The qualifying session started on a sodden circuit after showers throughout the morning but clear skies meant it quickly began to dry.

Luck smiled on the younger of the Schumacher brothers who completed his lap in the best of the difficult conditions before torrential rain hit Suzuka and once again saturated the circuit.

Nothing though could detract from the German’s super performance which was enough to hold off challenges from BAR’s Jenson Button and Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella.

The pair eventually finished second and third respectively, less than two tenths short of the leading Toyota.

The changing conditions led to a surprise final order and created the foundations for a fascinating battle on Friday afternoon.

Christian Klien (Red Bull), Takuma Sato (BAR), David Coulthard (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Wlliams), and Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) rounded out the top eight.

Lower down the order the two McLarens line the rear of the grid with Juan Pablo Montoya in 19th and Kimi Raikkonen in 20th.

Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher will start 14th and Renault’s recently crowned world champion, Fernando Alonso, 16th.

The session’s two casualties, Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Tiago Monteiro (Jordan), will start in positions 17 and 18.

Both men ended their qualifying campaigns in the gravel after spinning off the circuit on their flying laps.

Williams’ Antonio Pizzonia also had a spin, but luckily for the Brazilian it was on his out lap and he managed to keep the car moving and eventually record a time for 12th.

Ralf Schumacher’s pole position was the first ever for a Japanese team on home soil.

It was the second pole for the Toyota team this season after Jarno Trulli put his TF105 at the front in Indianapolis.

Intermittent rain appears to serve Giancarlo Fisichella well after he secured third on the grid in Japan. Last time Formula One qualifying was hit by similar conditions the Italian took pole and went on to win the Australian Grand Prix. With arguably the field’s second fastest car, Fisichella is a favourite for victory on Sunday.

David Coulthard’s Japanese qualifying effort was arguably the lap of the afternoon. The Scot, who retired on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, was on the track first and still managed to post a time to secure sixth position on the grid. Coulthard made the most of some of the most difficult conditions where is rivals struggled to stay on the track.