Vettel one race away from 4th world title

SUZUKA: Red Bull's Mark Webber took full advantage of mechanical problems plaguing his title-seeking team-mate Sebastian Vettel Saturday as he snatched his first pole position of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix.

With all eyes on the runaway championship leader, who could secure a fourth successive world title on Sunday, the soon-to-retire Australian lapped in 1min 30.915secs to push Vettel into second on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes will start behind the Red Bulls on the second row alongside Lotus's Romain Grosjean, with Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg on the third rank.

Nico Hulkenberg timed seventh, just ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. If Vettel wins on Sunday, the Spaniard will need to finish inside the top eight to keep the title race alive.

Webber's rivalry with Vettel reached boiling point earlier this season when the German ignored team orders and overtook him to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Webber is quitting Formula One at the end of the season. But he said pole position was a sweet farewell to pacy Suzuka, despite the advantage of Vettel driving without his speed-boosting Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

The rampaging Vettel has a massive 77-point lead with only 125 available from the last five races after winning in South Korea last weekend, and is set to become only the third man to win the world title four times in a row.