CHAMPIONSHIP-CHASING German Sebastian Vettel grabbed his 11th pole position of the season yesterday as his Red Bull team secured a front-row lockout for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old dominated the floodlit night session as Red Bull extended their supremacy with their 14th successive pole, a remarkable record that has given Vettel a good chance to retain his title in the 61-lap race on Sunday.
His Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber was second fastest thanks to a last-gasp lap of a competitive and tense session that featured a red flag interruption, accidents and punctures at the Marina Bay circuit.
Vettel’s pole was the 26th of his career as he seeks to become the youngest double champion in Formula One history - a feat he can achieve if he wins in Singapore and nearest rival Fernando Alonso fails to finish on the podium.
Top three: Red Bulls’ Sebastian Vettel (centre) and team-mate Mark Webber (left) and McLaren’s Jenson Button celebrating being on the front row after yesterday’s Singapore Grand Prix qualifying session. — AFPSpaniard Alonso qualified fifth for Ferrari behind the two McLarens of Britons Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, the 2009 and 2008 champions respectively, who will line up in third and fourth places on the grid.
Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth ahead of German Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, 42.
Another German, Adrian Sutil, was ninth for Force India, one place ahead of his team-mate Briton Paul di Resta. — AFP
Grid positions
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) RedBull-Renault 1:44.381, 2. Mark Webber (Aus) RedBull-Renault 1:44.732, 3. Jenson Button (Bri) McLaren 1:44.804, 4. Lewis Hamilton (Bri) McLaren 1:44.809, 5. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:44.874,
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:45.800, 7. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1:46.013, 8. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes, 9. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes, 10. Paul Di Resta (Bri) Force India-Mercedes, 11. Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.616, 12. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:48.082, 13. Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:48.270, 14. Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso 1:48.634, 15. Bruno Senna (Bra) Renault 1:48.662, 16. Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso 1:49.862, 17. Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari, 18. Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:49.835, 19. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus-Renault 1:50.948,
20. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Renault 1:51.012, 21. Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth 1:52.154, 22. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin-Cosworth 1:52.363, 23. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) HRT-Cosworth 1:52.404, 24. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT-Cosworth 1:52.810
Source: Thestar
Source: Thestar
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