Prior to the season Mark Webber said he was looking forward to see what the Red Bull RB9 could do at Suzuka. On Saturday it brought him to his 12^th pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

For the first time this season the Australian qualifies ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who will start in second and is looking to lock up his fourth-straight world driver’s title. Lewis Hamilton will start from third position in his Mercedes F1 W04. Webber’s pole also gives Renault the most-ever pole positions for an engine supplier ahead of Ferrari.

One of he most physically demanding circuits on the calendar, Suzuka provided plenty of challenges leading up to and through qualifying. Jules Bianchi had a hard crash through the Degner curves in FP2 that saw him go into the gravel and through the wall, while Sebastian Vettel suffered KERS problems that prevented him from the last 20 minutes of final practice.

Eight minutes into Q1 Esteban Guttierrez had to make a quick escape from his Sauber in the garage when his top intake began spewing fire during refueling. With three minutes remaining in the session the red flag was brought out when both rear brakes of Jean Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso caught fire. He was forced to retire from qualifying, managing to place just 18^th.

In Q2 all eyes were on McLaren’s Sergio Perez and future Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. Perez is rumoured to be fighting for his McLaren seat next year and was knocked out at the very end of the session, starting back in 11^th and marking his 10^th start out of the top 10. His teammate Jenson Button appeared much stronger but will start only one place ahead in 10^th. Ricciardo’s performance relegated him to the final position in Q2, starting from 16^th tomorrow.

Vettel was hoping to tie the great Michael Schumacher for his fifth-straight pole at Suzuka but was plagued with handling issues. In the final Q3 session he suffered a slight off-track going into the long-uphill back straight, then a minor lockup on the following lap, leaving the door open for pole. Webber was the only driver to beat Vettel’s time, then bested it again for his 12^th career pole. He will be looking for his 10^th career victory at the same time Vettel looks to statistically secure his fourth title.

The 40^th running of the Japanese Grand Prix airs on TSN Sunday at 1:55 a.m (EST), with encore broadcasts on TSN2 at 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

QUALIFYING RESULTS