Hamilton in Japan auf der Pole. Massa nur Fünfter. WM – Vorentscheidung?

Lewis Hamilton, dem für den Gewinn der Weltmeisterschaft drei zweite Plätze reichen, fuhr in Japan auf die Poleposition vor Weltmeister Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) und McLaren Mercedes Teamkollege Heikki Kovalainen. Der Sieger von Singapur, Fernando Alonso wurde im wieder erstarkten Renault Vierter vor Felipe Massa, dessen WM – Chancen sich auf Grund der Poleposition des Briten Lewis Hamilton auf ein Minimum reduzierte. Robert Kubica (BMW – Sauber), der noch eine rechnerriche Chance auf den WM – Sieg hat, wurde Sechster vor den Toyota von Jarno Trulli und Timo Glock. Beide Toro Rosso belegten die letzten beiden Top – Ten Plätze. Vettel Neunter und Bourdais Zehnter.
David Coulthard erreichte im Red Bull den Elften Platz vor Nelson Piquet im zweiten Renault und Mark Webber im zweiten Red Bull. Lokalmatador Kazuki Nakajima wurde vor seinem Williams Teamkollegen Nico Rosberg Vierzehnter. Nick Heidfeld, dessen Vertrag bei BMW – Sauber erst diese verlängert wurde, erreichte nur den Sechszehnten Platz und schied, wie auch Barrichello (Honda), Button (Honda) und den beiden Force India Piloten Adrian Sutil und Giancarlo Fisichella in der ersten Qualifying Session aus.

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PRESSEBERICHTE

[PIC1]Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes (Startplatz 1):
"Usually, on a heavy fuel load, the car can be quite tough to drive on the limit, but I managed to pull all the sectors together and drove a pretty good lap. It wasn’t perfect - I made a small mistake in the final corner, where I lost a tenth - but we had a good session. The team has done a phenomenal job all weekend, and Heikki’s and my pace today really underlines that. We think we’ve got a good strategy for tomorrow and we want to finish at the front."
[Quelle: www.mclaren.com]

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Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari (Startplatz 2):
"I'm pleased to be back on the front row, even if I'm not totally happy as I always want to be the fastest. On top of that, I'm not completely satisfied with the handling of my car: all weekend we have worked very hard to find the best set-up but we did not get it a hundred percent right. All the same, we have improved our performance, especially with a heavy fuel load. This result means I'm in good shape for the race. Tomorrow, I will try to make the best of the situation. My aim is to finish this season in the best way possible and help the team to win both championships."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Ferrari]

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Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren Mercedes (Startplatz 3):
"A pretty good session for me - it took a little time to get up to speed in Q1, but I put two good laps together in the final session. We were very quick in Q2 as well - and, while third was really the best I could manage today, I’m still very pleased with the result. We’re still targeting both world championships in these final few races so I’ll be looking for the very best result for myself and the team tomorrow."
[Quelle: www.mclaren.com]

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Fernando Alonso, Renault (Startplatz 4):
"We can be happy with fourth place, which is a good result and the work we did yesterday certainly paid us back today. We had a bit of trouble in Q2, but in Q3 with fuel on board the car felt good, which is encouraging for the race tomorrow and I think we can realistically aim for a top five finish."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Renault]

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Felipe Massa, Ferrari (Startplatz 5):
"A shame. Today I was the quickest man on track but at the wrong moment. In Q3, I never had the right amount of grip from both sets of tyres that I used. On my first run I was a bit cautious on my "out" lap and so suffered in the first sector, making a mistake at Turn 3. On the second run, I did the opposite and found myself without grip at the end of the lap. So, I've ended up fifth on the grid, which is definitely not an easy place to be. I will try and work my way up in the race to score big points for the championship. All the same, the set-up on the car is good and we should be competitive. The first corner? It's similar to the one at the Hungaroring, so I hope I can manage to repeat the good start I got there."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Ferrari]

