Vettel seals first ever Indian GP pole

Sebastian Vettel took his thirteenth pole position of the season in India, thus making sure he will start the inaugural Indian Grand Prix from the best possible place.

Lewis Hamilton set the second fastest time, 0.3s behind the German, but will drop three places on the grid. It means Mark Webber will join his Red Bull teammate on the front row. Alonso and Button will line up on the second row while Hamilton will have to share the third row with Massa.

How the session panned out :

Q1

Kovalainen and Trulli were first to leave the pits. The rest of the field soon followed. Hard tyres were the preferred choice to kick off with.

Fernando Alonso set the first proper benchmark. He further improved it while his rivals got up to speed. While Button settled in second place, Mark Webber took over at the front. But he was soon demoted to third by Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

The double World Champion was the first to dip under the 1’27 bracket. Massa then moved up to third place, five thousandths of a second behind Hamilton. Alonso reacted and reclaimed top spot. However, both Vettel and Hamilton were on fast flying laps and improved on the Spaniard’s best time.

Vettel was once again faster than the McLaren man. Alonso was third ahead of Massa, Rosberg, Webber and Button. As the frontrunners pitted, the Sauber team sent its car on track for a single run on the soft tyre. In the meantime, Webber jumped up to P2.

A gearbox problem sidelined Timo Glock, meaning the Virgin driver would be the first driver eliminated. With two minutes left, Michael Schumacher was in danger of going out with the new teams’ drivers.

As he was struggling with the hard tyres, Button was forced to do a run on the softer option to secure his place through to Q2.

Vitaly Petrov eventually topped the list for Renault, ahead of Vettel, Button, Sutil and Rosberg.

Schumacher’ late effort pushed him up to P12. Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Trulli, Ricciardo (who will drop five grid-places for a gearbox change), Karthikeyan and d’Ambrosio were eliminated alongside Glock.

Q2

The Renaults quickly left the pits as the light went green. The rest of the field soon followed.

Sebastian Vettel re-established himself at the top of the timesheet, with a time well below the 1’25 marker. His teammate Mark Webber joined him at the front, while Button slotted in third place ahead of Massa and Hamilton. The 2007 World Champion was not done yet and moved up to 2nd place. Alonso improved to third place.

As the top seven remained in the pits, the ten other drivers fought it hard for the last three available Q3 spots. Sutil, Buemi and Alguersuari took them.

Petrov – who will drop five places on the grid – Schumacher, di Resta, Maldonado, Senna, Barrichello and Pérez – who will drop three places on the grid – were eliminated.

Q3

Lewis Hamilton set the ball rolling. He was followed by both Ferraris and Webber’s Red Bull. Vettel soon joined the party too.

Alonso set a quick benchmark but it was not enough to keep Vettel and Hamilton at bay. Webber was also faster than the Spaniard and relegated him to fourth place. The top four was covered by less than two tenths of a second.

Button and Rosberg opted for a single run and came out as the other drivers made a brief stop in the pits before a final assault. Meanwhile, Sutil, Buemi and Alguersuari decided to save tyres for the race and didn’t set a time.

Vettel further improved to secure himself another pole position. Hamilton set the 2nd fastest time but will drop three places on the grid. Webber qualified third ahead of Alonso, Button, Massa and Rosberg.

Starting grid including penalties