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SUZUKA, Japan: Germany's Sebastian Vettel produced a scorching fastest lap in the final minute of Saturday's qualifying to claim pole position in his Red Bull for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old made the most of his late chance on a dramatic day of accidents and red flags with a fastest lap of one minute and 32.160 seconds.
It was his fourth pole of the season and he will start in prime position alongside Italian Jarno Trulli after the Toyota driver claimed second.
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton was third for McLaren Mercedes ahead of Germany's Adrian Sutil, in a Force India, and Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello in the leading Brawn.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld was sixth for BMW Sauber and championship leading Briton Jenson Button seventh in the second Brawn ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.
Button needs to finish five points ahead of Barrichello to clinch the championship.
After a lively morning practice session that saw Australian Mark Webber consigned to the back of the grid in his Red Bull after a heavy accident, qualifying began in warm sunlit conditions.
Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella, whose form and results have dipped since switching from Force India to Ferrari, continued to struggle and managed only 16th place.
He was joined in the list of those knocked out after the opening Q1 section by Japanese Kazuki Nakajima of Williams, Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Renault and Tonio Liuzzi in his Force India.
This signalled that Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari had made it through to Q2 for the first time, but this was good news lined with a cloud as he subsequently crashed heavily into the tyre barriers.
The same part of the circuit had earlier also claimed Sebastian Buemi in his Toro Rosso and Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren Mercedes.
All of these accidents meant that the day's action was punctuated by red flag stoppages that interrupted the flow and reduced Q2 to a late rush for lap-times.
Soon after Alguersuari's shunt, it was German Timo Glock who caused the next stoppage when he ran wide at the final turn and speared into the tyre barrier.
Glock remained in his car as the medical team arrived, but he was able to wave and give a thumbs-up as he was lifted out and transferred to a helicopter on a stretcher.
Early reports suggested he suffered a leg wound and was doubtful for the rest of the weekend.
When the session finally re-started, the main championship contenders managed to haul themselves through to the top-10 shootout with Vettel topping the times, Hamilton second and Trulli third.
The stop-go-stop-go session ended with the elimination of German Nico Rosberg, of Williams, Ferrari-bound Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault, Pole Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber and Glock and Alguersuari.
Q3, the top 10 shootout, began with another early red flag when Kovalainen went off and into the barriers, the accident harming the prospects of many other drivers whose fast laps were spoiled.
Finally, with only six minutes remaining, the main contenders were able to start clocking fast times and Raikkonen lapped in one minute and 33.010 to take over on top.
This looked good until the final minute when Vettel and Trulli took command before the Brawns made their best efforts in vain.
- AFP/yb
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