page_title: 2011 Japanese Grand Prix
section_title: Qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Japanese Grand Prix / Report / Qualifying
caption_attribution_description: Formula One 2011 Rd.15 Japanese GP: Jenson Button (McLaren) during the first practice session on Friday.
context_page_description: The 2011 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that was held on 9 October 2011 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan. It was the fifteenth round of the 2011 Formula One season and the 37th time the Japanese Grand Prix had been held. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren's Jenson Button, after he started from second on the grid. Fernando Alonso finished in second place for Scuderia Ferrari, and Sebastian Vettel completed the podium, with third, for Red Bull Racing.
  Vettel had started the race in pole position alongside Button, whom he had marginally outqualified. The two drivers were the only two within mathematical contention for the title. Button attempted to overtake Vettel at the start of the race, yet was pressured towards the grass by Vettel which resulted in him losing his second position to third-placed starter Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was passed by Button in the second pit-stop phase, and was then passed by Alonso in the third. Hamilton slipped back from second to fifth, predominantly in the pit-stops; debris from a collision between himself and Felipe Massa caused a safety car period in the race. The second Red Bull of Mark Webber finished in fourth position.
context_section_description: Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. In the first 20-minute period, cars finishing 18th or lower were eliminated. The second qualifying period lasted 15 minutes, at the end of which the fastest 10 cars went into the final 10-minute period to determine their starting positions for the race. This session was held in dry weather conditions and the ambient temperature was 30 °C (86 °F), while track temperature was higher than any of the practice sessions at 36 °C (97 °F).
  In the first qualifying session, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi topped the timesheets to the delight of his local fans. He along with many other drivers had decided to use the soft compound tyres to elevate themselves into the second session. Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari along with Michael Schumacher had used the medium compound tyres to get into the second part. Schumacher's Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg failed to set a lap time because of a hydraulics failure, and would start the race from twenty-third. It was the first time in 2011 that Rosberg had failed to make the final session. He would be joined on the back row by HRT driver Vitantonio Liuzzi – who also experienced technical problems. Liuzzi's teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, would start twenty-second behind the two Lotuses and then the two Virgins, where Heikki Kovalainen and Jérôme d'Ambrosio outqualified their respective teammates.
  Every driver used the option tyres in the second session apart from Pérez, who was prevented from setting a flying lap with a problem similar to Rosberg's. The Toro Rossos occupied the row in front of him, Sébastien Buemi ahead of Jaime Alguersuari by two tenths of a second; while there was a very similar story at Williams, with Rubens Barrichello in front of Pastor Maldonado on the seventh row. In the dying moments of the session, Kobayashi, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov all set lap times quick enough to progress into the top ten. This meant that the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta would have to start eleventh and twelfth respectively. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session with Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button not far behind.
  At the start of the third session, Kobayashi appeared on the prime tyres, and after setting two sectors of a flying lap he returned to the pits. Hamilton set the initial pace, he was followed by Button, Vettel, Webber and then Felipe Massa. Seven of the cars left the pits about two minutes before the end of the session; the latest cars to leave being Hamilton, Schumacher and then Mark Webber. Hamilton, possibly not realising he had little time in which to cross the start/finish line, was making a gap to Button in front and changing dials on his steering wheel. As he approached the final chicane, Webber shot up his inside and bolted to try to get across the line in time – which he did – Hamilton backed off, surprised by what had happened and also by Schumacher cutting straight across the chicane on the outside of him. Both Hamilton and Schumacher crossed the line after the flag had fallen and missed the chance to set a flying lap. Once all the flying laps had been completed, Vettel took his twelfth pole of the season, putting him in a prime position to clinch the title the following day. The only other championship contender, Button, lined up second on the grid, 0.009 seconds off Vettel's time, his first front row start since the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton was third, while Massa out-qualified teammate Fernando Alonso for only the third time in 2011. Behind the two Ferraris was Webber in sixth place, who was disappointed after making an error in not opening his DRS between the hairpin and Spoon corner.  Kobayashi was seventh, his highest ever qualifying place, because he had started a flying lap, unlike Schumacher, who lined up eighth on the grid. The two Renaults had also made an attempted to save tyres, and did not leave the garage, starting ninth and tenth.
caption: Jenson Button set the second fastest time in qualifying, marginally behind pole position holder, Sebastian Vettel.
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