Mark Webber has beaten team-mate Sebastian Vettel by a tenth of a second to claim his first pole position of the 2013 season at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Australian, who is set to retire from F1 at the end of the year, narrowly pipped the German to the top spot during Q3 after Vettel’s KERS failed during his first flying lap – although was later reset, though he couldn’t go quick enough to claim pole on his second flyer.
Lewis Hamilton starts third alongside the Lotus of Romain Grosjean in what was a tight battle for the second row, with fifth placed Felipe Massa and sixth placed Nico Rosberg all within a few tenths of one another.
Nico Hulkenberg impressed in the Sauber again to go seventh, pushing Fernando Alonso down to eighth – once again behind his team-mate.
A close Q2 saw the field covered by under a second as McLaren’s Sergio Perez was knocked out by team-mate Jenson Button, whilst Williams enjoyed their best qualifying of the season as both Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado made it out of Q3.
Qualifying – 2013 Japanese Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:32.271 | 1:31.513 | 1:30.915 |
| 02 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.397 | 1:31.290 | 1:31.089 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:32.340 | 1:31.636 | 1:31.253 |
| 04 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:31.824 | 1:31.565 | 1:31.365 |
| 05 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:31.994 | 1:31.668 | 1:31.378 |
| 06 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.244 | 1:31.764 | 1:31.397 |
| 07 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:32.465 | 1:31.848 | 1:31.644 |
| 08 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.371 | 1:31.828 | 1:31.665 |
| 09 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:32.377 | 1:31.662 | 1:31.684 |
| 10 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:32.606 | 1:31.838 | 1:31.827 |
| 11 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:32.718 | 1:31.989 | |
| 12 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:32.286 | 1:31.992 | |
| 13 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:32.613 | 1:32.013 | |
| 14 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:32.673 | 1:32.063 | |
| 15 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:32.875 | 1:32.093 | |
| 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:32.804 | 1:32.485 | |
| 17 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:32.890 | ||
| 18 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:33.357 | ||
| 19 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:34.320 | ||
| 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 1:34.556 | ||
| 21 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:34.879 | ||
| 22 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:34.958 |
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