Ralf 2nd after Friday qualifying in Japan.

The opening qualifying session in Japan would see championship leader Michael Schumacher take to the track first. Michael would cross the line with a 1:30.464, setting the benchmark time. The earlier Friday practice time for Jarno Trulli was 1m:30.727.

Kimi Raikkonen was the second driver out. He would be three tenths down after sector one and it was this lost time that would see him only go second. His time of 1m:30.558 was 0.09 down on Michael's time. Next came WilliamsF1's Juan Pablo Montoya. He would be 1/2 a second down after the first sector. He would lock up in the hairpin, finishing the lap with a 1m:31.201, 0.737 seconds slower than Michael. His team-mate Ralf was next to put in his qualifying lap. He would be slower in sector one, but would be quickest through the second sector. A 1m:30.343 would see Ralf take provisional pole from Michael by 0.1 seconds.

The first five drivers would be completed by Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello. Rubens was 0.183 seconds faster than Ralf in sector one, however he would lose time in the middle sector. He also lost time in the final chicane. His time of 1m:30.758 was good enough for fourth. Next was Renault's Fernando Alonso. Like Rubens he would make a mistake braking for the final chicane. He would move into fourth place with a 1m:30.624.

For McLaren's David Coulthard he would jump up to be third, 0.139 seconds behind Ralf. Next would come Renault's Jarno Trulli. As in the US Jarno was setting in the pace in the earlier practice session. The Renault driver would move into the top spot with a time of 1m:30.281, 0.06 seconds faster than Ralf. For Jaguar's Mark Webber his lap would see him slowest, struggling with his car, to set a time of 1m:31.305 which would see him ninth.

Sauber's Heinz-Harald Frentzen was to complete the second group of five. His lap would see him set a time of 1m:31.892, good enough for tenth. His car looked to very difficult to drive around the Suzuka circuit. Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella was next out. Like Frentzen he looked to be having a lot of difficulties with his car. He would be almost a second down just after the first sector. He would end up been the slowest of the eleven drivers who have qualified so far. He was a massive three seconds down on Trulli's time.

BAR's Jenson Button was next out. After having an engine failure earlier in practice Jenson was in a different car and had very little track time. He was almost two seconds down by the end of the second sector. He would finish eleventh. Cristiano da Matta was the first of the two Toyota's to qualify. The Brazilian would set a time of 1m:32.256 to take eleventh off Button. This was the first time that Cristiano had been to Suzuka, but even so his time was not what Toyota had hoped for. Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was next out. His lap would see him struggle with understeer, setting a time of 1m:31.783, which is marginally quicker than his team-mate Frentzen's time. He would be in tenth.

Toyota's Olivier Panis was the final driver of the third batch to qualify. He would se a time of 1m:31.908. Jordan's Ralph Firman, having raced at Suzuka in the past in the Formula Nippon championship, would be a tenth faster than his team-mate Fisichella in sector one, ending with a time of 1m:33.057, leading his tem-mate buy three tenths.

Jaguar's Justin Wilson would fail to match his team-mate Webber's time, finishing with a time of 1m:32.291. Next would be the first of the two Minardi's, Jos Verstappen. Jos would finish eighteenth, 4.5 seconds off the pace. Next was team-mate Nicolas Kiesa. His time would see him nineteenth, almost six seconds down.

After Jacques Villeneuve's withdrawal from the race it would be replacement Takuma Sato who would be the final driver to qualify. He would be a tenth up on Button in sector one, ending his lap with a time of 1m:31.832 to finish in eleventh.