Mercedes AMG Petronas
Nico Rosberg says Mercedes has recovered strongly following its difficult showing at the Singapore Grand Prix, after the German claimed pole position in Japan.
Rosberg beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top spot at Suzuka, a week after the pair were limited to the third row of the grid.
"I'm very happy, it's a great day today, a good comeback also for the team after such a difficult race in Singapore, to be back to our usual strength today, with such a strong performance from the team, a great car, I'm very thankful for that," Rosberg said after securing his second pole of 2015.
"We turned things around optimised everything for this track and for me I pretty much nailed my laps today so I'm pleased with the way it went and it's a great position for tomorrow."
Hamilton was only 0.076s behind Rosberg following a mistake at the hairpin but was denied a second flying lap in Q3 following Daniil Kvyat's huge crash.
"It doesn’t really matter but the second lap was looking good," he said. "[On the] first lap I lost a bit of time I think it was Turn 11 and I think in the last corner. Nico’s driving pretty well this weekend but I definitely felt pretty good on that last lap."
