Mercedes secured yet another qualifying 1-2 with Nico Rosberg taking the top honour of pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The German was almost two-tenths quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the final top-ten shoot-out. Hamilton had no answer for his sensational lap of 1:32.506.
The pair were clear of the chasing pack as Valtteri Bottas secured third, over six-tenths slower than Rosberg, with team-mate Felipe Massa fourth.
Fernando Alonso was the best-placed non-Mercedes engined car in fifth, ahead of the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and the pair of McLarens led by Kevin Magnussen.
Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top ten.
Q2 saw no major dramas other than the outgoing Jean-Eric Vergne outqualifying the promoted-to-Red Bull Daniil Kvyat by two places.
Marcus Ericsson put Caterham ahead of Marussia as he secured 19th to not only beat both Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton but also Kamui Kobayashi.
Qualifying – 2014 Japanese Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:33.671 | 1:32.950 | 1:32.506 |
| 02 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:33.611 | 1:32.982 | 1:32.703 |
| 03 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:34.301 | 1:33.443 | 1:33.128 |
| 04 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:34.483 | 1:33.551 | 1:33.527 |
| 05 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:34.497 | 1:33.675 | 1:33.740 |
| 06 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:35.593 | 1:34.466 | 1:34.075 |
| 07 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:34.930 | 1:34.229 | 1:34.242 |
| 08 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:35.150 | 1:34.648 | 1:34.317 |
| 09 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:35.517 | 1:34.784 | 1:34.432 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:34.984 | 1:34.771 | 1:34.548 |
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:35.155 | 1:34.984 | |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:35.439 | 1:35.089 | |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:35.210 | 1:35.092 | |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:35.000 | 1:35.099 | |
| 15 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:35.736 | 1:35.364 | |
| 16 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1.35.308 | 1:35.681 | |
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:35.917 | ||
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:35.984 | ||
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 1:36.813 | ||
| 20 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1:36.943 | ||
| 21 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:37.015 | ||
| 22 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:37.481 |
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