After a big crash for Kvyat, Rosberg claims pole ahead of his teammate in Japan. Just seven hundredths of second separated the Mercedes drivers with a red flag preventing them from completing their second runs. Bottas beat Vettel to 3rd and Massa was behind in 5th.
With no dry running on Friday, the teams were less prepared for qualifying than they would have liked. The two Mercedes were fastest in Q1, which came to an early end after Verstappen’s car stopped on track. Button missed out on getting into Q2 by just two tenths of a second. Also dropping out in Q1 were the Saubers of Ericsson and Nasr as well as the two Manor drivers.
Rosberg was fastest in Q2 with a 1:32.632, with Hamilton close behind with a 1:32.789. Third-placed Raikkonen was over half second slower than Hamilton, with Massa less then two hundredths behind in 4th. Hulkenberg failed to make it into Q3, along with Sainz, Maldonado and Alonso. Verstappen didn’t set a time after his car switched off in Q1.
Q3 saw Rosberg go faster than Hamilton on his first run after Lewis had a big lock up at the hairpin. Just as everyone was going onto their final runs, Kvyat had a massive crash, he smashed into the barriers and then flipped the car. He was okay but his car was very badly damaged. It red flagged the session, so the first runs counted. This was frustrating for many drivers, who were on faster laps. This prevented Hamilton from improving his time and may have lost him pole position. Bottas was third, ahead of Vettel and Massa.
Hulkenberg will serve a three-place grid penalty for his crash in Singapore and Verstappen also has a three-place grid penalty for stopping the car in a dangerous place. After his massive crash, Kvyat will start in the pit lane as the car needed a new chassis. After penalties have been added, the grid tomorrow will be: Rosberg, Hamilton; Bottas, Vettel; Massa, Raikkonen; Ricciardo, Grosjean; Perez, Sainz; Maldonado, Alonso; Hulkenberg, Button; Ericsson, Nasr; Verstappen, Stevens; Rossi, Kvyat (pit lane).