2011 Japanese Grand Prix grid
2011 Japanese Grand Prix
| Row 1 | 1. Sebastian Vettel 1’30.466 Red Bull |
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| 2. Jenson Button 1’30.475 McLaren |
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| Row 2 | 3. Lewis Hamilton 1’30.617 McLaren |
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| 4. Felipe Massa 1’30.804 Ferrari |
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| Row 3 | 5. Fernando Alonso 1’30.886 Ferrari |
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| 6. Mark Webber 1’31.156 Red Bull |
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| Row 4 | 7. Kamui Kobayashi* No time Sauber |
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| 8. Michael Schumacher No time Mercedes |
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| Row 5 | 9. Bruno Senna No time Renault |
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| 10. Vitaly Petrov No time Renault |
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| Row 6 | 11. Adrian Sutil 1’32.463 Force India |
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| 12. Paul di Resta 1’32.746 Force India |
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| Row 7 | 13. Rubens Barrichello 1’33.079 Williams |
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| 14. Pastor Maldonado 1’33.224 Williams |
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| Row 8 | 15. Sebastien Buemi 1’33.227 Toro Rosso |
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| 16. Jaime Alguersuari 1’33.427 Toro Rosso |
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| Row 9 | 17. Sergio Perez No time Sauber |
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| 18. Heikki Kovalainen 1’35.454 Lotus |
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| Row 10 | 19. Jarno Trulli 1’35.514 Lotus |
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| 20. Jerome D’Ambrosio 1’36.439 Virgin |
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| Row 11 | 21. Timo Glock 1’36.507 Virgin |
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| 22. Daniel Ricciardo 1’37.846 HRT |
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| Row 12 | 23. Nico Rosberg No time Mercedes |
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| 24. Vitantonio Liuzzi No time HRT |
*Originally listed as tenth, he will in fact start seventh as he attempted to start a flying lap.
2011 Japanese Grand Prix
- Rate the race result: 2011 Japanese GP
- Kobayashi greets the fans, Vettel does doughnuts: Suzuka videos
- Hamilton did not have a puncture at Suzuka
- 2011 Japanese Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Vote for your Japanese Grand Prix driver of the weekend
- Red Bull: Conservative approach delivers Vettel’s title
- McLaren: Button pleased to win on ‘Red Bull track’
- Ferrari: Alonso edges Vettel for second
- Mercedes: Schumacher closes on Rosberg’s tally
- Renault: Petrov makes progress, Senna slips back
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 8th October 2011, 7:07
Oh, look: pole position for Vettel, and a stupid mistake from Hamilton.
This year in a nutshell, really.
Hamish (@hamish) said on 8th October 2011, 7:19
Exactly. I don’t know whats more enjoyable – Vettel on the limit on his final lap, or yet another mistake by Hamilton/McLaren meaning this website changes from a sports website to a comedy website for the rest of the weekend.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 7:33
@Hamish I’m not convinced that was such a brilliant lap from Vettel. He must have nailed it in Sector 3 as his Sector 1 time was pretty pants and he only managed to go green in Sector 2. Still, he did what he needed to do so fair play to him!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 8th October 2011, 7:47
@hamish to me neither were. The whole session was largely spent just waiting to see who was taking the trouble of setting a lap at all. We had about 2 minutes of exitement in Q2 and the exitement in Q3 was largely Kobayashi showing himself for the fans.
Instead of getting a tight shoutout for qualifying we saw part of Vettels lap that was not that special, we saw Button coming short and then found out Hamilton did not even get to set a fast lap anymore.
Sure Vettel might have been honestly supprised he got pole with that lap, but only because others not living up to expectations. And to make it worse, he even used the exact same lines to celebrate it that he has been using numerous times this year already. An anti-climax really.
GameR_K (@gamer_k) said on 8th October 2011, 8:43
And he used the exact same car he used in other races this year to take pole, what rubbish.
aka_robyn (@aka_robyn) said on 8th October 2011, 14:16
Yep, it’s all pretty shameful. Vettel clearly needs to spend less time worrying about his racing and more time worrying about keeping fans adequately entertained!
mateuss (@mateuss) said on 8th October 2011, 8:50
Did anyone else notice Kobayashi DRS’ing trough 130R in his final Q2 attempt? I had my heart in my mouth, with the memory of his practice lucky escape in my mind!
Does anyone know were other cars able to keep the rear wing opened in 130R apart from the Red Bulls?
Antranik (@antranik) said on 8th October 2011, 8:50
Well said.
Stefanauss (@stefanauss) said on 8th October 2011, 7:09
Vettel’s lap was visibly on the limit, astonishing to watch.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 8th October 2011, 12:38
He was, but I feel he could’ve gone some hundreths faster had he not made that slight mistake.
