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