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Vettel tops Hamilton for pole at Sepang
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2011, Sunday
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WORLD champion Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday, the German pipping McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on his final flying lap around the Sepang circuit.
Hamilton had just set the quickest time before Vettel clocked one minute, 34.870 seconds in his Red Bull, just over a 10th of a second quicker than the McLaren.
Vettel's teammate Mark Webber claimed third spot on the grid, a further 0.205 behind Hamilton.
Vettel won at Sepang last season and is aiming for a fourth straight victory today after claiming the season-opener in Melbourne two weeks ago and ending last season with back-to-back triumphs.
The 23-year-old was clearly delighted with his qualifying effort. "Yes boys, that's what I am talking about. Great job," he told his team over the radio as he slowed down after picking up a 17th pole position of his career.
Red Bull had opted against using the KERS power boost system because of reliability issues in Australia, but the extra speed it provides on the long straights in Sepang was enough to convince the team to employ it in Malaysia.
In a repeat of the top-five on the starting grid at Melbourne, McLaren's Jenson Button will sit next to Webber on the second row in fourth place with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso behind them in fifth.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld split the Ferraris, claiming sixth ahead of Felipe Massa, while Michael Schumacher endured another disappointing qualifying day and failed to make it into the last session in his Mercedes to start 11th today.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi completed the top 10.
Hamilton had qualified more than .700 seconds slower than Vettel in Melbourne and by reducing that gap to just a 10th of a second, the Briton was content with his car's performance.
"I don't think we can be disappointed at all, we have made progress. Of course I would like to have been in P1 but Red Bull still have the edge, but we have closed the gap a little bit," the 2008 world champion said.
Hamilton had just set the quickest time before Vettel clocked one minute, 34.870 seconds in his Red Bull, just over a 10th of a second quicker than the McLaren.
Vettel's teammate Mark Webber claimed third spot on the grid, a further 0.205 behind Hamilton.
Vettel won at Sepang last season and is aiming for a fourth straight victory today after claiming the season-opener in Melbourne two weeks ago and ending last season with back-to-back triumphs.
The 23-year-old was clearly delighted with his qualifying effort. "Yes boys, that's what I am talking about. Great job," he told his team over the radio as he slowed down after picking up a 17th pole position of his career.
Red Bull had opted against using the KERS power boost system because of reliability issues in Australia, but the extra speed it provides on the long straights in Sepang was enough to convince the team to employ it in Malaysia.
In a repeat of the top-five on the starting grid at Melbourne, McLaren's Jenson Button will sit next to Webber on the second row in fourth place with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso behind them in fifth.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld split the Ferraris, claiming sixth ahead of Felipe Massa, while Michael Schumacher endured another disappointing qualifying day and failed to make it into the last session in his Mercedes to start 11th today.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi completed the top 10.
Hamilton had qualified more than .700 seconds slower than Vettel in Melbourne and by reducing that gap to just a 10th of a second, the Briton was content with his car's performance.
"I don't think we can be disappointed at all, we have made progress. Of course I would like to have been in P1 but Red Bull still have the edge, but we have closed the gap a little bit," the 2008 world champion said.
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