Japanese Grand Prix: Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel grabs pole position

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole position at typhoon-hit Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday in a windy qualifying session that was moved to race day because of powerful typhoon that hit Japan on Saturday. Sebastian Vettel secured his first pole position since Canadian GP in June with a lap of 1 minute, 27.064 seconds, 0.189 seconds ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. "It was t easy, conditions were very different from Friday and we didn't expect to be on front row," Vettel said. "What we had was unbelievable, car felt light and re was a headwind which is what you like." Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth, respectively, followed by Red Bulls of Max Verstappen in fifth and Alexander Albon in sixth.

"We seemed quite strong, but we always knew Ferrari might have something in reserve," Bottas said. "In Q3 y looked untouchable."

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Typhoon Hagibis lashes Japan

Organizers canceled Saturday's qualifying session with Typhoon Hagibis set to hit Japan's main island. At least seven people have died while 15 are missing after massive typhoon lashed a wide area of country. Qualifying at Suzuka was also moved to Sunday morning as a result of bad wear in 2004 and 2010. While track was dry Sunday morning, lingering winds from typhoon resulted in several crashes early in morning session. Williams of Robert Kubica crashed into wall just two minutes into qualifying bringing out red flag. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen also crashed early in session.

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Will Lewis Hamilton equal Schumacher's record?

Lewis Hamilton, who has a commanding 73-point lead over Bottas with five races left, has won here in four of last five races. If Lewis Hamilton is able to win here, he will equal Michael Schumacher's record for highest number of wins at Japanese GP with six. Lewis Hamilton won with McLaren in 2007 and with Mercedes in 2014, 2015, 2017 and last year. Vettel has also had success here, winning four times between 2009 and 2013. McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh followed by teammate Lando rris. Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly was ninth while Haas driver Romain Grosjean rounded out top ten.

(With ncy inputs) 

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