Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on Pole at Valencia GP
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso had made all the headlines in Friday’s practice at Valencia; there was talk of fantastic updates by Ferrari in their exhaust system which had made them at par with Red Bull. But when it came to qualifying, it was once again Red Bull who showed they have the fastest car this season, as Sebastian Vettel once again took pole position at the end of the final qualifying session at Valencia.
The German driver beat his teammate Mark Webber by only 0.075 seconds, as it was once again Red Bull who took pole, making it their 8th this season.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was strong throughout, but a crucial mistake in the final lap cost him dearly, and he finished 3rd.
Fernando Alonso could only manage 4th position on the starting grid, followed closely by teammate Felipe Massa. Current world champion Jenson Button was not at his best and finished in 7th. Just like his teammate, Button also made a bad mistake on the final corner.
Even though McLaren gave the two Red Bulls a run for their money throughout qualifying, Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team boss, admitted that realistically Red Bull were much faster than McLarens on the track, but if Button and Hamilton had been more careful on the final lap, things could have been a bit different.
2008 F1 champion Hamilton was delighted to finish in the top 3. Hamilton said during Friday’s practice sessions he did not have a great time, and it is a big achievement for him to get the 3rd spot on the grid.
The British driver added that his first lap was good. And on his 2nd lap he was 10th, but going into turn 12 he lost it to a degree as his rears locked up, so despite the problems with the car he was pleased to finish that high.
His teammate Jenson Button said the qualifying could not have gone any better for him, if only it was not for that error on the final lap. Button also locked up, which made him go wide making him lose a 10th of a second, and in F1 terms that is a significant amount of time.
The Red Bull team, though, was not expecting to dominate to the degree that they actually did. The circuit has a number of long straights and slow corners that were expected not to suit the Red Bull cars, because they are primarily renowned for aerodynamic strength in faster turns.
Sebastian Vettel said that this circuit certainly is not their favourite, but it’s still great to have both of their cars up front, which goes to show the hard work put in not only by the drivers, but the backroom staff that have been working double time to make sure that they could adapt to different circuits.
Vettel went on to say that it was more difficult to be sure of qualifying because the team decided to reintroduce the 'F-duct' (aerodynamic device) just a day before qualifying, but the mechanics worked almost all night to get it in place, so a big thank you goes to them.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team chief, shared Vettel’s sentiments and said that he really did not expect to dominate the qualifying this time, purely because before the race they knew that the track is not going to suit them.
Horner added that the F-duct, which was introduced at the 11th hour, really worked well for them. And there is no doubt that a lot of effort did go in from the whole pit crew to get the two drivers and cars ready for this race. It clearly was a team effort.
Vettel’s teammate Webber said that he was more than happy with getting the 2nd position on the starting grid.
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