Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole position on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix as he attempts to tie up his third successive Formula One title.
Vettel, who had set the pace in all three practice sessions, was also fastest in the three qualifying stints and will start Sunday’s race on the front row ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Vettel’s only title rival, was ninth fastest.
Vettel clocked a fastest lap of 1 minute 35.657 seconds on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, just over one tenth of a second faster than Hamilton for his sixth pole position of the season.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber was third fastest, followed by Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Huelkenberg (Force India), Alonso and Pastor Maldonado (Williams).
McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg were among those who went out in the second qualifying.
Vettel leads Alonso by 10 points going into the season’s penultimate race and can clinch the drivers’ championship if he scores 15 points more than Alonso.
