Summary

  • Sunday's race coverage starts at 05:00 BST

  • Rosberg on pole, Hamilton 2nd, Raikkonen 3rd

  • Rosberg top in Q2, Williams, Toro Rossos and Alonso out

  • Vettel top in Q1, Button out with Saubers and Manors

  • Get involved & vote: #bbcf1: is Vettel good enough?

Live Reporting

Jamie Strickland

  1. Farewell for now

    We're going to wrap up our live page now. Huge thanks as ever for your company and contributions. 

    We're back from 05:00 BST with race build-up from Suzuka, where Nico Rosberg will bid to convert pole into a ninth win of the year and with it further strengthen his grip on the drivers' championship. 

    In the meantime, I've been googling things that are more or less the same size as the 82cm that Mercedes say separated their cars in qualifying. 

    The results of this exhaustive research are posted below for your information. 

    See you tomorrow.

    GuitarGoogle
    CatGoogle

  2. Vote closed

    Sebastian Vettel can breathe easy tonight as our scientific BBC poll has determined he is indeed the right man to lead Ferrari in their battle to displace Mercedes from the top of the F1 tree. 

    A resounding 62% of you say so, and that's good enough for me. 

    Mr Arrivabene, consider yourself told.

  3. Still no Suzuka pole for Hamilton

    Lewis Hamilton remains without a pole position at Suzaka, which given his status as one of the best talents in F1 and the circuit's reputation as a true 'drivers' circuit', seems a trifle odd.

    He does, however, have two poles to his name in Japan, although they both came at Fuji Speedway in 2007 and 2008.

    Hamilton and RosbergGetty Images

    Lewis Hamilton, aged 12, celebrates pole at Fuji in 2007 alongside 16-year-old Fernando Alonso

  5. Pole landmark for Rosberg

    That was Rosberg's third pole in succession at Suzuka and takes his career tally to 30.

    He is now eighth on the all-time list having pulled one clear of the great Juan Manuel Fangio. He is two behind Nigel Mansell and three short of both Jim Clark and Alain Prost.

    Impressive company all round.

    Nico RosbergGetty Images

    Rosberg's first career pole came at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, his 111th race. He has racked up 29 more in 91 attempts since

  6. 'Positively surprised'

    Kimi Raikkonen, P3: "It's pretty much the same car as we had last week. I was very positively surprised by how well the car has been behaving and how quick it has been. It has been a bit tricky to get the balance. So far, so good. P3 is not exactly what we're looking for, but we're pretty close."  

    KimiGetty Images

  7. 'I did as well as I could'

    Lewis Hamilton, P2: “I’m happy with qualifying. It has been a weekend of a lot of work trying to get the set-up right. Big changes before qualifying and considering that I am very happy with it. I did as well as I could. History has shown you don’t have to be on pole to get the win but Nico has done a great job all weekend."

    HamiltonGetty Images

  8. 'I'm feeling good'

    Nico Rosberg, P1: "I'm happy with the result. I was going well the whole weekend. I had a good balance, feeling good and feeling comfortable. That's what allows me to put in a lap like that.

    "The start is going to be an important one. From then on I have to get the tyre life to do a long enough stint to get the tyres to work. It's just putting everything together."   

    rosbergGetty Images

  9. Vettel to start seventh after penalty

    Just a reminder that Sebastian Vettel will actually start seventh tomorrow as a result of the three-place penalty he received for that first-corner crash in Malaysia. 

    That means Verstappen will start fourth, Ricciardo fifth and Perez sixth.

    VettelReuters

  10. Top 10 positions

    1 Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m30.647s2 Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.013s3 Raikkonen (Ferrari) +0.302s4 Vettel (Ferrari) +0.381s5 Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.531s6 Ricciardo (Red Bull) +0.539s7 Perez (Force India) +1.314s8 Grosjean (Haas) +1.314s9 Hulkenberg (Force India) +1.495s10 Gutierrez (Haas) +1.900s  

  12. Final qualifying ends
    Breaking

    BBC

  13. Rosberg displaces Hamilton

    Raikkonen splits the two Mercedes with his final run but Rosberg improves to take top spot with a 1:30.647.  

    Here comes Hamilton. Can He improve?

    No! The Briton comes up just short by 0.013secs.

    So very, very tight but Rosberg - as he has all weekend so far - stays on top.

  15. Out they go...

    Rosberg is the first of the front runners who will cross the line, Vettel as it stands will be the last of the pole contenders to take the chequered flag. 

    This should be fun.

  17. Back in the pits

    OK, final push coming up. Cars are in the pits. 

    Let's do this.

  18. Hamilton coming good at the right time?

    Advantage Hamilton after the first runs in the shootout. He's ahead of Rosberg for the first time this weekend, nearly two tenths faster after a 1:30.758.

    Raikkonen's Ferrari is third, four tenths back, just ahead of team-mate Vettel. Verstappen and Ricciardo are next up for Red Bull. 

    It's incredibly tight. Just six hundredths of a second covers the four Ferrari and Red Bull cars. 

    HamiltonGetty Images

  20. Final qualifying starts