Having secured the pole position, defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will enjoy an edge over Fernando Alonso in Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix but the Ferrari driver said he is neither “concerned nor demotivated” as “things can change very quickly” on race day.
Vettel and Alonso are locked in a two-way title race.
Vettel, whose three consecutive wins have propelled him to the top of the table in the drivers’ standings, just six points ahead of Alonso (206), secured his fifth pole position of the season.
He will be joined on the front row by teammate Mark Webber, followed by Lewis Hamilton (third), Jenson Button (fourth) and Alonso.
In spite of starting on the third row, Alonso is determined to give Vettel a tough fight tomorrow at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
“We tried hard to get the most out of what we had, but there was no way we could be ahead of the Red Bulls and McLarens. In the end fifth is not so bad because it would have been easy to end up even further back if anything had gone wrong,” the Spaniard said.
“I’m not concerned nor demotivated because I know things can change very quickly and that high spirits on Saturday can easily turn into sadness on Sunday. There are 60 laps to work with and we will need to tackle each one as if it’s qualifying by attacking. I am definitely not the sort to give up and that’s my real advantage.
“We must try and make up places on the first lap and try to put pressure on our main rivals, ensuring they don’t have an easy race,” he added.
