Japan – Qualifying: Rosberg narrowly snatches pole from Hamilton on the last lap!

Scheduled two hours earlier, between 5 and 6 a.m. French time (from 12 to 1 p.m. local time), the third and final free practice session ended with meteorological uncertainty. The rain had disrupted the smooth progression of the day’s last practice. In a humid context (still nearly 80% humidity in the air!), the start of the qualifying session remained dry, with a temperature of 23 degrees and 26 degrees on the Japanese tarmac.

The Mercedes make it to Q2 on mediums, Button is left stranded.

Cautious, the Mercedes drivers were among the first on track, at the same time as the Manor drivers. Both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton opted for a conservative choice with medium tires. It was still enough: from the first run, both the German and the Englishman secured themselves. 1:31.858 for Rosberg, more than three-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. And this despite a small mistake by number 6, going wide off the trajectory at the exit of the second Degner.

Rosberg runs wide on his first flier in #Q1, but it’s good enough for top spot 💪

1 ROS
2 HAM +0.360#Quali #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/cF01QjfoQB

— Formula 1 (@F1) 8 octobre 2016

On soft tyres, the Ferrari drivers took advantage to temporarily secure a place at the top of the standings. Vettel clocked a 1:31.659, just 15 milliseconds ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. After a brief lull, both McLaren-Honda cars were the first to reappear on track during the last round of flying laps. Intentional parade or not offered to the local fans, it certainly did not allow Jenson Button to warm up his tyres effectively. The 2009 world champion was eliminated right in Q1. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso only managed to get on the good side of the timing sheet by just three modest tenths.

With Button, it was also Kevin Magnussen’s Renault that was sidelined. A disappointing performance for the Dane, who let Jolyon Palmer advance alone to Q2 for the French team. This was a bad omen during the negotiations about whether to renew his contract for 2017. Far from these concerns, some other drivers like the two Mercedes, the two Red Bulls, and Sergio Pérez chose to stay in the garage and watch the final duels.

Eliminated in Q1: Button, Magnussen, Ericsson, Nasr, Ocon, Wehrlein

A unique double entry in Q3 for Haas

Alone in the world both literally and figuratively, the Mercedes drivers were the first to hit the track at the start of Q2. Once again, Nico Rosberg took the advantage with 1:30.714, four-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Even with a small error in Degner 2, the Englishman stayed ahead of the third man, Ferrari’s Vettel. The Scuderia remained ahead of the Red Bull for the time being. However, Max Verstappen did not seem satisfied in his radio exchanges with his engineer, complaining particularly about the traffic. Despite this, the Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari drivers stayed comfortably in their garages, with times already sufficient.

At the time of the return to the pits, Sainz, Alonso, Kyvat, Palmer were in the danger zone. The Williams drivers were going all out on a single stint completed at the end of Q2. Therefore, Massa and Bottas had a clear track: a shifted and original strategy for the Grove team. Both first completed a reconnaissance lap before returning to the pits to change tires and fully attack the clock. This ultimately proved to be a losing option for both the Brazilian and the Finn, both excluded from Q3 at the end of Q2. Carlos Sainz won’t see the session either, due to a mistake in the Spoon curve, at the fourteenth turn.

On the other hand, a magnificent overall performance for both Haas cars, making it together for the first time to the final qualifying session. A saving moment for the young American team, which lost both of its cars last week at the Malaysian Grand Prix for the first time in its young history.

Late drama in #Q2! Sainz spins out of #Quali 😯 #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/hIfOAd0Nct

— Formula 1 (@F1) 8 octobre 2016

Eliminated in Q2: Bottas, Massa, Kvyat, Sainz, Alonso, Palmer

The right lap at the right moment for Rosberg!

The time had come for the final showdown among the last 10 drivers still in the race. Among the matchups on the menu, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel narrowly stayed ahead of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

But the main event held a twist: Lewis Hamilton edged out Nico Rosberg in the first run! 1:30.758 for the Englishman, who overtook his teammate for the first time this weekend!

Tiny gap: for one of the rare times this season, all six drivers were within five-tenths. Everything was still to play for in the very last part of this Q3.

.@nico_rosberg declares a 1:30:953@LewisHamilton a 1:30:758…

👏👏👏👏👏#Quali #JapaneseGP #Q3 #F1

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 8 octobre 2016

The show was on point: the last attempt was even closer!

After improvements from Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg regained the lead with a stunning lap time of 1:30.647, the absolute best time of the weekend. In the championship battle, it is indeed the number 6 who stakes his claim over number 44, securing another pole position on the majestic Japanese track. Already the 30th of his career!

A hat-trick of poles for @nico_rosberg at Suzuka

2014, 2015, 2016 💪 #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3GGWhLKn05

— Formula 1 (@F1) 8 octobre 2016

Behind this duo, at Ferrari, it’s again the Finnish driver who shows signs of satisfaction with this nice third place, his fourth personal of the season. “Iceman” feels good in his machine… and the time reflects it! He leaves Sebastian Vettel behind, qualifying fourth but penalized three places after his collision at the start in Sepang with Nico Rosberg. The Red Bull drivers were in any case behind in this final phase of Q3.

Among the “others,” special mention to Romain Grosjean, who simply delivers his best qualifying session of the year, tying for seventh with Sergio Pérez! Unfortunately for the Frenchman, it was indeed the Force India driver who set the time first. The Mexican also scores a double achievement: he will start sixth ahead of the penalized Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

Here is the final ranking of these Qualifications: