Hamilton Claims Pole Position For Japanese Grand Prix
With rain threatening, Hamilton clocked a lap of 1 minute, 27.760 seconds to edge teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.299 seconds. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was third. Mercedes read the weather conditions perfectly, ensuring that both drivers were able to record their best laps early in the third qualifying before the rain increased to secure their fifth consecutive one-two in qualifying at Suzuka. The timing of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel’s qualifying run was not as fortunate as he hit a wet patch and spun off the course late in the session qualifying to finish ninth, further damaging his slim chances of catching Hamilton in the championship race....