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Robert Kubica, BMW - Sauber (Startplatz 6):
"Wir hatten gestern schon Probleme mit zu geringem Grip, und der Regen in der vergangenen Nacht und am Morgen hat uns natürlich nicht geholfen, weil er den Gummiabrieb weggewaschen hat. Die Balance des Autos war gut, aber es war schlicht zu wenig Grip. Ich habe alles versucht, und das war das Maximale, was ich erreichen konnte. Unter diesen Umständen ist Platz sechs nicht schlecht."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung BMW - Sauber]

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Janro Trulli, Toyota (Startplatz 7):
"We've done quite a good job overall this weekend preparing for qualifying and the race. I had to make some adjustments during the first part of qualifying but in the end fortunately I got the set-up right. That meant that I could find the right balance and get back on the pace. In Q2 I was 4th and Timo was 5th so it shows that the Toyotas are going well. Q3 was a bit of a mystery because as soon as we put the fuel on the car was rather unbalanced and we lost a lot of grip. So I wasn't so happy about the pace of Q3 but maybe its down to the different fuel levels. Now we must go for a strong result for everyone here in front of our own fans and we must fight really hard until the end tomorrow."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Toyota]

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Timo Glock, Toyota (Startplatz 8):
"We have to be happy with how qualifying went in the end. This morning's rain didn't really help us because we would have liked to have more rubber on the asphalt. Instead it was quite low grip but still Q1 was quite easy. I was quickest and I had a really good feeling. But after that we struggled to get the most out of the softer tyre on heavy fuel and we are slightly further back than we'd hoped. There are a couple of places where you can overtake here so let's see what happens tomorrow. What is great is the home support we've had here. There are so many Toyota fans and now we have both cars in the top ten we have a good chance to get both cars into the points."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Toyota]

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[PIC2]Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Toro Rosso (Startplatz 9):
"At the start of qualifying the track was still quite green because of the rain, but we made it to Q3 again which is good. Then in the final part, I was struggling a bit with the heavier car, as it did not feel as good as before and I made a couple of small mistakes. But the gap to the next fastest was a bit too big. It will be a tough race on the cars and especially the tyres, so I think the key to success will be to keep the tyres in good shape. I hope our strategy turns out to be a good one."
[Quelle: Scuderia Toro Rosso]

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Sebastien Bourdais, Scuderia Toro Rosso (Startplatz 10):
"It was a good qualifying and I’m happy to be close to Sebastian on a track with a lot of corner entries on the brakes which is where I usually struggle with the rear end of the car, so I had to hold back a bit. I think the car has improved a bit after the team found a couple of things on the aero side which has helped. I think we are in good shape for the race."
[Quelle: Scuderia Toro Rosso]

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David Coulthard, Red Bull Racing (Startplatz 11):
"It was very close today. That was one of my better qualifying sessions, each of my laps were very tidy. On the last lap I was quicker going into the final corner, but I seemed to drag more speed going into the apex, which made me very slow down to the start/finish straight. I would love to have got through to Q3, as it would have meant more driving in the car on low fuel, but I don’t think there was much more I could have got out of the car with the balance I had."
[Quelle: Red Bull Racing]

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Nelson Piquet jr., Renault (Startplatz 12):
"I am very disappointed as I made a mistake in Q2 and I wasn’t able to make it through to Q3. It’s all the more frustrating because the car was really working well and I was feeling comfortable with it. I won’t give up, but I know that the race tomorrow will be difficult and so I will do all that I can to try and fight through the field."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Renault]

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Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing (Startplatz 13):
"I wasn’t quick enough today and when you don’t get the times you don’t go through. I didn’t get it together in Q2 and you pay the price. There was more to get from the car, but I over drove on the last sector. It was a shame as I had had a good feeling for the car both yesterday and today, but qualifying didn’t seem to work out for us today. It will be difficult from there tomorrow."
[Quelle: Red Bull Racing]

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Kazuki Nakajima, Williams - Toyota (Startplatz 14):
"After a strong run in the practice sessions that was a difficult qualifying, but we did do our best. I don’t think that this afternoon’s conditions suited the car that much and some traffic interrupted my last run, which didn’t help me either. We now need to prepare a good strategy for tomorrow’s race."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Williams]

