Nico Rosberg claims his second Pole Position of the season at the Japanese GP

In qualifying in Japan yesterday, Nico Rosberg claimed his second Pole Position of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of his team mate of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo in a session that was sadly ended with Daniil Kvyat suffering a major crash at the end of Q3.

The Russian brought out the red flags at the end of Q3 when he crashed at the kink after the Degner curves. Kvyat then smashed into the tyre barrier and rolling over before his car came to rest in the gravel trap.

The Russian walked away from the wreckage but the accident brought out the red flags and halted any hopes for Hamilton of striking back, thus Rosberg confirmed his first pole since May’s Spanish Grand Prix, and only his second all season.

It was then announced after qualifying that Kvyat will be starting from the pitlane for the race; with the Red Bull team doing a lot of work overnight to ensure that his car is ready for the race.

We also saw in Q1 Marcus Ericsson spinning his Sauber which affected Alexander Rossi’s lap and left him with one shot in Q1 to get a flying lap and also Max Verstappen abandoning his car on the exit of the hairpin spoiled any hopes Jenson Button’s McLaren had of making it through to Q2. Button did complain earlier on in the session of problems with in correct engine settings on his first run, which required him to pit.

After qualifying, it was confirmed by the stewards that Verstappen would receive a three place grid penalty for “dangerous driving.” Explaining their reasoning behind the penalty, a statement from the stewards read as follows:-

‘Car #33 [Verstappen] experienced a sudden power loss at the exit of Turn 11. The driver initially moved to the left side of the track towards a safe position and when it was about to stop, moved to the right on to the racing line where it eventually stopped.

‘This caused double yellow flags to be shown and endangered oncoming drivers.’

But it was Nico Rosberg who claimed his second Pole Position of the season with a lap time of 1.33.995 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second place who was 0.297 seconds behind him but was ahead of Valtteri Bottas who finished in third place who was 0.502 seconds behind the Mercedes of Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel qualified in fourth place ahead of Felipe Massa in fifth place, Kimi Raikkonen in sixth place and Daniel Ricciardo in seventh place. Romain Grosjean ended the session in eighth place ahead of Sergio Perez in ninth place Daniil Kvyat who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified in eleventh place ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr in twelfth place, Pastor Maldonado in thirteenth place, Fernando Alonso in fourteenth place and Max Verstappen in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Jenson Button qualified in a disappointing sixteenth place ahead of in seventeenth place, Felipe Nasr in seventeenth place, Will Stevens in eighteenth place and Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi did not complete any laps and will start at the back of the grid in nineteenth and twentieth places.

The classification of Qualifying for the Japanese GP is as follows:-

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.32.584
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.076s
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.440s
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.661s
5. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 0.753s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 0.763s
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.763s
8. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.383s
9. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
10. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, No Time
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.34.390
12. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.34.453
13. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.34.497
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.34.785
15. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, No Time *
16. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.35.664
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.35.760
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 1.38.783
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, No Time
20. Alexander Rossi, Manor, No Time
[NB. Max Verstappen has a three place grid penalty].

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa