Suzuka: Lewis Hamilton struck a huge psychological blow in the Formula One title race on Saturday with a sizzling qualifying drive to take pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Briton, who leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 34 points with five races left, steered his Mercedes to a track record of one minute, 27.319 seconds with Valtteri Bottas second fastest.
Vettel will join Hamilton on the front row after Bottas incurred a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change to his Mercedes on Friday.
“The car is crazy here,” said the triple world champion after his 71st career pole, and first at Suzuka.
“This track has always been one of the greatest and with this car it’s just mind-blowing,” added Hamilton, looking to hit back after being stunned by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Malaysia last weekend.
“With the downforce we now have it’s three seconds faster than before and it’s just insane speeds that this car is throwing us around inside.
“It’s incredible, my first pole position here — 10th time lucky or whatever it is.”
A three-time winner of the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton fired a clear warning to Vettel, who realistically needs to win this weekend to revive his fading title hopes.
The German, who finished fourth in Malaysia after starting from last, set the tempo in Friday’s rain-hit practice but was well off the pace in qualifying.
“I tried everything on that last lap as I knew I had to take a bit more risks,” said Vettel.
“I knew that we’d be on front row because of Valtteri’s penalty so I’m pretty happy.”
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest, followed by Verstappen — putting the two Red Bulls on the second row.
The Force India pair of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez start on row three with Bottas and the Williams of Felipe Massa behind them.
Kimi Raikkonen became the latest driver to be handed a five-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix after Ferrari changed his gearbox following a crash in Saturday’s practice.
The Finn smashed into a wall at the second ‘Degner’ curve at Suzuka while limbering up for afternoon qualifying, bringing out the red flags midway through the session.
Raikkonen damaged the left side of his car in the shunt, after which Ferrari mechanics opted to change the gearbox before qualifying.
Under Formula One rules, gearboxes must last for six consecutive races. Any changes before that automatically incur a five-place demotion on the starting grid.
Earlier, Fernando Alonso was hit with a 35-place grid penalty and will start Sunday’s race from last place. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer will also start near back of the grid after getting a 20-place penalty for an engine change.
