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Vettel on Indian pole as Red Bull duo dominates
Source: Agencies |
October 28, 2012, Sunday
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FORMULA One championship leader Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the Indian Grand Prix yesterday, edging out teammate Mark Webber by four-hundredths of a second for Red Bull's third straight front-row sweep.
McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button qualified third and fourth at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, ahead of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Alonso trails Vettel by six points in the drivers' championship.
Vettel is primed for a fourth consecutive win as he chases a third straight F1 title; something only previously achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Vettel also completed the double of pole and race victory in last year's inaugural Indian GP.
"Fortunately, I got the lap together. I was very happy with the lap," Vettel said. "It's been a great weekend so far, no problem with the car."
Pole position, coupled with his recent dominant form, suggests Vettel will be very hard to stop in today's race - but he did add a note of caution.
"Tomorrow is the major exercise," Vettel said. "The McLarens were very quick on the long runs in practice, along with the Ferraris."
Hamilton had not expected to challenge the Red Bulls in qualifying, but did agree that McLaren and Ferrari have the chance to beat the championship leaders today.
"We are not quick enough to be ahead of these guys (the Red Bulls) but we can definitely challenge them in the race."
Tire strategy looms as critical today, with Pirelli suggesting a one-stop strategy may be possible for some cars, while two is expected for most teams. Vettel had the luxury of only doing 13 laps across the three qualifying sessions - four fewer than Webber, 10 fewer than Hamilton and eight fewer than Alonso - which will give him more fresh rubber for the race.
Webber made a couple of errors on his final flying lap, locking up in the Turn 3 hairpin then running wide on the final corner, yet his time from his penultimate flying lap was good enough to make the front row.
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen qualified seventh, with Sauber's Sergio Perez, Williams' Pastor Maldonado and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg completing the top 10.
McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button qualified third and fourth at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, ahead of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Alonso trails Vettel by six points in the drivers' championship.
Vettel is primed for a fourth consecutive win as he chases a third straight F1 title; something only previously achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Vettel also completed the double of pole and race victory in last year's inaugural Indian GP.
"Fortunately, I got the lap together. I was very happy with the lap," Vettel said. "It's been a great weekend so far, no problem with the car."
Pole position, coupled with his recent dominant form, suggests Vettel will be very hard to stop in today's race - but he did add a note of caution.
"Tomorrow is the major exercise," Vettel said. "The McLarens were very quick on the long runs in practice, along with the Ferraris."
Hamilton had not expected to challenge the Red Bulls in qualifying, but did agree that McLaren and Ferrari have the chance to beat the championship leaders today.
"We are not quick enough to be ahead of these guys (the Red Bulls) but we can definitely challenge them in the race."
Tire strategy looms as critical today, with Pirelli suggesting a one-stop strategy may be possible for some cars, while two is expected for most teams. Vettel had the luxury of only doing 13 laps across the three qualifying sessions - four fewer than Webber, 10 fewer than Hamilton and eight fewer than Alonso - which will give him more fresh rubber for the race.
Webber made a couple of errors on his final flying lap, locking up in the Turn 3 hairpin then running wide on the final corner, yet his time from his penultimate flying lap was good enough to make the front row.
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen qualified seventh, with Sauber's Sergio Perez, Williams' Pastor Maldonado and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg completing the top 10.
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