Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari again got it wrong when rain-hit qualifying.
As a short shower arrived at the end of Q2, the track had suitably dried for slicks for the start of the top 10 shootout but the Italian team went early with a decision to use intermediate tyres which was quickly seen as the wrong call.
Mercedes, on the other hand, stuck with the Supersoft compound with Hamilton posting a 1m27.760s to finish three-tenths clear of teammate Valtteri Bottas as the Anglo-German squad locked out the front row for a second straight week.
Ferrari still had the chance to complete a flying lap on the dry tyres but Kimi Raikkonen would run slightly wide at Spoon and finished 1.7 seconds down in fourth with Vettel going off track completely on the wet kerbs, only managing ninth.
A racing pit-stop was done by both leading teams to try and second run before more rain arrived but it was to no avail as the first sector became too wet for any drivers to improve.
The result was Max Verstappen claiming third for Red Bull with Romain Grosjean the lead midfield runner in fifth for Haas.
Honda’s new engine showed it’s potential as both Toro Rosso’s made Q3. Brendon Hartley achieved his best ever F1 qualifying in sixth with teammate Pierre Gasly in seventh.
Esteban Ocon was eighth ahead of Vettel with Sergio Perez completing the top 10 in the second Force India.
The session began in dry but windy conditions with showers blowing in off the sea, Marcus Ericsson didn’t need rain, however, as he ran wide and crashed at the Dunlop Curve causing a red flag.
Now @Ericsson_Marcus is off, and out of qualifying #JapaneseGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/hvxc4N46Pc
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 6, 2018
Some drops would start to fall in the closing minutes though as Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Renault battle to avoid elimination.
A great lap from Lance Stroll saw him make Q2 with Nico Hulkenberg, who crashed late in final practice, the big casualty in P16 just half a tenth slower than the Canadian.
Sergey Sirotkin was only a further hundredth back in P17 as the two McLaren’s completed the grid with Fernando Alonso ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne for the 22nd straight race.
Entering Q2, Mercedes opted for the Soft compound tyre while Ferrari used the Supersoft but the Brackley-based team still had the advantage, finishing 1-2 with Bottas ahead of Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo’s session was ended early as Renault engine problems struck once again, leaving the Australian visibly frustrated as he screamed through his helmet walking to Parc Ferme.
The final attempts to make Q3 were then hindered by a second shower passing through making the track damp at the Degner corners.
Charles Leclerc was the unfortunate victim in P11 as the Monegasque spun on the wet circuit but continued.
Kevin Magnussen was in P12 ahead of Carlos Sainz as Stroll was able to get upto 14th in the Williams.
The full results from qualifying can be seen below:
Back at the front, however, and the story will again be about Mercedes getting it right as Ferrari falter, but perhaps that would be unfair given both drivers still had the chance to set a fast lap on the Supersoft tyre.
Instead, it could be seen as another example of Sebastian Vettel failing under pressure with one lap to get it right and now his championship chances really are dangling on the thinnest of threads unless something very unexpected happens in Sunday’s race where the weather isn’t expected to be a factor.