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid) said on 8th October 2011, 7:10
If only Hamilton got over the line in time…still, it’s gonna be a cracking race tomorrow! McLaren look to have similar pace to Red Bull this weekend, I don’t think Seb will be able to drive into the distance so easily!
SouthPawRacer (@southpawracer) said on 8th October 2011, 7:14
Amazing lap from Vettel. Nearly lost it a couple of times…
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 8th October 2011, 7:17
Simply fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat for the final minute. Vettel’s lap was superb. Well done to Button as well, and to Massa for beating Alonso!
Shame Hamilton didn’t get around for one last lap, but other than that, it was amazing.
F1 98 said on 8th October 2011, 7:20
Go kobayashi emotional time for him
gilles (@gilles) said on 8th October 2011, 7:33
It’s Seb’s 12th pole, Keith
bananarama (@bananarama) said on 8th October 2011, 7:35
How about Button having a good start passing Vettel and Hamilton thinking “I can do that!” trying the same, crashing with Vettel. Button wins, MAssa second Alonso third, Button still in contention for the title … :-D:-D
BasCB (@bascb) said on 8th October 2011, 7:48
Does not sound too bad.
What about Webber finally getting his start right, and then sliding into the back of Vettel at the first corner?
BBT (@bbt) said on 8th October 2011, 8:05
Lets hope we don’t have a HAM/MAS, MAS/HAM incident.
Button leading the first lap would be interesting and then a nice fight between Hamilton and Vettel (before a Vettel DNF) well we can dream can’t we?
Rib khalifa (@) said on 8th October 2011, 8:06
Is this what you wish for in the race?
french frog said on 8th October 2011, 7:35
brilliant drive from vettel but what a shame to see so much cars staying in the garage one more time in Q3
stupid rules give stupid behavior !!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 7:45
@french-frog It is a little disappointing to see so few drivers out on track but you could see how much they were having to nurse the tyres. You don’t get any points for qualifying so it’s all part of the strategy to maximise your potential in the race.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 7:39
Great results for Massa, Button, Kobayashi and Senna.
Such a shame that we didn’t get to see what Rosberg could have done but hopefully he will provide for some great action at the back.
Enigma (@enigma) said on 8th October 2011, 7:39
Shouldn’t Kobayashi be 7th, given that he started a flying lap?
BasCB (@bascb) said on 8th October 2011, 7:49
He went out and back into the pits the same lap, only setting sector times. Renault did the same, only a bit quicker (and Schumacher ended up doing that as well.)
Enigma (@enigma) said on 8th October 2011, 7:58
@bascb @andrewtanner I’m pretty sure he was setting a lapped time when he backed off…
BasCB (@bascb) said on 8th October 2011, 8:11
@enigma @andrewtanner looks like you are right. I saw on Twitter that Sauber will most probalby start in front of the Renaults and maybe even in front of Michael Schumacher as well!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 9:30
@BasCB @Enigma The time above says no time set for Kobayashi?
Enigma (@enigma) said on 8th October 2011, 9:32
@andrewtanner @bascb He didn’t set a timed lap, but he begun one – which is more than what the Renaults did by not even starting a timed lap. Not sure about Schumacher
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 10:09
@Enigma @BasCB Ah, I see :) Thanks for clearing that up for me.
MJ4 said on 8th October 2011, 21:02
Why was Kobayashi classified 10th at the end of qualifying, as shown on the screen, and also reproduced here in the qualifying report?
I understand that it’s not necessarily the official final start order, but this way it looks as though it’s just some kind of “our-best-guess-until-we-consult-the-rulebook” classification (a bit pathetic at this level).
Or am I missing something?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 7:51
@enigma I don’t think he did, he came straight into the pits, just wanted to secure some sector times so he could at least have something in the bag if no one else went out.
Enigma (@enigma) said on 8th October 2011, 7:40
I wonder again why Renault didn’t set a lap on inters, rules don’t say you’re not allowed to do it. They’d be a row ahead.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend) said on 8th October 2011, 10:12
They would has to start the race on inters tomorrow
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend) said on 8th October 2011, 10:13
@enigma they would has to start the race on inters tomorrow, if they took your suggestion :D
Enigma (@enigma) said on 8th October 2011, 10:19
@pmccarthy_is_a_legend Nope, with wet tyres they’re free to chooce. Just like in Sepang last year, they qualified on inters/wets, but were still allowed to start on dry tyres.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 8th October 2011, 7:50
Might be a record, having 7 cars starting without setting a time in Qualifying!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th October 2011, 7:52
Ooo I was only .065 off the pole time in my prediction! Happy with that, one of my best this year.
Rib khalifa (@) said on 8th October 2011, 8:13
Looks like it was just a schoolboy error from Hamilton, who did not realise that time was running out. “He was falling asleep,”
A miserable day for the Williams pair, with Barrichello (18th) crashing and Maldonado (21st) pulling off the track with some kind of problem
Jenson is unlucky to miss pole by nine 1,000ths of a second.