[1]World champion Sebastian Vettel lined up a shot at a fourth straight win, qualifying in pole position for the Formula One Airtel Grand Prix of India at the Buddh International Circuit here on Sunday.
With the battle for the world championship still very close, every advantage will be crucial as there are just three races to go after this one, and the two-time defending champion gave himself every chance of repeating his start to finish run of 2011 with a smooth display.
Significantly, Vettel’s closest challenger in the title race, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, starts from fifth place, and with one Red Bull and two McLarens in the way, the Spaniard’s hopes of pushing for maximum points here have already taken a severe knock.
Though overtaking at the BIC is easier than at many other circuits, Alonso — and Ferrari — will need to come up with something extra by way of tactics if they are to reel in Vettel, whose second half of the season just seems to be getting better and better with each passing race. Six points separate the two men at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday’s race.
Saturday’s qualifying may not have been as smooth as expected for Red Bull but they still locked out the front row of the grid with Mark Webber finishing just behind his team mate. The Australian clocked a minute and 25.327 seconds against Vettel’s 1:25.283.
The German had a slide on his first run in the final qualifying session at Turn Seven, but still managed to book his place at the head of the field. McLaren looked like pushing Red Bull harder despite a significant gap in Free Practice Three and were closer than might have been expected with Lewis Hamilton taking third place on the grid in 1m 25.544s from Jenson Button on 1m 25.659s.
Ferrari locked out the third row behind the Red Bulls and McLarens as Alonso was fifth on 1m 25.773s from team mate Felipe Massa, who lapped in 1m 25.857s on his second go.
Lotus were the real disappointment after impressive performances in the free practice session with Kimi Raikkonen taking seventh place on 1m 26.236s ahead of Sergio Perez on 1m 26.360s for Sauber.
Pastor Maldonado posted 1m 26.713s to take ninth for Williams, while Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg completed the top 10 without setting a Q3 time. Team mate Michael Schumacher, racing in India for the final time in his career was a disappointing 14th, this not even making the grade for Q3.
Earlier, Vettel topped Q2 as well with a lap of 1m 25.435s, though Button all but matched him with 1m 25.467s right at the end, while further back a second-sector error left the mercurial Romain Grosjean in 11th place with 1m 26.136s.
Bruno Senna’s good run came to an end when 1m 26.331s left him 12th for Williams, while Schumacher’s last run of 1m 26.574s wasn’t enough for better than 14th.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/vettel-621x414jpgcropdisplayjpg-563