Red Bull lived up to expectations yesterday with Sebastian Vettel denying disappointed teammate Mark Webber pole position for the Australian’s home grand prix.
The German, still only 22 but heavily fancied for this year’s Formula One (F1) title, lapped Albert Park’s tight street circuit in one minute, 23.919 seconds under overcast skies for his second pole in two races.
While the Red Bull drivers showed their pace in locking out the front row, former world champion Lewis Hamilton missed out on the final stage of qualifying.
PHOT0: REUTERS
The British McLaren Mercedes driver was 11th fastest in the second qualifying stage at one minute, 25.184 seconds and missed out on the top 10 cars into the third and final stage by 0.062 seconds.
Vettel, who finished fourth in the Bahrain season-opener after a spark plug failure robbed him of the lead, will be chasing Red Bull’s fourth win in five races today.
“First of all, it was a great result for both of us and the team,” said the German, who won four races last year and was runner-up in the championship. “I think that’s a great achievement — it’s better than having two Ferraris up here. I think the car has been working well yesterday already.”
PHOTO: AFP
Webber, bidding to become his country’s first home winner, was just over a tenth of a second slower than Vettel and felt disappointed after setting the early pace in the third session.
“Not really [happy], I would love to be on pole,” he said. “It’s a lot better than my qualifying in Bahrain ... In the end I did my best.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, winner on his debut for the Italian team in Bahrain, will line up third on the grid with McLaren’s world champion Jenson Button.
PHOTO: EPA
Michael Schumacher, the seven-times world champion who made a comeback to F1 in Bahrain after a three-year absence, qualified seventh, one place behind Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
Alonso’s Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa will start fifth on the grid.
In an off-track incident, British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton apologized yesterday after having his private car impounded by police for reckless driving in Melbourne after practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
The former world champion had only hours earlier set the fastest time in practice for today’s Australian race when he was stopped by police as he left the Albert Park street circuit in his Mercedes road car late on Friday.
Police said the McLaren Mercedes ace was pulled over by a police patrol and had his car impounded for doing a burnout as he turned into a busy street outside the Melbourne track.
Senior police constable Scott Woodford said Hamilton’s car had “accelerated heavily and lost traction to the rear wheels” in making a turn and will be impounded until tomorrow.
Hamilton, 25, later confirmed the incident and apologized for his behavior in a statement released through his McLaren team.
“This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police,” Hamilton said in the statement. “What I did was silly, and I want to apologize for it.”
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