Another qualifying session, another front-row lockout for Mercedes AMG Petronas. Nico Rosberg won the right to start at the front of the grid when the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix starts, while Lewis Hamilton qualified in second place to make sure that no one apart from the Mercedes cars would lead the pack for the fourth straight race.
The pole position is Rosberg’s 12th for his career, and this puts him in a tie at 30th place on the all-time list with Gerhard Berger and David Coulthard. Meanwhile, this means Hamilton gets his 68th career start on the front row, and his 11th in the current season.
Mercedes takes its 14th pole position and 8th front-row lockout in the 2014 Formula One season.
Rosberg credited the team for bringing him “a brilliant car” and it all came together for a pole-winning time of 1:32.506. Hamilton was only a couple of shades slower, however, at 1:32.703. Hamilton, who experienced a crash during the third free practice, recovered nicely and had excellent pace during the qualifying session.
The Williams, running on Mercedes power as well, continued their streak of strong performances with a second-row lockout. Valtteri Bottas took P3, with Felipe Massa at P4. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is at P5, followed by Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. The McLarens of Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen took P7 and P8, respectively, while Sebastian Vettel was at P9 and Kimi Raikkonen round out the top 10 qualifiers.
In what is expected to be a rain-soaked race at the Suzuka Circuit, no less than an all-out battle between the two Mercedes should unfold. At the last race, Hamilton took the lead in the drivers’ standings after a long stranglehold by Rosberg. It’s going to be interesting to see Rosberg try to take back the lead, and a pole position certainly helps in achieving that goal.
Toto Wolff considered the prospect of rain at the race proper, and said that it should be “one of those typical Japan races” in that it will likely feature more than the usual appearance of the Safety Car and exciting on-track action.
“We’d rather keep it quiet like today,” said Mr Wolff, “but we don’t get to choose!”