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Nico Rosberg, Williams - Toyota (Startplatz 15):
"It wasn’t very nice to qualify 15th today, especially having come from Singapore where I finished on the podium, but that’s the reality. We’ve struggled a bit this weekend, but we were expecting to be less competitive here as we just seem to be missing something on these types of circuits. I’m keeping my expectations for the race in check, particularly if it stays dry, but we could have a better chance of doing well if it rains. I’m happy with my qualifying lap though, and Kazuki’s been doing a really good job all weekend. He’s been a little bit quicker than me and I’m pleased for him as he’s in front of his home crowd. But this weekend isn’t over yet; we’ll see what tomorrow brings."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Williams]

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Nick Heidfeld, BMW - Sauber (Startplatz 16):
"Jetzt wissen wir, dass es die falsche Entscheidung war, in Q1 für die zweite Ausfahrt auf der härteren Reifenmischung zu bleiben. Nach meinen ersten Runden mit dem ersten Satz dieser Reifen wusste ich, dass ich mich auch mit den Prime-Reifen noch verbessern kann. So sind wir das Risiko eingegangen und haben den nächsten Satz davon aufgezogen. Tatsächlich habe ich mich auch um rund eine halbe Sekunde verbessert, es hat aber um etwa eine Zehntelsekunde doch nicht für Q2 gereicht. Robert hat es gerade so geschafft. Natürlich wird es von so weit hinten extrem schwierig, im Rennen irgendwas zu erreichen. Aber wir haben gesehen, dass in der Formel 1 alles Mögliche passieren kann, und ich werde niemals aufgeben."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung BMW - Sauber]

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[PIC3]Rubens Barrichello, Honda (Startplatz 17):
"Obwohl ich bei meiner zweiten Fahrt eigentlich eine gute Zeit erzielt habe, stehen wir leider im hinteren Mittelfeld. Wäre ich nur drei Zehntel Sekunden schneller gewesen, wäre ich unter den besten 10 gelandet. Ich befand mich bei meiner zweiten Fahrt bereits im Grenzbereich. Deshalb haben wir bei meiner letzten Fahrt einen etwas größeren Frontflügel montiert. Leider hat dadurch der Reifenverschleiß im zweiten Sektor zugenommen, und ich konnte mich nicht mehr verbessern. Es ist sehr schade, dass wir uns bei unserem Heimatrennen nicht für bessere Positionen qualifizieren konnten. Aber wir werden unser Bestes tun und alle sich beim morgigen Rennen bietenden Chancen nutzen."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Honda]

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Jenson Button, Honda (Startplatz 18):
"Heute ist es nicht gut für uns gelaufen, aber ich hoffe, dass wir morgen beim Rennen mehr Glück haben. Ich hatte das ganze Wochenende über Probleme mit dem Wagen und fand es schwierig, eine gute Balance zu finden. Der Wagen ließ sich heute Morgen auf nasser Strecke besser fahren. Aber die Hubbel und Scheitelpunkte in den Kurven machen den Wagen im Trocknen instabil, und wir konnten dieses Problem bisher noch nicht beheben. In meiner letzten Runde beim heutigen Qualifying übersteuerte der Wagen zu stark. Er war sehr unruhig und ließ sich in den Kurven schlecht lenken. Deshalb konnte ich meine Rundenzeit nicht verbessern. Wir sind enttäuscht, aber wir werden das Beste aus den uns zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln machen."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Honda]

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[PIC4]Adrian Sutil, Force India (Startplatz 19):
"It was very close again today. I'm quite happy with my performance as I did some really good
laps and the last one was particularly on the edge. I don't think there was any more we could
do. We were just one second from pole, which was very good and competitive but still not
enough. Let's see what the race brings now, we are quick in a straight line and I think there is
a chance to make up some places."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Force India]

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Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India (Startplatz 20):
"I could improve my time quite a lot from the first run, but on my final run I hit some traffic on
the out lap and couldn't warm up the tyres in the cool conditions. Unfortunately I locked up
into turn one and lost a lot of time there, so even though the rest of the lap was OK it was
never going to be quick. It's a shame but we are still very close to the fastest times.
Tomorrow's race will be exciting - you never know what the weather will bring, so we'll look to
have a good strategy and try to make up places when we can."
[Quelle: Presseabteilung Force India]

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