Etapa 16 — tempos de Q1, Q2 e Q3 - 2008-10-12
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) cravou a pole do Japanese Grand Prix de 2008 com uma volta de 1:18.404.
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) completou a primeira fila a 0.240s da pole, com Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) em terceiro no grid. Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) entrou na Q3 em P10, enquanto David Coulthard (Red Bull) ficou de fora por —s.
A Q3 foi resolvida em um intervalo de 1.763s — da pole ao P10 — com Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) fechando o top 10.
| Pos | Piloto | Equipe | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Diferença |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 1:18.071 | 1:17.462 | 1:18.404 | 1:18.404 |
| 2 | 7Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:18.160 | 1:17.733 | 1:18.644 | +0.240 |
| 3 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren | 1:18.220 | 1:17.360 | 1:18.821 | +0.417 |
| 4 |
| 14Fernando Alonso |
| Renault |
| 1:18.290 |
| 1:17.871 |
| 1:18.852 |
| +0.448 |
| 5 | 19Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:18.110 | 1:17.287 | 1:18.874 | +0.470 |
| 6 | 88Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:18.684 | 1:17.931 | 1:18.979 | +0.575 |
| 7 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:18.501 | 1:17.541 | 1:19.026 | +0.622 |
| 8 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:17.945 | 1:17.670 | 1:19.118 | +0.714 |
| 9 | 5Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso | 1:18.559 | 1:17.714 | 1:19.638 | +1.234 |
| 10 | Sébastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso | 1:18.593 | 1:18.102 | 1:20.167 | +1.763 |
| 11 | David Coulthard | Red Bull | 1:18.303 | 1:18.187 | — | — |
| 12 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 1:18.300 | 1:18.274 | — | — |
| 13 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1:18.372 | 1:18.354 | — | — |
| 14 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams | 1:18.640 | 1:18.594 | — | +0.190 |
| 15 | 6Nico Rosberg | Williams | 1:18.740 | 1:18.672 | — | +0.268 |
| 16 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:18.835 | — | — | +0.431 |
| 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:18.882 | — | — | +0.478 |
| 18 | 22Jenson Button | Honda | 1:19.100 | — | — | +0.696 |
| 19 | 99Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1:19.163 | — | — | +0.759 |
| 20 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India | 1:19.910 | — | — | +1.506 |