The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Vettel takes pole

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 12, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Vettel takes pole

MONTREAL: Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed his sixth pole position in seven races this year on Saturday when he topped the times in qualifying for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old German, in his Red Bull car repaired after a crash into the ‘wall of champions' on Friday, clocked a best lap of one minute and 13.014 seconds.

This left him out in front ahead of the two Ferraris of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa, the two-time champion just squeezing ahead of his team-mate in the closing seconds.

Australian Mark Webber qualified fourth in the second Red Bull with Briton Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, taking fifth ahead of German Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes.

Vettel's pole was the 21st of his career and came on a circuit where Red Bull has never won, but where Hamilton claimed his maiden victory and won again last year.

“Thank you,” said Vettel over the team radio on his slowing down lap. “Thanks you guys for fixing the car on Friday after I stuffed it into the wall.”

Button seventh

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button, champion in 2009, wound up seventh ahead of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes.

Another German Nick Heidfeld was ninth for Renault ahead of his team-mate Vitaly Petrov of Russia.

“That's certainly not what we were expecting or hoping for here,” said Button. “We just weren't able to get in among them, the Red Bulls and Ferraris, this time.”

Several drivers had close shaves with the walls and escaped as the session led to the elimination of the slowest bottom seven drivers at the end of the session.

Vettel leads Hamilton in the drivers' championship by 58 points after six of this year's scheduled 19 races.

Starting grid: 1st row: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 2nd row: Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault); 3rd row: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 4th row: Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes); 5th row: Nick Heidfeld (Lotus-Renault), Vitaly Petrov (Lotus-Renault);

6th row: Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes), Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth); 7th row: Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari), Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes); 8th row: Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth); 9th row: Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari), Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari); 10th row: Jarno Trulli (Team Lotus), Heikki Kovalainen (Team Lotus);

11th row: Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania-Cosworth); Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth); 12th row: Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania-Cosworth), Jerome d'Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) . — AFP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport