Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka - Starting grid

The provisional starting grid issued by the FIA at the end of Saturday includes penalties for Adrian Sutil, Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi.
12.10.2013- Qualifying, Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing RB9 and Fernando Alonso (ESP) Scuderia Fer
12.10.2013- Qualifying, Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing RB9 and Fernando…
© PHOTO 4

Mark Webber starts from pole position in Japan, after no action was taken regarding an incident in which he appeared to impede McLaren's Sergio Perez during qualifying. Perez himself said that he had not been held up by the Red Bull exiting from pit lane during Q2.

Force India's Adrian Sutil will start from the rear of the field as a result of his gearbox penalty. Sutil starts behind two drivers (Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi) with ten-place grid penalties for collecting three reprimands so far in 2013. Sutil qualified in 17th but his penalty is the most recent and therefore applied last, putting him into 22nd place on the grid.

Pic will also serve a drive-thru at the start of the race after failing to observe a red light at pit exit in qualifying. In addition, Sauber has been fined 20,000 euros for incorrectly advising Nico Hulkenberg that Max Chilton was on a 'cool down' lap when in fact he was making a qualifying attempt.

Starting grid

Row 1
1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault

Row 2
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes
4. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault

Row 3
5. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes

Row 4
7. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Sauber-Ferrari
8. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari

Row 5
9. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Lotus-Renault
10. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes

Row 6
11. Sergio Perez Mexico McLaren-Mercedes
12. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes

Row 7
13. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Renault
14. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari

Row 8
15. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault
16. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Row 9
17. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari
18. Max Chilton Britain Marussia-Cosworth

Row 10
19. Giedo van der Garde Holland Caterham-Renault
20. Charles Pic *+ France Caterham-Renault

Row 11
21. Jules Bianchi * France Marussia-Cosworth
22. Adrian Sutil ** Germany Force India-Mercedes

* denotes ten-place penalty as a result of receiving three reprimands in 2013 (Article 18.2 of the FIA F1 Sporting Regulations)** denotes five-place penalty for replacement of gearbox + denotes will serve drive-thru penalty in first five laps of race for not observing red light at pit exit during qualifying Q1

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