Stewards at the Japanese Grand Prix have reprimanded Sebastian Vettel for impeding Fernando Alonso during qualifying, however, Vettel will keep pole position ahead of the race. The Red Bull ace driver surged ahead during the final part of qualifying, claiming his fourth consecutive pole position at Suzuka with a lap time of 1 minute and 30.839 seconds.
Vettel now only lies behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna in terms of number of overall pole positions, taking his tally to 34 in all. Vettel suffered a scare when him and championship leader Alonso were summoned before the stewards when it was alleged that Vettel baulked Alonso at the Chicane in the dying moments of qualifying. If Vettel were to receive a grid penalty as opposed to his current reprimand, he would not be leading the field on Sunday’s 53-lap race.
With Mark Webber second in line, Red Bull look to lead the pack while local driver Kamui Kobayashi will be third from the top in a Sauber. Sadly for Jenson Button, who would have been in third place, had to serve a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
As Ferrari continue to struggle, World Championship leader Fernando Alonso will start in sixth place, but leads Vettel by 29 points.
