Vettel outshines the rest in Melbourne

• Hamilton 11th on grid, Jenson Button fourth• Vettel alongside Mark Webber on front rowThe trials of Friday night, when he was apprehended by local police for "over-exuberant driving" on his way out of the Albert Park circuit, continued for Lewis Hamilton today when he failed to make it into the final qualifying session for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix."Where do I need to find time?" Hamilton asked his engineers over the radio as he prepared for a last desperate effort, but at the end of the Q2 session a margin of 0.062sec separated his McLaren-Mercedes from the car with the 10th fastest lap time, Robert Kubica's Renault."I struggled to get time in the last sector," he said afterwards, "and when I put new tyres on I couldn't get more out of them."Occupying pole position in today's race will be Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull-Renault was fastest in all three sessions and whose final lap, on a bumpy and slippery track, provided a demonstration of the 22-year-old's virtuosity and natural aggression. Next to him on the grid will be his team-mate Mark Webber, the local hero, with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, the winner in Bahrain two weeks ago, and the McLaren of Jenson Button on the second row, ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Once again Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was faster than the similar car of Michael Schumacher, the two German cars starting in sixth and seventh places.Vettel started from pole in Bahrain and led the race with apparent ease until a spark-plug failure reduced his engine power and dropped him to an eventual fourth place. As Hamilton licked his wounds he could at least point to the accuracy of his suggestion earlier in the week that the Red Bulls are "insanely quick".The sessions were all held in dry conditions but rain is forecast for tomorrow and Vettel and Alonso both predicted a race in which accidents and the appearance the safety car will make life complicated for the drivers. As in Bahrain, the three new Cosworth-engined teams - Lotus, Virgin and Hispania - were eliminated in the first part of qualifying, along with the Renault of the Russian driver Vitaly Petrov. As well as Hamilton, Q2 saw the elimination of the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg, the Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, the Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi and the Force India of Tonio Liuzzi. Joining seven cars from the current big four teams in the final shoot-out were the Williams of Rubens Barrichello, Kubica's Renault and the Force India of Adrian Sutil.Leading positions after qualifying:1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 23.919secs2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:24.0353. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:24.1114. Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:24.6755. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:24.8376. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.8847. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:24.9278. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:25.2179. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:25.37210. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:26.03611. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:25.18412. Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:25.63813. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:25.74314. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:25.74715. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1:25.74816. Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:25.77717. Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.08918. Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:26.47119. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 1:28.79720. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:29.11121. Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:29.59222. Lucas di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 1:30.18523. Bruno Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 1:30.52624. Karun Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 1:30.613Lewis HamiltonFormula OneJenson ButtonSebastian VettelRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Title rivals handed penalties

Formula One title rivals Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are among five drivers handed five-place penalties on the Japanese GP starting grid. Fernando Alonso, Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi are the others.

Trulli on top for Toyota at sunny Suzuka

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Vettel claims pole in Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel kept the pulse in his slim Formula One championship campaign by taking pole position today for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Blow for Button as drivers penalised

• Rubens Barrichello also moved five places back on grid• Button will now start 12th with Barrichello in 10thBrawn GP drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been penalised five grid places for tomorrow's Japanese grand prix for failing to reduce their speed on seeing the yellow flag on the exit of turn 14 during qualifying at Suzuka, the FIA has confirmed.Button qualified in seventh position originally, with Barrichello two places ahead in fifth, but following the decision they will start from 10th and 12th respectively.The decision is a huge blow for Button who could slinch the world drivers' championship if he finishes five points ahead of Barrichello in Japan. That now looks an extremely unlikely proposition, and the Brazilian will be hopeful that he can fiunish among the points and close the gap on his Brawn team-mate.While conceding he had contravened the regulations, Button felt that driving around the debris was all he could do under the circumstances. "We got a five-place penalty for not slowing down sufficiently after the yellow flag but from my point of view, I did the right thing," he said."I took avoiding action and when I saw the yellow flag, it was just before the front wing so I moved to one side. I thought it was unsafe to lift off because there could have been a car behind because you don't want to be moving across the circuit at high speed and lifting and as soon as I passed the front wing, I saw the green flag down the circuit."That was it. The regulations say you have to slow down enough and you've got to lift off the throttle, which I didn't do so I got penalised. I respect their decision but for me, it was the best thing to do, I had one second to make a decision."Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel starts the race in pole, with Toyoto's Jarno Trulli in second and Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren.Grid positions for Japanese grand prix:1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 32.160secs,2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:32.220,3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:32.395,4 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:32.466,5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:32.945,6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32.980,7 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren no time,8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso no time,9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:31.482,10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:32.660,11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:31.638,12 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:32.962,13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:32.341,14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota no time,15 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso no time,16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 1:31.704,17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:31.718,18 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:32.073,19 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:32.087DNS: 20 Mark Webber (Aus) Red BullJenson ButtonBrawnFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds