Sebastian Vettel takes pole in qualifying session for Turkish Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Sebastian Vettel recovered well from his crash in practice to storm his way to pole position in qualifying session at the 2011 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix.
It was the fourth pole for Vettel in qualifying in as many races this season.
The German set the quickest time of 1 minute 25.079 seconds and decided to pull into the garage before the final qualifying time was over. He hardly had any heart pounding moments during those minutes as none of the drivers left on the track came close to
challenging his best time.
Mark Webber was also impressive and did well to land 2nd place behind his teammate, but Nico Rosberg was the surprise package. The German after doing quite well in practice on Friday managed to get the third quickest time after three sessions
of qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who had won the last race in China, and played down his chances in Turkey managed to finish fourth. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who has had a disappointing season so far failed to live up to his performance in the first session of
practice, and managed a 5th place on the grid for race day on Sunday. Former world champion Jenson Button had a hot and cold day and in the end managed to finish 6th quickest.
Sebastian Vettel has been far above the chasing pack this season in qualifying sessions, and it was the same old story with the German leading the way and leaving the rest following his trail on the tracks.
The world champion showed everyone that he is mentally very strong, and did not let the crash on Friday distract him from the job at hand and after having minimal time to practice still managed to top the time sheets.
Sebastian Vettel said that he felt happy with his car and the track. He added that he felt that the track was suiting his style of driving and despite the lack of practice it did not take him long to get accustomed to it.
“We were there from the beginning and I am very happy. I like the track, which helps and it was nice to see that after not many laps I was able to find the rhythm. Both Mark and myself decided to skip the second run, and it is a strange feeling because the
others are on track and there is nothing you can do,” said Vettel.
Ferrari have not had the best start to the season, and it is more of a surprise considering that they had impressive outings in the pre-season testing session. The Italian team once again failed to get the formula right and were found wanting when it came
to matching Red Bull in terms of raw pace.
Fernando Alonso had a decent outing during the first practice session on Friday, but sceptics did say that since Vettel did not take full part in that session, Alonso’s performance really does not have a barometer.
The 2011 F1 season is the longest in the history of the sport. Ferrari would have to make sure that they get the upgrades and the new modification right in time to keep pace with Red Bull and McLaren or else the gap between them and other two would be too
big to cut down.
Sebastian Vettel is expected to hold on to his pole position and win the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday, but behind him there can be an interesting battle to make the other two places on the podium.
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