Formula 1 News

Vettel grabs pole position at Suzuka 

Qualifying red flagged three times

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has grabbed the pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in a qualifying session interrupted by three red flags after heavy crashes.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli (1:32.220) ended up second ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton (1:32.395), Force India’s Adrian Sutil (1:32.466), Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello (1:32.660), BMW’s Nick Heidfeld (1:32.945), championship leader Jenson Button (1:32.962) and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1:32.980).

The Japanese qualifying session got red flagged as soon as Q2 had started when Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari run wide and went straight into the barriers at the Degner corner. The young Spaniard was assisted by the medical car even though he was unhurt. A few minutes later the session got restarted but got red flagged again when Toyota’s Timo Glock lost control of his car at the final turn before the main straight, and hit violently the protective tyre barriers. The medical car assisted the German who was conscious but was carried in an ambulance and taken to hospital by helicopter after he lamented pain in his back and left leg.

The third and final red flag occured in Q3 when McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, spun, again at the Degner corner, and hit the barriers sideways. The Finn was unhurt and got out of the car immediately.

2009 Japanese Grand Prix, Qualifying Session results: