From GMM
Qualifying for the 2009 Japanese grand prix will be remembered for its multitude of crashes, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel emerging with pole position.
The three other Red Bull Technology chassis are looking particularly second-hand after Saturday's events at Suzuka. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber did not even see the green light of the qualifying session, having written off his RB5 in morning practice.
At Toro Rosso, Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari's Ferrari powered cars were competitive, but both of the rookie drivers crashed.
Buemi, having already backed his car into the Degner barriers at the start of Q1, will start tenth, but he was not able to take his place in Q3, after scraping down the arm-co exiting the Spoon curve and then controversially limping his badly broken car all the way back to the pits.
The incident will also draw the stewards' attention because it is believed both Brawns set very competitive sector times despite driving through the yellow flags and debris-strewn area in the dying moments of Q2.
"I backed off. Other people didn't," said Fernando Alonso, who did not make it through to Q3. "We'll see what happens."
Mark Webber, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and also Heikki Kovalainen all crashed on Saturday at Degner, but the biggest crash of the day was a bizarre one as Timo Glock seemed not to steer for the flat-out right-hander onto the straight.
The flu-struck Toyota driver, whose teammate Jarno Trulli qualified on the front row, struck the barriers hard and his head even made contact with the conveyor-belt protection.
He has been airlifted to hospital with what is described as an "abrasion to the left upper leg", but is not otherwise seriously hurt.
Rubens Barrichello, fifth on the grid and two places ahead of his teammate Jenson Button, believes the "very dangerous" run-off areas at Suzuka need to be improved, according to the BBC.
Both Brawns, meanwhile, told reporters after qualifying that they do not have cars to win Sunday's race.
In the top three with Vettel and Trulli is McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, followed by an impressive showing for Adrian Sutil for fourth.
Sutil's Force India teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi was the slowest car in qualifying back in 19th, and his woes are compounded by a five-place grid penalty for a pre-session gearbox change.
Starting grid of the Japanese grand prix
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'32"160 - Q3
Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'32"220 - Q3
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'32"395 - Q3
Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'32"466 - Q3
3rd row
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'32"660 - Q3
Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'32"945 - Q3
4th row
Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'32"962 - Q3
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'32"980 - Q3
5th row
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
6th row
Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'31"482 - Q2
Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'31"638 - Q2
7th row
Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'32"341 - Q2
Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - no time - Q2
8th row
Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - no time - Q2
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari F60) - 1'31"704 - Q1
9th row
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'31"718 - Q1
Romain Grosjean (Renault R29) - 1'32"073 - Q1
10th row
Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'32"087 - Q1
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - no time -
**Unofficial results**
Qualifying for the 2009 Japanese grand prix will be remembered for its multitude of crashes, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel emerging with pole position.
The three other Red Bull Technology chassis are looking particularly second-hand after Saturday's events at Suzuka. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber did not even see the green light of the qualifying session, having written off his RB5 in morning practice.
At Toro Rosso, Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari's Ferrari powered cars were competitive, but both of the rookie drivers crashed.
Buemi, having already backed his car into the Degner barriers at the start of Q1, will start tenth, but he was not able to take his place in Q3, after scraping down the arm-co exiting the Spoon curve and then controversially limping his badly broken car all the way back to the pits.
The incident will also draw the stewards' attention because it is believed both Brawns set very competitive sector times despite driving through the yellow flags and debris-strewn area in the dying moments of Q2.
"I backed off. Other people didn't," said Fernando Alonso, who did not make it through to Q3. "We'll see what happens."
Mark Webber, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and also Heikki Kovalainen all crashed on Saturday at Degner, but the biggest crash of the day was a bizarre one as Timo Glock seemed not to steer for the flat-out right-hander onto the straight.
The flu-struck Toyota driver, whose teammate Jarno Trulli qualified on the front row, struck the barriers hard and his head even made contact with the conveyor-belt protection.
He has been airlifted to hospital with what is described as an "abrasion to the left upper leg", but is not otherwise seriously hurt.
Rubens Barrichello, fifth on the grid and two places ahead of his teammate Jenson Button, believes the "very dangerous" run-off areas at Suzuka need to be improved, according to the BBC.
Both Brawns, meanwhile, told reporters after qualifying that they do not have cars to win Sunday's race.
In the top three with Vettel and Trulli is McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, followed by an impressive showing for Adrian Sutil for fourth.
Sutil's Force India teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi was the slowest car in qualifying back in 19th, and his woes are compounded by a five-place grid penalty for a pre-session gearbox change.
Starting grid of the Japanese grand prix
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'32"160 - Q3
Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'32"220 - Q3
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'32"395 - Q3
Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'32"466 - Q3
3rd row
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'32"660 - Q3
Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'32"945 - Q3
4th row
Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'32"962 - Q3
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'32"980 - Q3
5th row
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
6th row
Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'31"482 - Q2
Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'31"638 - Q2
7th row
Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'32"341 - Q2
Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - no time - Q2
8th row
Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - no time - Q2
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari F60) - 1'31"704 - Q1
9th row
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'31"718 - Q1
Romain Grosjean (Renault R29) - 1'32"073 - Q1
10th row
Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'32"087 - Q1
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - no time -
**Unofficial results**