The Hindu : Sport : Sebastian Vettel grabs pole for Red Bull

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Sebastian Vettel grabs pole for Red Bull

Button fifth quickest; luck eludes Force India again

— PHOTO: AFP

ON SONG: Sebastian Vettel (centre), seen here with teammate Mark Webber (right) and Renault’s Fernando Alonso, delivered Red Bull its first pole position when he came up with a brilliant performance on Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Chinese GP.

SHANGHAI: Sebastian Vettel delivered the Red Bull team its first pole position when he topped the times with a brilliant performance in qualifying for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old rising star clocked a best lap of one minute and 36.565 seconds in the closing seconds of a closely-fought session to end Jenson Button’s early season run of two straight poles in Australia and Malaysia.

It was Vettel’s second pole after seizing his first at last year’s Italian GP where he went on to win his maiden race.

“I am very, very happy,” said the German, a popular driver in the paddock who combines a cheeky sense of humour with a serious approach to racing. “For me, this is unbelievable. We had a few problems with the car this morning and we were running a bit late like we did in Melbourne. But it seems the less I run in free practice, the better I am in qualifying. This is great.”

Red Bull chief Christian Horner celebrated his new boy’s success in only his third appearance after replacing veteran David Coulthard at the end of last season.

“Sebastian has been on the pace all weekend in his car and it has worked out. We are delighted. We took an aggressive strategy and this has paid off for us too,” he said.

“Obviously, it is the best place to start this race, but I think managing the tyres is going to be really crucial here.”

Button, who was fifth quickest and will start from the third row of the grid, showed little disappointment in not completing a hat-trick of poles.

“No, it is not as good as I had hoped or expected, but the Red Bulls are really competitive here. They are going to be tough to beat, but we can try. It is a pity they are ahead of us because it is tough to overtake here, but we will see,” he said.

Alonso second

Vettel was joined on the front row of the grid by two-time World champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, who grabbed second place for Renault in a car fitted overnight with new floor parts and a new diffuser.

His team worked until 5 a.m. to complete the job after the parts were reportedly flown to Shanghai in team chief Flavio Briatore’s private jet which was reconfigured with the seating removed to carry the freight.

Force India at back

Meanwhile, the second qualifying jinx continues to plague Force India which would have Adrian Sutil 18th on the starting grid and Giancarlo Fisichella 20th.

After finishing 19th in the qualifying session, Sutil would have joined Fisichella at the back but the German benefited after Timo Glock of Toyota dropped from 14th to 19th place after his gearbox change.

“We knew it was going to be difficult here today. We couldn’t find a balance as we don’t have enough downforce just yet,” Sutil later said after he and Fisichella failed to make the cut for the second qualifying session.

The qualifying results (top 10): 1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, 1 minute, 36.184 seconds); 2. Fernando Alonso (Renault, 1:36.381); 3. Mark Webber (Red Bull, 1:36.466); 4. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn, 1:36.493); 5. Jenson Button (Brawn, 1:36.532); 6. Jarno Trulli (Toyota, 1:36.835); 7. Nico Rosberg (Williams, 1:37.397); 8. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari, 1:38.089); 9. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, 1:38.595); 10. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso, 1:39.321). — Agencies

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