Rosberg tenth in Japanese Qualifying

With Nico Rosberg finishing an encouraging seventh in the final practice session at Suzuka the teams would prepare for the hour long qualifying session. Under sunny conditions the first fifteen minute Q1 would get underway with Trulli first out onto the track. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher was next out. Yamamoto and Barrichello were next out. They were followed by Button, Doornbos, Monteiro, Albers, and Sato. Trulli would set the first time, 1m:33.975. Ralf would go faster with a 1m:33.644. Mark Webber was also out on the track. Yamamoto was to coast along the track with a problem. He would stop ending his qualifying

Both Ralf and Trulli would pit while we also had most of the field out on the track. Button was now fastest with a 1m:33.057. Coulthard and Doornbos were second and third. Ralf was now fourth followed by Monteiro and Trulli. Mark would move to the top of the times with a 1m:32.275. Nico would move ahead of his team-mate with a 1m:32.123. But Raikkonen would moved into first but his time at the top was short as Heidfeld was to go faster, 1m:31.811.

Now it was Michael's turn to move into the top spot with a 1m:31.279. Mark would pit while Nico and Mark were in fourth and fifth. Liuzzi was now in sixth and Button, who had pitted, had dropped to seventh. Alonso was now on the track, joined by Fisichella. Massa would move ahead of Michael with a 1m:30.112. Barrichello was now in fourth, 1m:31.972, with three minutes remaining. Nico and Mark were in sixth and seventh. Neither of The Renault's had set a time. But on his first lap Alonso would move into second with a 1m:30.976. Kubica would push Michael down to fourth when the BMW driver moved into third with a 1m:31.204.

Nico was back out joined by Mark. The two Toyota's would move into second and third with Trulli heading Ralf. Alonso had pitted while Button was now in fourth, 1m:30.847. Nico and Mark had dropped to be thirteenth and fourteenth. Coulthard would split the pair pushing Mark into fifteenth. With several drivers improving their times Mark would drop to be seventeenth as the period came to an end. But on his next lap Nico would move into a great third place with a 1m:30.585. Mark was also able to improve to be in tenth, 1m:31.647.

Those failing to make it into Q2 would be Coulthard, Doornbos, Speed, Sato, Monteiro, and Yamamoto. The order art the top was Massa from Trulli, Nico, Ralf, Button, Alonso, Kubica, Michael, de la Rosa, and Mark in tenth.

Nico would make it into Q3 but Ferrari were certainly dominating proceedings. With the driver going through the normal process of burning off fuel the top ten would take to the track. Michael and Massa would lead them out of the pit lane. Alonso and Fisichella were both waiting behind the Ferrari's as the light went green. The Renault's wee forced to push their way into the queue. Trulli would set the first quick time to move to the top of the times. Barrichello was now in second and Alonso third. But Michael would move to the top of the times joined by Massa in second.

Nico was down in eighth as the period came to a close. But on their final laps several drivers would improve including first Alonso who would move ahead of Trulli and into third. Fisichella was now fourth but on their final laps Ralf and Trulli would move ahead of the Renault's and into third and fourth. On his final lap Massa would move ahead of tem-mate Michael with a pole time of 1m:29.599. Nico would drop to be tenth.

So with the end of the period we had an all Ferrari front row followed by the Toyota's of Ralf and Trulli on row two. Row three was Alonso and Fisichella. Row four would see the Honda's of Button and Barrichello. Heidfeld would finish in ninth and Nico taking tenth. The top four driver were all Bridgestone supplied. It will be a difficult race for Alonso in his fight with Michael.

Nico and Mark will start from tenth and fourteenth. Given their performances a points finish is the best that the WilliamsF1 team can hope for. The big question will be what fuel strategy the various drivers are running.