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Vettel ends Hamilton streak to take Italian GP pole
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Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel seized pole position for the Italian Grand Prix and left his title rivals trailing with Red Bull locking out the front row in qualifying yesterday.
Australian Mark Webber will line up alongside on the front row for his last race in Europe while Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg sprung a huge surprise by grabbing third place on the grid for Ferrari-powered Sauber.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Vettel’s closest title rival with a 46-point gap to make up, qualified fifth and behind Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa with Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo watching.
Lewis Hamilton, last year’s winner for McLaren who had entered the weekend chasing a fifth successive pole, failed to make the top 10 and starts 12th for Mercedes.
The pole was the 40th of Vettel’s F1 career and came at a track that Red Bull principal Christian Horner said only last month was something of an Achilles heel for the team along with the Belgium circuit.
However, Vettel won in Belgium and the 26-year-old German took his first F1 victory at Monza in 2008 for Toro Rosso while also winning for Red Bull in 2011. “This weekend, the car was fantastic. We had a really strong pace yesterday and we were able to take that into qualifying today,” he told reporters.
Hulkenberg, who has been seen as a possible replacement for Massa at Ferrari at the end of the season, did his chances no harm with a sensational performance for his struggling Swiss team.
The German seemed as surprised as anyone.
“I didn’t expect it, especially after a very difficult Friday. The guys have done a fantastic job to turn the car around,” he said.
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