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany)   Force India - Mercedes   
16. Jean-Eric Vergne (France)    Toro Rosso - Ferrari     
17. Bruno Senna (Brazil)         Williams - Renault       
18. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)  Caterham - Renault       
19. Timo Glock (Germany)         Marussia - Cosworth      
20. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain)     HRT - Cosworth           
21. Charles Pic (France)         Marussia - Cosworth      
22. Vitaly Petrov (Russia)       Caterham - Renault       
23. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes                 
24. Narain Karthikeyan (India)   HRT - Cosworth