Japanese GP Suzuka Qualifying 2009: Vettel on pole

Sebastian Vettel secured pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka while penalties have dropped Jenson Button and main World Championship rival Rubens Barrichello to 11th and ninth on the grid respectively.

Post-qualifying five-place penalties for speeding under yellow-flag conditions moved the Brawn team-mates down the starting order, with identical punishments for Renault's Fernando Alonso, who will start 17th, Renault's Adrian Sutil (eighth) and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi (14th).

Jarno Trulli of Toyota will start on the front row with McLaren's British world champion Lewis Hamilton third and Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber fourth.

Red Bull's Vettel can still win the title but stands 25 points behind Brawn GP's standings leader Button and 10 in arrears of Barrichello, while Briton Button can take his first drivers' championship this weekend if he scores five more points than his Brazilian team-mate.

Buemi began a crash-strewn qualifying afternoon by shooting off at Degner - where Vettel's colleague Mark Webber had crashed in morning practice, ruling him out of qualifying - with minimal damage to the Toro Rosso.

Heikki Kovalainen went off at the same place in the McLaren before the halfway point of the 20-minute mini-session.

Felipe Massa's temporary replacement at Ferrari Giancarlo Fisichella was the earliest major casualty in racing terms and will start 12th on the grid - he was in 16th before the penalties, having lost out in the first phase of qualifying - with Williams' Kazuki Nakajima (15th) disappointing again behind him and Romain Grosjean (Renault, 16th) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India, 18th) also dropping out at the first hurdle.

Jaime Alguersuari, who had reached Q2 for the first time in his fledgling F1 career, brought the 15-minute mini-session to a halt three minutes in. His crash at Degner, a fast curve which ends in an almost 90-degree right-hander, came as no surprise given the previous troubles drivers had experienced there.

The session restarted yet there was only time for Kimi Raikkonen and Trulli to set a lap-time before Timo Glock flew into the tyre wall at the final corner, again bringing out the red flags. He removed and threw the steering wheel in frustration; however there was then a period of uncertainty as the track doctor oversaw his removal from the car.

He managed a wave as he was stretchered into an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask; later reports indicated that he had suffered a wound to his left leg and potentially a back problem. If he is fit, he will start the race from the pitlane.

There followed a scramble to set times quick enough to reach the top-10 shootout, but the Brawns were serene in the garage, waiting until the last moment before emerging to grab fourth position (Button) and sixth (Barrichello).

Joining Toro Rosso's Alguersuari - who is fine to race after a precautionary visit to the hospital - and Toyota's Glock in going out at the Q2 stage were Robert Kubica of BMW, who will start seventh in the reshuffled order, Alonso and Nico Rosberg of Williams (6th).

In the final stages of that run matters were further complicated by Buemi ramming the barrier all the way down 130R, leaving debris on the track and bringing out the yellow flags. Perhaps he should have parked the Toro Rosso, but instead he trundled it back to the pits with flying cars passing; with the five cars later penalised needing to set a quick lap to progress to Q1, they ignored the warnings and finished their flyers.

In Q1 Kovalainen slid out sideways on the Degner right-hander itself - as opposed to the approach, where the other drivers had lost control - and bashed his McLaren MP4-24, ending his session and leaving the top eight places up for grabs when qualifying again resumed.

With five minutes remaining no one had set a time, leading to an almighty scramble in the closing moments: Vettel laid down his marker quickly while Raikkonen's initial pole-sitting time was passed by the other six, leaving him eighth on the grid - later revised to fifth.

The Brawns again came out last of all and perhaps paid for that relaxed approach as they took fifth and seventh; and the news after the session put a dampener on a weekend when they can win the constructors' title.
Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

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