Formula 1 Race Seventeen: Qualifying.

Penalties: Petrov 5 places for crashing out Hulkenberg at Suzuka.

Q1: It was the Force Indias who struggled to qualify today. Heidfeld kept having to pull himself out of danger, but as Liuzzi failed to get a fast-enough lap right at the end of the session, he ended up out in eighteenth. Senna failed to qualify ahead of Yamamoto for the first time, but the Japanese's time was very close to the Virgin of Di Grassi. The two ex-Toyota drivers, Trulli and Glock, were best of the new drivers, with Glock just behind his old teammate, while Kovalainen was further back.

Q2: No real surprises. The BBC commentators predicted that the McLarens, Red Bulls, Ferraris, Mercedes, Barrichello and Kubica would go through, and they were right. Alguersuari outqualifies Buemi for the third race in a row. Petrov qualifies fifteenth, dropping him down to twentieth after the penalty.

Q3: After some tense racing, the two Red Bulls get it together. Vettel, who had in past races been uncomfortable with his car, scrapes P1 by less than a tenth of a second, with Webber next to him on the front row. Alonso is P3 with a disappointed Hamilton in fourth. Button only manages seventh behind Rosberg and Massa.

It might rain tomorrow, so if that happens everything could change. There's also plenty of opportunity for overtaking early in the race.