Tomorrow will be the sixth time that a Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 248 F1 starts one of this year's grands prix from pole position, the second for Felipe Massa. Proving that usually when one Scuderia driver has a competitive package so too does his team-mate, this will also be the fifth all-red front row of the year as Michael Schumacher posted the second fastest time of the afternoon, just over one tenth slower than the Brazilian.

After the torrential rain that dominated Friday's proceedings, strong winds which actually added to the difficult of driving this already complex track, at least blew the clouds away leaving the Suzuka circuit bathed in sunshine for most of the day. Even with the limited dry running, it was clear that without a covering of water, the track seemed to play to the strengths of those teams running the "home" tyre courtesy of Japanese company Bridgestone.

Emphasising this point, the second row belongs to the Bridgestone-shod Toyota team, with Ralf Schumacher, a former Formula Nippon champion, in third place ahead of Jarno Trulli. This pairing could play a significant role in tomorrow's 53 lap race, depending on their performance level over a long run. Currently they are the meat in a championship contender sandwich, as we have our two cars on the front while nearest rivals Renault are on row three with Schumacher's rival, Fernando Alonso in fifth place ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella. In a country that approves of neatness and tidiness it is appropriate that even the fourth row of the grid continues the team by team theme as it is occupied by two drivers flying the colours of Suzuka Circuit owners Honda - Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. It seems that this will be the last race here for the foreseeable future as the Japanese Grand Prix moves to the Fuji circuit in 2007. It will have a hard task replacing what is considered to be the finest venue on the calendar and a track that has proved some of the sport's most dramatic moments. With the championships so finely balanced Suzuki's Sayonara could be a memorable race on Sunday.

This is the sixth pole of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, following on from those in Sakhir, Imola, Indianapolis, Magny-Cours and Istanbul, the second for Felipe Massa. For the fifth time this season, both Ferraris will line up on the front row of the grid. This is pole number 185 in Ferrari's history, the ninth at this track.

Jean Todt: "A great all-red front row, which comes at a crucial moment in the season. Felipe secured a really good pole position on a track which highlights driver talent. Bridgestone has brought excellent tyres here and it is not a fluke that the top four cars on the grid are all on the Japanese rubber. We know how important tyre performance will be in determining the final result and today it was clear that the overall package is in excellent shape. Now the biggest step of the weekend awaits and by that I mean the 53 race laps.
 

"The key factors will be the same as ever: apart from the aforementioned tyres, they are the work of the team and drivers, reliability and strategy. We will have to be perfect in every area to achieve our objectives."

Felipe Massa: "This is a fantastic result. To be on pole position at a track that I like very much and where the driver counts for a lot is very special. I managed to do a great lap, with no mistakes and starting from the front is definitely important for the race. I am also happy that we have both Ferraris on the front row and that our main rivals are two rows behind us and I hope we can also finish the race with them the same number of places behind us. I am looking forward to the race when I hope we can continue to score as many points as possible for both championships and for me to try and reach my personal target of finishing third in the Drivers' classification. The Bridgestone tyres and the car behaved very well and we can expect this to also be the case tomorrow afternoon."

Michael Schumacher: "Two Ferraris on the front row is the perfect position for the start, given that our main rivals are on row three. There was a lot of wind and even when trying to push hard, there is always the thought that you mustn't go over the limit, also partly because we know we have a very competitive package. On the dry, our performance has proved to be very consistent, thanks also to the valuable support of our friends at Bridgestone and that means we can be confident about tomorrow's race. I can't wait to see if all these theories can come true tomorrow. I am happy with the position from which I am starting, especially as Felipe is alongside me, after doing an extraordinary job today. Driving on this track in the way the performance of our car has allowed us to do is really marvellous. I am having so much fun, especially in the Esses which are a part of the track I am particularly keen on."

Ross Brawn: "We are very happy with this qualifying: the cars proved to be well balanced, the drivers performed impeccably and the Bridgestone tyres were excellent. Of course, we now have to tackle the most important part of the Grand Prix weekend, namely the race, but I can confidently say that we have all the necessary ingredients to do well. We had a clear idea as to which of the two types of tyre we wanted to use and the choice seems to have been the right one."

Qualifying Session Suzuka, Final Result: Felipe Massa: 1st 1.29.599 10 laps chassis 256; Michael Schumacher: 2nd 1.29.711 11 laps chassis 255; Temperatures: air 23°C track 33/31°C