
Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole position for the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas setting the second fastest time, however, it will be Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to start on the front row as Bottas will drop 5 places on the grid due to a gearbox change. The two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will follow in third and fourth respectively. Romain Grosjean crashed out of Q1 as well. With this pole position for Hamilton, it now means that he has equalled Michael Schumacher's record for most front row starts (meaning starting either first or second) - a total of 116.
Starting grid (penalties taken into account):
Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Esteban Ocon - Force India-Mercedes
Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren-Honda
Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
Nico Hulkenberg - Renault
Kevin Magnussen - Haas-Ferrari
Romain Grosjean - Haas-Ferrari
Pierre Gasly - Toro Rosso
Lance Stroll - Williams-Mercedes
Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
Pascal Wehrlein - Sauber-Ferrari
Jolyon Palmer - Renault
Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda