Vettel equals Nigel Mansell most pole in a season record by grabbing pole in Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina Circuit - Qualifying Result

Just when it looks like Mclaren did it allright and Lewis Hamilton would be starting from pole in Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel crosses the line last with the best time on charts almost 2tenth of a second faster than Lewis.

Sebastian Vettel 29th career pole and 14th of the season equals the record set by Nigel Mansell for most pole in a season back in 1992. The total pole tally of 29 brings Vettel equaling Five times World Champion Jaun Manuel Fangio's career poles. Also he has beaten the record set by Ayrton Senna for most front row starts in a season. With one race to go in Brazil, Sebastian Vettel can break the record for most pole in a season.

Lewis Hamilton lead every qualifying session and even remained at the top of the charts in Q3 until Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap in the dying moments of the session when it was least expected.

It seemed that Lewis Hamilton almost had it, but World Champion Sebastian Vettel always did it in style.

Mclaren once again fail to settle the fury of Sebastian Vettel in 2011.

As it goes in Q3:

As the 10min shootout started, top 6 drivers set their initial times with Hamilton leading from Vettel, Button, Webber, Alonso and Massa. With only 2mins left on the clock, all drivers except Paul Di Resta went out to set their final times.

Button who lapped both 1st and 2nd sector faster than Lewis Hamilton beats the Hamilton initial time first. But just when Hamilton failed first two sectors, he storms to pole with just 9thousandth of a second faster than Button. Webber failed behind Button. Then came Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Sutil.

But there were two men left to set their times, Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who undoubtedly blown his trumpet at the top with pole while 7 time world champion lined behind his teammate for 8th.

Sahara Force India doing an excellent job during the entire weekend qualified in 9th and 10th.

As it goes in Q2:

Floodlights were turned on as the Desert Sun Sets far. Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Q2. It was a battle between only 11th to 17th position as the top 5 qualifying teams already looked invincible. Sergio Perez was the first to qualify at 11th followed by Vitaly Petrov in the leading Renault. Sebastien Buemi brings his Toro Rosso home at 13th. Bruno Senna followed Buemi in 2nd Renault who was then followed by Jaime Alguersuari in 2nd Toro Rosso. Kamui Kobayashi struggled in 16th followed by Pastor Maldonado who will be dropping by 10 places for using 9th engine in this season.

The session was interrupted by red flag as there were debries on the track from a side bollard fell on the track after Massa constant use of runoff areas and crossing the lines.

As it goes in Q1:

This session is also topped by Lewis Hamilton. The session also saw a battle only between 18th to 23rd position as the teams failed to beat the time set by the Q2 drivers. However, Michael Schumacher faced a little scare at the 17th position to which he dropped at the end of the session.

Lotus easily qualified ahead of HRT and Virgin as the interchanged some places.

Rubens Barrichello did not participate due to an oil leak and engine problem.

 

There is a lot of KERB cutting during the entire weekend, and stewards are going to take strict action against the defaulters during the race. Special attention will be given to Turn 6, 9 and 12 runoff areas. If Turn 9 is cut during the race, the driver will not be allowed to use DRS in the subsequent DRS Zone.

Pos	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	1min 40.478sec	1min 38.516sec	1min 38.481sec	16
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 39.782sec	1min 38.434sec	1min 38.622sec	15
3	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 40.227sec	1min 39.097sec	1min 38.631sec	14
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	1min 40.167sec	1min 38.821sec	1min 38.858sec	19
5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1min 41.380sec	1min 39.058sec	1min 39.058sec	16
6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1min 41.592sec	1min 39.623sec	1min 39.695sec	20
7	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	1min 41.120sec	1min 39.420sec	1min 39.773sec	17
8	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	1min 42.605sec	1min 40.554sec	1min 40.662sec	18
9	Adrian Sutil	Sahara Force India -Mercedes	1min 40.595sec	1min 40.205sec	1min 40.768sec	17
10	Paul Di Resta	Sahara Force India -Mercedes	1min 41.064sec	1min 40.414sec		15
11	Sergio Perez	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 41.311sec	1min 40.874sec		18
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1min 40.955sec	1min 40.919sec		18
13	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	1min 41.737sec	1min 41.009sec		15
14	Bruno Senna	Renault	1min 41.391sec	1min 41.079sec		15
15	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	1min 41.386sec	1min 41.162sec		16
16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 41.613sec	1min 41.240sec		17
17	Pastor Maldonado	Williams -Cosworth	1min 42.258sec	1min 41.760sec		13
18	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1min 42.979sec			11
19	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1min 43.884sec			11
20	Timo Glock	Virgin -Cosworth	1min 44.515sec			9
21	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT - Cosworth	1min 44.641sec			9
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin -Cosworth	1min 44.699sec			8
23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT -Cosworth	1min 45.159sec			8
24	Rubens Barrichello	Williams -Cosworth	No Time			0

107% Qualifying Time: 1min 46.766sec