Sebastian Vettel ensured his undefeated qualifying streak at India stayed in tact, the German driver taking a dominant pole position and fastest-ever lap at the Buddh International Circuit to try and secure his fourth-straight driver’s championship.
Vettel sped to the top of the charts with a blistering time of 1:24.119 seconds in his Red Bull RB9, more than seven-tenths faster than Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who starts second. Rosberg’s teammate Lewis Hamilton starts third.
Vettel was dominant throughout the qualifying session. Racing on hard tires in Q1, he placed just 0.009 seconds behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who was on the much faster softs.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber will start from fourth, while Alonso struggled in the final round and will start from eighth. His partner Felipe Massa drove sixth-tenths faster and will start up in fifth.
Lotus made a critical error in Q1, calculating Romain Grosjean’s time of 1:26.577 as enough to move on to the next round, but a late lap by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa pushed him out of a spot in 17th by over half a second. It is only the second time Grosjean has failed to maked it out of the first round. The disappointment was compounded by teammate Kimi Raikkonen’s performance, where he will start from sixth tomorrow.
Continuing his strong form in the hope of upgrading his ride next year, Nico Hulkenberg drove his Sauber to seventh on the grid. Behind him and Alonso is McLaren’s Sergio Perez, who qualified one position ahead of his teammate Jenson Button to round out the top ten.
Vettel’s future partner Daniel Ricciardo just missed the final round by one-tenth of a second and starts from 11th.
Tomorrow’s Grand Prix may be the final race in India. The circuit in New Delhi was left off the 2014 calendar, and despite optimism from Force India team owner Dr. Vijay Mallya for its return, scheduling and finances have undoubtedly been a factor in the decision.
On top of his fourth-straight championship, Vettel will also be looking to make it six race wins in a row and the four-race Asian sweep.
Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix takes place at 5:25 a.m. on TSN, with a re-broadcast on TSN2 at 12 midnight.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:25.943 | 1:24.568 | 1:24.119 | 12 |
| 2 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.833 | 1:25.304 | 1:24.871 | 21 |
| 3 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:25.802 | 1:25.259 | 1:24.941 | 20 |
| 4 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:25.665 | 1:25.097 | 1:25.047 | 17 |
| 5 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:25.793 | 1:25.389 | 1:25.201 | 19 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:25.819 | 1:25.191 | 1:25.248 | 18 |
| 7 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:25.883 | 1:25.339 | 1:25.334 | 19 |
| 8 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:25.934 | 1:24.885 | 1:25.826 | 15 |
| 9 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.107 | 1:25.365 | 1:26.153 | 21 |
| 10 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:25.574 | 1:25.458 | 1:26.487 | 23 |
| 11 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:25.673 | 1:25.519 | 14 | |
| 12 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:25.908 | 1:25.711 | 15 | |
| 13 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.164 | 1:25.740 | 16 | |
| 14 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:26.155 | 1:25.798 | 14 | |
| 15 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:26.178 | 1:26.134 | 15 | |
| 16 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.057 | 1:26.336 | 11 | |
| 17 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:26.577 | 7 | ||
| 18 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:26.842 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:26.970 | 8 | ||
| 20 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:27.105 | 6 | ||
| 21 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:27.487 | 7 | ||
| 22 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:28.138 | 8 | ||
| Q1 107% Time | 1:31.564 |
