Korea: Red Bull grid lock-out
2010-10-23 08:22
Yeongam, South Korea - Sebastian Vettel seized pole position for the inaugural South Korean Formula 1 GP on Saturday, forcing Red Bull team mate and F1 championship leader Mark Webber to settle for second best.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will line up together on the second row of the grid in third and fourth respectively for what could be a wet race on Sunday.
McLaren's World champion Jenson Button, the fifth title contender who is 31 points behind Webber, qualified only seventh after struggling to get heat into his tyres on the slippery surface.
Dirty-side start
Vettel said of his ninth pole of the 2010 season: "With so little running on Friday and this morning, it was a pretty good achievement.”
Webber is 14 points clear of double World champion Alonso and Vettel, with two races remaining after Yeongam. Hamilton is 14 points further back.
The championship leader must start on the dirty side of an already very dusty track but, after shaking Vettel's hand and congratulating him on a job well done, he played down the significance of that.
Webber, unlike his opponents, will have a fresh engine for the race. He said: "Fernando will probably be pretty solid off the line but it’s not going to make or break the World championship.
"I'm very happy to be second," he added, but his forced smile and carefully measured tone told an entirely different story.
Red Bull's 14th pole
Webber will at least have one of the stewards rooting for him, even if rules are rules, with compatriot and former World champion Alan Jones one of the four officials for the weekend.
Vettel's pole was also Red Bull's 14th and the team's eighth front-row lock-out. The last driver to rack up so many poles in a season was compatriot Michael Schumacher in 2001. Vettel, 23, won from pole in Japan two weeks ago but has only converted them into three wins.
While Alonso appeared resigned as he removed his helmet, he knew also that he had a good chance of cutting Webber's lead come race day. Alonso said: "We knew we had a little possibility but not too much because the Red Bulls are normally quicker than us in Q3 (the third phase of qualifying.
"P3 (third) is our maximum potential today, which in a way is good news because qualifying is not our strong point. We’re in good shape for the race."
'It's disappointing...'
Button was the big loser of the afternoon, with the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Felipe Massa between him and his rivals, and faces an uphill battle to stay in the title hunt beyond Sunday.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "I think it's disappointing. The track was quite cold and that worked against us. It was difficult to get tyres up to temperature and the length of the track here means you have to push hard to get in two laps.
“Whatever, we have a fast race car and we’re going to give it our best shot."
Official result from qualifying for the 2010 South Korean Formula 1 GP at Yeongam on Saturday
1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min35.585
2 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min35.659
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min35.766
4 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min36.062
5 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min36.535
6 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min36.571
7 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min36.731
8 Robert Kubica (Poland) Renault 1min36.824
9 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 1min36.950
10 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 1min36.998
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Williams 1min37.620
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) BMW Sauber 1min37.643
13 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1min37.715
14 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1min37.783
15 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 1min37.799
16 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 1min37.853
17 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 1min38.594
18 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Force India 1min38.955
19 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus 1min40.521
20 Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 1min40.748
21 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus 1min41.768
22 Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil) Virgin 1min42.325
23 Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) HRT 1min42.444
24 Bruno Senna (Brazil) HRT 1min43.283
1-10 - third and final qualifying session
11-17 - second qualifying session
18-24 - first qualifying session
