Publications
Partners
GREATER NOIDA, India - Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel put himself on pole position for a fourth successive Formula 1 title after lapping the Indian Grand Prix circuit faster than ever before on October 26 2013.
Vettel, whose best lap of 1min24.119 seconds maintained his record of being on pole for India in every race since the country's F1 debut in 2011, will have compatriot Nico Rosberg alongside for Mercedes on the front row.
FOURTH TITLE LOOMS
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 90 points behind in the standings with four races to go and the only driver who can put Vettel's title celebrations on hold, qualified eighth.
Lewis Hamilton will line-up third for Mercedes, with Vettel's team mate Mark Webber fourth.
Webber was the only driver on the front two rows to have set his best lap on the slower but more durable medium tyres with the other three opting for softs and sure to pit earlier.
Vettel said: "Obviously Mark is on a different strategy so we'll see what the race brings tomorrow.”
Alonso, who must finish in the top two to have any hope of staying mathematically in contention after the weekend, also qualified on the medium tyres.
Romain Grosjean, who led the previous race in Japan and has finished on the podium in the last two grands prix, failed to get his Lotus through the first phase of qualifying.
‘WE GOT IT WRONG’
Grosjean paid a heavy price for going out on the medium tyre when others were lapping on the softs and will start back in 17th.
Grosjean said: "We just missed the cut-off time, everyone went quicker than we thought. Today, for some reason, the mediums were not quick enough. It's a decision we took together, we were confident we could do enough with them but we got it wrong."
Team mate Kimi Raikkonen will start sixth, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa in fifth and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg a strong seventh for Sauber. The two McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 behind Alonso.
2013 Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit:
Qualifying
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min24.119
2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min24.871
3 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1min24.941
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min25.047
5 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min25.201
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min25.248
7 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber 1min25.334
8 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min25.826
9 Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 1min26.153
10 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min26.487
11 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min25.519
12 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min25.711
13 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1min25.740
14 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min25.798
15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1min26.134
16 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 1min26.336
17 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1min26.577
18 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min26.842
19 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 1min26.970
20 Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham 1min27.105
21 Charles Pic (France) Caterham 1min27.487
22 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 1min28.138
1-10: Third and final qualifying session
11-16: Second qualifying session
17-22: First qualifying session
Third practice
Second practice
First practice
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Indian GP qualifying
Vettel, whose best lap of 1min24.119 seconds maintained his record of being on pole for India in every race since the country's F1 debut in 2011, will have compatriot Nico Rosberg alongside for Mercedes on the front row.
FOURTH TITLE LOOMS
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 90 points behind in the standings with four races to go and the only driver who can put Vettel's title celebrations on hold, qualified eighth.
Lewis Hamilton will line-up third for Mercedes, with Vettel's team mate Mark Webber fourth.
Webber was the only driver on the front two rows to have set his best lap on the slower but more durable medium tyres with the other three opting for softs and sure to pit earlier.
Vettel said: "Obviously Mark is on a different strategy so we'll see what the race brings tomorrow.”
Alonso, who must finish in the top two to have any hope of staying mathematically in contention after the weekend, also qualified on the medium tyres.
Romain Grosjean, who led the previous race in Japan and has finished on the podium in the last two grands prix, failed to get his Lotus through the first phase of qualifying.
‘WE GOT IT WRONG’
Grosjean paid a heavy price for going out on the medium tyre when others were lapping on the softs and will start back in 17th.
Grosjean said: "We just missed the cut-off time, everyone went quicker than we thought. Today, for some reason, the mediums were not quick enough. It's a decision we took together, we were confident we could do enough with them but we got it wrong."
Team mate Kimi Raikkonen will start sixth, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa in fifth and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg a strong seventh for Sauber. The two McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 behind Alonso.
2013 Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit:
Qualifying
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 1min24.119
2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min24.871
3 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1min24.941
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min25.047
5 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min25.201
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min25.248
7 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber 1min25.334
8 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min25.826
9 Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 1min26.153
10 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min26.487
11 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min25.519
12 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min25.711
13 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1min25.740
14 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min25.798
15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1min26.134
16 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 1min26.336
17 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1min26.577
18 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min26.842
19 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 1min26.970
20 Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham 1min27.105
21 Charles Pic (France) Caterham 1min27.487
22 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 1min28.138
1-10: Third and final qualifying session
11-16: Second qualifying session
17-22: First qualifying session
Third practice
Second practice
First practice
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Indian GP qualifying