Mercedes’ Rosberg takes pole at Japanese GP

Hamilton rued two small mistakes in his first qualifying lap and said he would have improved had his second lap not been aborted due to Kvyat’s accident.

His auto was launched into the air and completed a 360 degree spin before it landed upright.

Team principal Christian Horner was also relieved his team’s driver escaped unhurt, but conceded his team faces a busy night to get the vehicle ready for the race.

The drivers had been in a position to challenge for the spots behind the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who will start on the front row, but Ricciardo mused that they are in a good position for the race itself.

His Red Bull rolled in the air, after he touched the grass on entry at Turn 10.

The duel at least proved Mercedes were back to their dominant best after being embarrassed in Singapore. The Ferrari man will have the wind behind him and the momentum to give Ferrari a win on an occasion which is dedicated to one of their extended family members.

Hamilton has been supreme in qualifying this term, taking pole in 11 of the previous 13 races, but was beaten by Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on Saturday.

“Happy birthday, mum!” Rosberg said in German after securing only his second pole of the year by just 0.076 seconds.

It marked Rosberg’s second pole of the year, his last coming at May’s Spanish Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton qualified second in his Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas will start third in his Williams. His Ferrari team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was fourth, also endured hairy moments.

The 21-year-old confirmed from the cockpit that he was unharmed and, after heading for precautionary medical checks, Kvyat was quick to look ahead to Sunday’s race, which could see him start from the pit lane. The yellow flags prevented anyone from setting a better time, and Jenson Button was one of the eliminated five. “Without the yellow flag I’d probably have made it”.

An unhappy Dutchman told Sky Sports F1 that his vehicle just lost all power at the corner and complained it was the fourth or fifth time it had happened this season.

“You don’t want to take too may risks”.

Button’s similarly beleaguered McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso crossed the line in 14th. “We remain calm, learn our lessons and use the pain of those disappointments as motivation to get back on top”.

“Maybe we can make the impossible possible”, says Vettel during his Singapore post-race celebrations.

“The first two runs, I didn’t hook it up, so struggled a bit”, said Vettel. “Why? I don’t know, it’s never been a comfortable circuit for me”. It’s a great day today. “The performance in Singapore was far below expectations and left us with plenty to think about moving forwards”, team boss Toto Wolff said.