Qualifying at The Suzuka Circuit

With it all over the media, Lewis Hamilton took to the track in Q1 the last time with McLaren as it has been released that the 2008 world champion signed for Mercedes last week, sending Michael Schumacher into retirement and allowing rising star Sergio Perez to take his vacant McLaren seat.

As Q1 started, Paul di Resta was first out on track as there was pandemonium in the Force India garage as the mechanics desperately tried to finish repairing Nico Hulkenberg's car after he crashed in final practice. And within the first ten minutes of Q1, it appeared that all driver's had at least gotten their installation lap in on the Suzuka Circuit. With the weather jumping all around this race weekend, the teams and drivers wanted as much running time as possible.

With being given a 10 place grid penalty for causing a collision in Singapore, Michael Schumacher had many fans on the edge of their seat, waiting and watching to see if the seven time world champion would be able to make it through and into Q2. With a minute to go, Schumacher survived, edging into Q2 with the 16th fastest time with an impressive final sector.

Being his home grand prix, it was no wonder that Kamui Kobayashi was out on track within the first minute of Q2 to give the crowd a Brilliant lap time of 1:32.368 in his Sauber. It was just unfortunate that his time did not hold in front of the home crowd.

With four minutes to go, Schumacher finally made an appearance on track as he (as well as his team and fans) knew that he must make it into the top ten shoot out to hold a respectable position at the race start Sunday. But as the four minutes ticked by, both Mercedes were knocked out and after his 10 place penalty, Schumacher would start the race in P23, Which he made visibly in the Mercedes garage, tearing his gloves off and throwing them down.

Q3, the top ten shoot out and it looked as if there may have been some more action on track than normal. With the 2012 season in the bottom half, and the World Driver's Championship up for grabs, teams and drivers were determined to get pole position. 

As the final few minutes were counting down, all ten drivers were out on circuit and coming down into Spoon Curve, Kimi Raikkonen went off line, losing the rear end of the car and spinning round. Raikkonen got stuck in the kitty litter (which brought out the yellow flag) and that ruined everyone else's final laps.

As Jenson Button finished off qualifying in P3, his five place grid penalty dropped him back to P8. Thus giving Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi P3. It is the best ever result for a Japanese driver in his home race, breaking the record set by Takuma Sato who finished fourth at the Suzuka Circuit in 2004. Can Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi go on to secure his first ever podium and become the first Japanese driver to do so at his home race since Aguri Suzuki back in 1990?

Sebastian Vettel	P1   Fan's Choice To Win
Mark Webber	P2
Kamui Kobayashi	P3
Romain Grosjean	P4
Sergio Perez	P5
Fernando Alonso	P6
Kimi Räikkönen	P7
Jenson Button	P8
Lewis Hamilton	P9
Felipe Massa	P10
Paul di Resta	P11
Pastor Maldonado	P12
Nico Rosberg	P13
Daniel Ricciardo	P14
Nico Hülkenberg	P15
Jean-Éric Vergne	P16
Bruno Senna	P17
Heikki Kovalainen	P18
Timo Glock	P19
Pedro de la Rosa	P20
Charles Pic	P21
Vitaly Petrov	P22
Michael Schumacher	P23
Narain Karthikeyan	P24

Q1 107% Time 1:38.471

Note - Schumacher dropped 10 grid spots for causing a collision at previous round; Button and Hulkenberg dropped five for unscheduled gearbox changes; Vergne dropped three for blocking Senna in Q1.