Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sebastian Vettel romps to pole in Hungary as Red Bulls continue qualifying dominance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyqatRH-cu8endofvid
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By Sportsmail Reporter

Domination: Sebastian Vettelromped to his seventh pole in twelve races


Red Bull destroyed their rivals in qualifying ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix by sweeping to their sixth all-front row of the year spearheaded by pole king Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel claimed his seventh pole of the season and fourth in a row with a crushing lap at the Hungaroring of one minute 18.773secs, just over four tenths of a second quicker than Mark Webber.

It is Red Bull's 11th pole in the 12 races this season, but this was by far their most impressive, with third-on-the-grid Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari a staggering 1.2secs adrift.

Alonso is joined on the second row by team-mate Felipe Massa, who suffered a
near-fatal accident in qualifying on this track just over a year ago.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton again performed superbly in a below par McLaren to claim fifth ahead of Nico Mercedes' Rosberg, but will have to go some to make it three wins in four visits here.


Battler: Lewis Hamilton will start fifth


For the first time this season Vitaly Petrov finally out-qualified team-mate Robert Kubica, with the duo seventh and eighth.

They are followed by Pedro de la Rosa in his Sauber, equalling his best performance of the season, and Williams' Nico Hulkenberg.

For the second time in the last three races Jenson Button failed to make it into Q1, and the sixth time in the last seven grands prix he has now been out-qualified by Hamilton.

The 30-year-old missed out on a place in the top 10 by 0.017secs, and now faces a fight to gain any respectable points tomorrow to hold on to his second place in the standings.


Under the bridge: Jenson Button will start a disappointing 11trh


It would appear only rain can help Button tomorrow, as in 2006 when he started from 14th before going on to clinch his maiden victory.

Joining Button on the sixth row of the grid is former Honda and Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, now with Williams.

It is an all-German seventh row with Force India's Adrian Sutil ahead of Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes who has now failed to make it into Q3 four times in the last races, finishing 0.8secs behind team-mate Rosberg.

The Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are 15th and 17th, with Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India providing the filling.

The odd man out at the end of the initial 20-minute qualifying run was Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi for the third time in the last five races, with the Japanese starting 18th.


Top of the pile: Fernando Alonso (left) will have his work cut out to keep up with the Red Bulls of Vettel (centre) and Mark Webber


The chasm between the more established teams and those in their rookie seasons was significantly underlined around this track as its tight, twisty nature ensured they struggled.

Virgin Racing's Timo Glock was the best of the newcomers, albeit a yawning 1.8secs adrift of Kobayashi, but at least acquiring some personal satisfaction in finishing ahead of the two Lotuses.

Glock will start 19th, with Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli 20th and 21st, the duo sandwiching the Virgin boys as Lucas di Grassi is 21st.

Propping up the grid will be the Hispania Racing pair of Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, a staggering six seconds off Vettel's pace.

source: dailymail
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