Lewis Hamilton qualifies on pole for the Japanese Grand Prix!

Lewis Hamilton qualifies on pole for the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix! His Mercedes pit-crew put him on the right tyre strategy for the all-important rain watch during Q3. Hamilton's rival will start from 9th on the grid after a Ferrari horror show.

Ferrari put on the intermediate tyres before the session began, but decided to pit for slicks after just one lap. The rain then came which ruined their chances. Valtteri Bottas finishes second to supply the Mercedes 1-2 in Japan. Max Verstappen will start from third.

The result gives Sebastian Vettel yet another mistake to ponder about.

Plenty of drivers took to the track early with a chance of rain which probably forced the bigger names out slightly earlier. Vettel put down the opening marker, but was soon beaten by Hamilton.

Vettel went for a spin but managed to avoid any major dramas, unlike Marcus Ericsson. The Sauber driver ran out of road and went onto the gravel. From there he was just a passenger and went into the barrier. The session was red flagged.

Lance Stroll was under pressure at the end, but the young Williams driver proved he has the ability to do the job under pressure. He posted a 1:30.317 to jump himself up to 15th. While troubles at Williams look to be slowly moving away, the same can't be said about McLaren.

Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished in the elimination zone. Nico Hulkenberg's mechanics worked hard between FP3 and Q1 to get their car out, but it didn't work out for Hulkenberg on track. He finished 16th.

Drivers' eliminated:
P16 Hulkenberg
P17 Sirotkin
P18 Alonso
P19 Vandoorne
P20 Ericsson

In the scrap at the top, Valtteri Bottas came out on top beating team-mate Hamilton by just 0.030. Vettel couldn't get near finishing 0.292 behind posting a 1:28.279. Kimi Raikkonen's early fast lap looked good, but it stayed at the top for just 10 seconds.

While all the action was happening at the top, Daniel Ricciardo was getting pushed back to the garage in the pit-lane. He reported a loss of power. His mechanics worked hard on the car, but couldn't find the fix adding to a list of recent retirements in qualifying.

The rain then started to fall with just three minutes left of the session. The track became slippy and no driver could improve their time already set.

Drivers' eliminated
P11 - Leclerc
P12 Magnussen
P13 Sainz
P14 Stroll
P15 Ricciardo

Ferrari rushed out of the garage early and put on the intermediate tyres. This proved to be a mistake as the track was much drier than they expected.

Mercedes made the right call to put Bottas and Hamilton on the super softs, something Ferrari copied after one lap. But by then, the track was too wet as the rain started to fall again.

Max Verstappen produced a 1:29.057 to get his Red Bull in third. Both Toro Rosso drivers made it into Q3. The first time Honda have done so in their home race since 2006.