Sebastian Vettel secures pole in Korean GP Qualifying
Red Bull once again dominated the qualifying sessions and this time in the Korean Grand Prix where the Austrian team reigned supreme. The duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber secured 1st and 2nd spot on the starting grid respectively.
Vettel completed the fastest lap of 1.35.585 seconds that was just 0.07 seconds quicker than his team mate Mark Webber.
Fernando Alonso from Ferrari who was 2nd in practice but could only get 3rd best time, while behind him was Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who really needs to win the race to get his title bid back on track.
5th on the starting grid would be Nico Rosberg from Mercedes, the 2nd Ferrari driver Felipe Massa managed 6th fastest time. The reigning world champion Jenson Button though could only manage a disappointing seventh position.
The Korean GP qualifying marked the 2nd successive one –two finish for Red Bull in qualifying after the Japan Grand Prix. This is also the 9th time this season that Vettel has managed to get pole position in qualifying.
In the final qualifying session in Korea, Fernando Alonso was looking quite good, and the Spaniard had clocked a lightening lap of 1.35.766 and seemed well poised to get first place. However Sebastian Vettel was yet to complete his final flying lap and the
German went all guns blazing and his team mate Webber was not far behind either.
Ferrari seemed to have exhausted all their resources and did the best they could, however team Red Bull managed to outpace them once again. This does send out a clear message from Red Bull, that it would not be an easy task to outpace them this weekend.
After securing the pole position, Sebastian Vettel said that after practice he was not satisfied and knew he could have done much better. But he added that qualifying went almost exactly according to plan. Vettel said that it would be a great opportunity
for him to close down the gap between him and Webber.
Mark Webber would be starting just behind Vettel, which is believed to be the dustier side of a troublesome Korean track. The Aussie admitted that he could have done slightly better in qualifying and taken first place, but he was still happy to be in the
first row. Webber after the race was in a lighter mood and admitted that first is always better then 2nd, but at the same time it still is better than 3rd. Webber said that the start of the race would be crucial and he would have to
make sure that Fernando Alonso does not manage to sneak past him.
Meanwhile McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had yet another less than convincing day. The Brit racing prodigy admitted that 4th place is disappointing especially after the practice. Hamilton added that the car did feel great in practice, and he certainly
believe that he could have done much better in qualifying.
McLaren had tried out their own version of F-duct exhaust system; it did seem to be working well on Friday. And although the British duo did not get the desired results in practice, it was believed that qualifying would be a better day for them.
Hamilton will start the race from 4th place behind Alonso, and would have to do something extraordinary to go past his former team mate. Finishing just ahead of Alonso will also not do him much good, as he is 28 points adrift of Mark Webber who
will be starting the race in 2nd place.
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