Despite having already won the 2011 Formula 1 crown, Sebastian Vettel has claimed his 13th pole position of the season at the first-ever Indian Grand Prix.
The German’s Q3 result of 1 minute and 24.178 seconds was too fast for the rest of the pack.
“At the end my my lap wasn’t 100 per cent but you always get out of the car thinking (that),” Vettel is cited by AP as saying. “It’s good to start the race from the front tomorrow. I think it’s going to be an interesting race.”
And it will be an all-Red Bull front row for Sunday’s race. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was second quickest on the day, but his three-position penalty for a yellow flag infringement in practice will see the Englishman dropping to fifth, with Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber taking his place on the grid.
Fernando Alonso was just 0.011 seconds down on Webber in his Ferrari with another McLaren driver, Jenson Button, right behind.
Felipe Massa came in sixth despite crashing right at the end of the third segment of qualifying.
Russia’s Vitaly Petrov produced the 11th fastest time, but the Lotus Renault driver will start from 16th due to a penalty for crashing into Michael Schumacher at the previous race in South Korea.
The Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida has become the venue of the first-ever Indian Grand Prix in Formula 1’s history.