Sebastian Vettel simply unstoppable.

Jenson Button misses pole by .009 of a second.

Massa outqualifies his team mate lines up along side Hamilton.

Button: “It has been a pretty good weekend. As always I love driving around here, Suzuka is a phenomenal circuit, and when the car working around here it is ideal.

I was building up to Q3 and thought that last lap would be enough – but it was nine thousandths, so not good enough.

I felt like I got everything out of the car. I had a bit of oversteer on the last run but maybe I was pushing too hard. It’s great from team to be close to Red Bull on a circuit where they have been dominant in the past.”

Vettel: “What a qualifying. Yesterday I went off in free practice and damaged the wing, so it wasn’t ideal in the afternoon to prepare the car for today.

We suffered a bit this morning in particular where we were kind of coming back regarding car balance but we were too slow.

We sat down after the practice session this morning and fortunately got everything together and were able to get every single bit out of the car in qualifying.

It was crucial, there’s not much between Jenson Button and myself. It was a tough qualifying but I enjoyed it a lot. It is a long lap, you have a mega first sector, every time it is a challenge, it’s hard to get it right. I had a bit of a wobble in the first sector but got it right in the second sector.

Regarding the point or no point, I am not really focusing on that.

I had a lesson yesterday where I didn’t do a big mistake, but for a little moment I was not 100 per cent focused and lost the car.

Tomorrow is a long race and a very challenging race. We start from pole position and it will be very special tomorrow. Lot of things can happen and DRS can open a couple of chances so we’ll see where we are.

We had a good racecar yesterday in preparation so it should be alright. I am looking forward to the race, not the point.”

Senna: “It was a bit of a squeeze getting my car together in time for qualifying but the team did a fantastic job to mend it after my mishap in practice this morning. I haven’t been able to get as much track time as I would have liked yet this weekend, however the car performed flawlessly throughout qualifying, and the strategy we deployed helped put us in a strong position for the race tomorrow.

I am really looking forward to lining up on the grid, as it should be an exciting race. As I’ve said several times this weekend, I love this track and I am very well supported here so I hope to be able to give the supporters in the stands something to shout about.”

Petrov: “I’m pleased with lining up ninth on the grid. We are looking much stronger here than in Singapore, and we’re demonstrating the potential of the R31 at high speed corner tracks once again. The car has felt progressively better each time I’ve taken to the wheel this weekend.

It felt good in FP1 and FP2, and then FP3 this morning confirmed my sense that there will be a good opportunity for us to perform well here. The stability of the car improved around the high speed corners and the traction was better too, so I’m feeling confident going into tomorrow. A lot of different strategies will be played out during the race but I’m glad we are back in the hunt again.”

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.466s
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.475s   + 0.009
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.617s   + 0.151
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m30.804s   + 0.338
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m30.886s   + 0.420
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m31.156s   + 0.690
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             No time
 8.  Bruno Senna           Renault              No time
 9.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              No time
10.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.380s Gap **
11.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m37.035s   + 1.466
12.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.160s   + 1.591
13.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.347s   + 1.778
14.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m37.370s   + 1.801
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m37.496s   + 1.927
16.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m37.528s   + 1.959
17.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m37.593s   + 2.024
Q1 cut-off time: 1m35.111s Gap *
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m35.454s   + 2.828
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m35.514s   + 2.888
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.439s   + 3.813
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.507s   + 3.881
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m37.846s   + 5.220
23.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             No time
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         No time