Lack of dry road running time thanks to the rain on Friday, and the trickiness of several corners, notably Degner One and Two, conspired to make qualifying one of the most chaotic sessions in recent memory, with Toro Rosso team mates Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, Toyota’s Timo Glock and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen all suffering accidents and then Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Renault’s Fernando Alonso, all receiving five grid-place penalties for ignoring yellow flags…

He said that he will fight until the last breath for the title. Saturday at Suzuka was the first chance to show that he really meant it and, with bravura, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel demonstrated that he really has not given up on the championship yet.

After giving everyone a reminder of his speed and talent in Monza, in Singapore Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi struggled for pace compared to team mate Adrian Sutil. In Suzuka things have gone from bad to worse, but with Liuzzi the latest to succumb to the flu-like bug sweeping through the paddock, he was expecting a tough time. The young Italian is now hoping to feel better for the race on Sunday and is dying to show that he’s in the car for good reason…

Sebastian Vettel eventually took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix after a dramatic qualifying session on Saturday, which was stopped three times after accidents. In a scrappy final session the German took his Red Bull round in 1m 32.160s to hold off Jarno Trulli who did 1m 32.220s for Toyota

Toyota’s Timo Glock suffered a minor cut to his left leg but escaped significant injury after crashing heavily during Saturday’s Q2 qualifying session for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. Glock went wide as he exited Suzuka’s final corner, ploughing through the gravel trap and burying the car in the tyre wall. With red flags out, medics were quickly in attendance and the German was extricated from the car.

Jarno Trulli bounced back from his disappointments in Singapore by setting the fastest time for Toyota when the final practice session for Sundays Japanese Grand Prix took place on a dry Suzuka circuit on Saturday morning. Sebastien Buemi had set the pace all through for Toro Rosso, but in the dying moments the Italian beat him by 0.062s with a lap of 1m 31.709s compared to the Swiss drivers 1m 31.771s. They were the only two below 1m 32s…

A wet and slippery track was the last thing anybody really needed as the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka, and as a result of a drying track on Friday morning and then further rain in the afternoon, the times were all over the place and much depended upon the point at which a driver ventured out. Since the wet-weather Bridgestone tyres used come out of a driver’s allocation for the weekend, people limited their running.

As the wet weather on Friday didn’t permit him to make too many exploratory laps of the Suzuka circuit, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was not really able to get much information out of his two practice sessions.

Team principals: Bob Bell (Renault), Christian Horner (Red Bull), John Howett (Toyota) and Hiroshi Yasukawa (Bridgestone). Q: John, I know you have been asked this question many times. Do you expect to be here next year

For a long while it seemed nobody would even set a time during second practice at Suzuka on Friday.