Could It Be A Good Homecoming?

Yes Vettel managed to qualify in Pole position for the twelfth time this season at the Suzuka circuit in Japan. But it was a much closer session that in previous weekends as Button had topped the time sheets in all of the previous practice sessions and was only one hundredth of a second behind Vettel at one point. Hamilton was quickest in Q2 and had set a fastest time in Q3 but a mishap between himself and Schumacher meant that neither could produce a another time at the end of the session, leaving the second McLaren in third. Massa managed to out-qualify Alonso in the Ferrari battle and Webber finished last of the big guns in sixth. The fairytale in Japan had to the Japanese driver Kobayashi, the Sauber driver managed to set the quickest in Q1 and then made it into Q3. Kobayashi didn't set a time in Q3 but did make an appearance to set sector times which put him ahead of the drivers who also didn't set a time. Schumacher will start eighth after his timing mistake with the two Renaults completing the top ten, Senna ahead of Petrov.

The two Force Indias also line-up alongside each other with Sutil ending Di Resta's current good run of form. After continuing disappointing sessions in practice, Williams managed to qualify in thirteenth and fourteenth and despite rumours over Barrichello's racing future, the Brazilian managed to out-qualify Maldonado. The Toro Rossos also line-up alongside each other in fifteenth and sixteenth respectively, Buemi out-qualifying Alguersuari. In the other Sauber, Perez failed to set a time in Q2 because the need to keep tyres in good condition is even more vital in Suzuka so the team decided against setting a time.

The big news in Q1 saw Nico Rosberg fail to make it into Q3 for the first time this season. He suffered a hydraulics failure and couldn't set a time. The German starts in 23rd as Liuzzi also failed to qualify due to and engine failure. Ricciardo will start in twenty-second in the other Hispania. Jerome D'Ambrosio managed to out-qualify Glock in the Virgin battle but Kovalainen got the better of Trulli in the Lotus battle and they will line-up eighteenth and nineteenth respectively.