Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest time in qualifying yesterday to clinch Red Bull’s eighth pole position of the season at the European Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver drove a fastest lap of 1 minute, 37.587 seconds. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber was second in 1 minute, 37.662 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren.
“It was a tight qualifying session in the end, not much between us all,” Vettel said. “I won pole, so I’m very happy for today.”
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was eliminated after the second qualifying round, meaning he was unable to compete for pole.
Home favorite Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fourth, with teammate Felipe Massa fifth.
Hamilton leads the standings with 109 points, followed by Jenson Button on 106. Webber is third on 103 points, ahead of Alonso on 94 and Vettel on 90.
Helped by its pioneering blown diffuser exhaust system, Red Bull has now taken pole position in eight of the season’s first nine races — failing only in Canada. Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes have all installed their own diffuser for the third Grand Prix to be staged in Valencia.
Red Bull also employed a version of the F-duct introduced by McLaren earlier in the season. After successful practices in Valencia on Friday, the team decided to maintain the device for the weekend.
“We feel the difference, we can see how much you can gain,” Vettel said.
Under a clear sky track temperatures reached 45ºC during the qualifying session.
Earlier, Vettel posted the fastest lap in final practice.
Renault’s Robert Kubica took the lead as qualifying got underway, before Red Bull gained control. Webber looked to have secured his fifth pole of the season until a late lap by Vettel clinched it for the German.
It is the fourth one-two of the season on the grid for Red Bull.
“It’s not one of our strongest circuits ... if you think where you would have a race against the opposition, we probably wouldn’t choose this one,” said Webber, who is aiming to become the first Australian world champion since Alan Jones in 1980. “Let’s see how tomorrow goes. I’m very optimistic we’re going to have a good race. I could have gone one place better, but I wasn’t quick enough today.”
Hamilton and Button have expressed concern at their rivals’ improvements, given that McLaren is not planning to introduce the blown diffuser until the British Grand Prix in two weeks.
However, Hamilton was upbeat after qualifying third, with teammate Button seventh.
“It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow,” Hamilton said, adding that the first corner and first few laps will be crucial. “I can’t complain with where we’re starting from.”
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