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Category: Qualify

Vettel gets pole in European GP 0

Europe / F12010 / Qualify / Valencia

Vettel gets pole in European GP

Sebastian Vettel came to the fore in a thrilling qualifying session at Valencia this afternoon as the German returned to the very front of the grid to take his fourth pole position of the season and his first since April. Team-mate Mark Webber made it Red Bull’s fourth front row lock-out of the year, while mistakes by both McLaren drivers cost them the chance of challenging their rivals.

After the first round of runs, it was Webber who had set the fastest time on a 1m37.852s, over a tenth clear of Hamilton and Vettel. But once the serious work was to be done, Vettel just got the edge. The German was the first front-runner to set his grid time (1m37.587s), with Webber following soon after with his 1m37.662s, just three quarters of a tenth shy of his team-mate. Lewis Hamilton (1m37.969s) took third despite having to abort his final lap after a mistake, while home hero Fernando Alonso (1m38.075s) only managed fourth.

Hamilton beats Webber for first 2010 pole 0

F12010 / Qualify

Hamilton beats Webber for first 2010 pole

Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position of 2010 in Canada this afternoon, ending Red Bull’s run of seven straight pole positions this season. Different tyre choices by the top teams resulted in a thrilling battle between for top spot between Hamilton and Webber, with a late lap by the former handing him pole position by over two tenths of a second.

Tyre graining had been a major problem for teams throughout the weekend’s practice sessions, and expectations had been high that at least one team would opt for an alternative tyre strategy. With all Q3 drivers being forced to start the race on their qualifying tyre, an exciting qualifying was in prospect.

Webber takes pole in front of Kubica in Monaco 1

F12010 / Featured / Formula 1 / Monaco / Qualify / Red Bull

Webber takes pole in front of Kubica in Monaco

Following straight on from his victory in Barcelona, Mark Webber (1:13.826) took a superb pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, the only driver to dip below 1m14s. Team mate Sebastian Vettel (1:14.227) pulled out a lap right at the end to go third quickest, the Red Bull pair split by the impressive Robert Kubica (1:14.120) in the Renault.

As ever the Monte Carlo qualifying session was hard fought and spectacular, with just over a second covering the top 10 on the grid.

Webber on pole for Spanish Grand Prix 1

F12010 / Featured / Formula 1 / Qualify / Red Bull

Webber on pole for Spanish Grand Prix

Mark Webber will start tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix from pole position after winning an intense duel with team-mate Sebastian Vettel in qualifying this afternoon. As expected, both Red Bulls were significantly quicker than the rest of the field leaving Webber and Vettel to fight it out for pole, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton claiming a distant third place.

During the first two parts of the hour-long knockout qualifying session, Webber had beaten Vettel to the front, and ominously held a comfortable margin over their competitors, but their true advantage only became apparent when the fuel was drained out and Q3 got underway.

Vettel leads Red Bull front row in China 1

China / F12010 / Formula 1 / Qualify / Red Bull

Vettel leads Red Bull front row in China

Red Bull sent an emphatic message to their F1 rivals when they locked out the front row of the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel (1:34.558) hooking up a fine final lap to pip team mate Mark Webber (1:24.806) to top spot.

With the F1 paddock speculating since the start of the season that the team had a ride height control system on its car to explain its 100% pole position record, the FIA have recently issued a rule clarification banning such devices. As Vettel crossed the line Red Bull team principal Christian Horner shouted on the team radio, “Who needs ride height control!”

Webber takes pole in a rainy Malaysia Qualifying 1

F12010 / Featured / Formula 1 / Malaysia / Qualify / Red Bull

Webber takes pole in a rainy Malaysia Qualifying

Strategic thinking worthy of the Keystone Kops has ensured that we will have a fascinating grid for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Mark Webber’s Red Bull will start on pole after making an inspired choice of intermediate tyres in Q3, ending up 1.3 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel. But a mass loss of intelligence has ensured that three world champions will start in the last eight.

Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in Melbourne Qualifying 1

F12010 / Featured / Formula 1 / Melbourne / Qualify / Red Bull

Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in Melbourne Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel will be on pole for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix after he dominated qualifying at Albert Park.

On a cold day in Melbourne with the threat of rain hanging over the circuit, all the cars came out early to set a banker lap in each of the three sessions. Vettel’s second pole of the year came after he set the fastest time in all three, pipping Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber by a tenth to the dismay of the local crowds.

Fernando Alonso took third in the Ferrari, ahead of Jenson Button’s McLaren and the fellow Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher will start in 6th and 7th for Mercedes while Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil round off the top ten.

Vettel got pole in Bahrain in front of two Ferrari’s 0

Bahrain / F12010 / Featured / Formula 1 / Qualify / Red Bull / Renault

Vettel got pole in Bahrain in front of two Ferrari’s

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel resumed the 2010 where he left off in 2009 by scoring an impressive pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix this afternoon in Sakhir. The German went almost one and a half tenths quicker than his nearest rival in the decisive Q3 part of qualifying, but was the first front-runner to set his benchmark, a 1m54.101s, at the end of Q3, forcing a nervous wait to see if could hold onto the position.

In the end, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were unable to keep pace with the youngster with Massa taking a front row slot on his return from injury. He set a time of 1m54.242s to go three tenths quicker than Alonso’s 1m54.608s, but crucially lost out to Vettel in the fight for pole. Fourth place went to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who set a time of 1m55.217s to go over a second slower than Vettel. However the Briton was considerably quicker than team-mate Button who managed just eighth place on a 1m55.672s after a disappointing qualifying for him.

Hamilton takes pole at the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 0

Abu Dhabi / F12009 / Formula 1 / KERS / Mclaren / Qualify

Hamilton takes pole at the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this evening in the Middle East, after going over two thirds of a second quicker than his nearest rival in qualifying. Despite leading Q1 and Q2 earlier in the qualifying hour, strong competition from Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber forced the Briton to go for broke, and ultimately eased ahead of the Red Bulls to take his fourth pole position of the season.

With the tyres proving difficult to warm up for a single-lap run, all drivers opted for one multi-lap stint on the harder tyre in Q3, with Hamilton emerging from the pitlane in time for just four flying laps compared to his rivals’ five. After scuffing his first flyer by running wide at turn 17, Hamilton bolted to the top of the timesheets with a 1m41.773s on the second time of asking.

Barrichello storms to pole after chaotic Brazil qualifying 0

BRAWN GP / Brazil / F12009 / Formula 1 / Qualify

Barrichello storms to pole after chaotic Brazil qualifying

After getting final practice compressed into 13 minutes of running this morning, heavy rain caused chaos once again this afternoon with a hugely disrupted qualifying session taking almost two and three quarter hours to be completed. In the end though, it was a wait well worth it for the Brazilian fans as Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello kept his championship fight alive with a superb pole position, made all the sweeter by team-mate and championship leader Jenson Button doing no better than 14th.

Despite continual heavy rain and generally poor track conditions, qualifying got underway as planned at 14.00 local time, before the red flags predictably emerged after four minutes when Giancarlo Fisichella spun to a halt at turn 2. After a 14-minute delay, the action resumed to the finish of Q1, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton being one of the notable victims of the poor conditions, aqua planing off the track at turn 5.