Sebastian Vettel secured pole position for the US Grand Prix, putting the German in the perfect spot to chase his third consecutive Formula One championship.
Vettel is on the brink of history with two races left on the calendar. He would be just the third driver — and youngest — to win three consecutive championships, joining Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.
Dubbed the “Boy Wonder,” Vettel made his F1 debut at the US Grand Prix in 2007 as a 19-year-old. At the ripe old age of 25, the Red Bull driver appears ready to join the series’ elite. Vettel leads Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso of Spain, a savvy veteran and two-time world champion himself, by 10 points.
Photo: Reuters
Vettel avoided saying anything that would sound overconfident about winning another title. Two weeks ago, a penalty forced him to start in last place at Abu Dhabi before he finished third in the crash-filled race.
“I’m very happy with the [qualifying] result, but nobody has scored any points yet,” Vettel said. “We saw in the last race how quickly things can change. It’s the best strategy to keep your head down and try to get the best.”
However, the smiling Vettel clearly feels at ease in the US and had no trouble navigating the new Circuit of the Americas built specifically for F1’s return to the US after a five-year absence.
Vettel posted the fastest times in the three practice sessions before his qualifying time of 1 minute, 35.657 seconds edged McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton for pole position. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was third.
His ability to start up front puts more pressure on Alonso, who was 1.643 seconds slower. Alonso finished ninth in qualifying, but will start No. 8 after Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was penalized for changing his gearbox after the third practice session.
If Vettel wins, Alonso must finish no worse than fourth to force the title race to the series finale next week in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Yesterday was to be Vettel’s 100th career grand prix start. Along the way, he has picked up 26 career victories and learned how to close out a tight championship race.
Vettel won the 2010 title with a victory from the pole in the final race at Abu Dhabi, making him the youngest F1 world champion in history. He came back to dominate the circuit last year with 11 victories and won the championship by 122 points.
This season has been much tighter, but a surge of four consecutive victories and a third-place finish two weeks ago put Vettel in position to claim another title.
Alonso has acknowledged Vettel has the faster car, but insists he can push the championship to Brazil. Alonso started in a similar position in Abu Dhabi before finishing second.
“It’s still possible,” Alonso said. “Tomorrow, I will try to do better and recover some places. We will push to the limit, as we have done since the start of every year and every race weekend.”
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS