Sebastian Vettel (1st, Q3 - 1m 39.394s)
“I’m happy - it was a great lap and I’m proud of it. It was a very tight qualifying session and it’s even more thrilling when you know there’s tension going into it and you know ‘this is it’. We only did one run in Q3, so only one chance. We probably did more laps than the others, but we only used one set of tyres. Looking back I was surprised by how much the circuit ramped up at the end and maybe it would have been better to do two runs, but what we did was enough for pole. The car was fantastic today, much better than yesterday evening, so I think we made a step forward. I think we achieved the maximum we could today. Hopefully we will have a good start tomorrow and a good first lap and then it’s a long race from there - so let’s see what we can do.”
Lewis Hamilton (2nd, Q3 - 1m 39.425s)
“I’m absolutely delighted - this is my best qualifying performance since Spa, and I pushed as hard as I could and got everything and more out of the car. To be just three-hundredths off the fastest Red Bull is extremely good news for the team. We’ve worked incredibly hard all year, but we couldn’t quite catch them up quickly enough. Even so, to be right behind the one on pole - and have both Ferraris behind - is a great achievement. On the grid tomorrow, I don’t have to worry about who’s around me – they all have to worry about who’s around them! I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s the other drivers who’ll have to worry; I don’t have to be cautious at all in the race. Perhaps they need to think about that…Both Jenson and I qualified well today, so this is good news for us in the battle for second place in the constructors’ world championship. I’d love for us to finish one-two tomorrow - that would be a real high for the whole team. I’m not focusing on winning the drivers’ title; I’m just focusing on winning this race.”
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Grabs Pole at Abu Dhabi
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
Fernando Alonso (3rd, Q3 - 1m 39.792s)
“After a good Friday, during which we worked on the set-up, today along came a good Saturday, in which we secured a good grid position, especially in terms of where our main title rival finds himself on the grid. Now, we need one more day at this level and that should bring us closer to our objective. It was an important qualifying session, but you cannot call it decisive, because the race is tomorrow. Reliability and team work will make the difference, as is usually the case. The start? We will see what happens in first ten or twenty metres and then decide if it will be best to attack or wiser to defend. We have to keep in the mind that the world championship definitely does not get won at the first corner, but there is a chance of losing it there. We knew we could expect a difficult weekend, with Red Bull being strong as ever and McLaren at a very high level. Having only Vettel ahead of me, rather than both Red Bulls is positive. It was a very closely contested session, with the order changing all the time. Our first run in Q3 was not the best, because we had problems with traffic, but we knew we had the potential to do better and that’s how it turned out: I started the lap, also thinking about saving the tyres for the final sector so as to avoid the risk of getting there and finding myself in trouble. I am confident for tomorrow but I want to repeat one more time that, however it ends up tomorrow afternoon, it has been a great year for me at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, where we enjoy a very special atmosphere together.”
Jenson Button (4th, Q3 - 1m 39.823s)
“We’ve been tweaking the car all weekend, and we made a big leap from where we were yesterday, so I’m happy with the way things improved. Qualifying was also very good. I’d been struggling with a major brake vibration issue during Q1, but it got better through Q2 and Q3. The vibration didn’t help my front locking issues, but at least they were better than I’d had in the past couple of races. I made a mistake and ran wide on my last lap, so it’s a little disappointing to be starting fourth because I could have been even higher, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. All the cars appear to be reasonably close, so it should be a good battle. My aim is to get as many points as I can tomorrow – we want to secure second place in the constructors’ world championship, and that’ll be our aim for tomorrow.”
Mark Webber (5th, Q3 - 1m 39.925s)
“I’m not rapped to be fifth on the grid, it’s disappointing, but there’s still a long way to go tomorrow - the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. I would like to have been further up, but I couldn’t get the pace. We need to be there at the end of tomorrow’s race and a lot can still happen; I haven’t helped things today, but the championship’s not decided today. I didn’t seem to have the grip the other guys had and I need to have a look where I was losing time. We will just have to do the best job we can tomorrow, it’s a long race - we’re still in the hunt and that’s the main thing.”
Felipe Massa (6th, Q3 - 1m 40.202s)
“On my last out lap, I came up behind so much traffic and it was all very confusing, especially as Hamilton, who was ahead of me, had slowed a lot at Turn 14. At the end of the session, I was called to the Stewards to discuss this incident and also the one with Hamilton again in Q2: this sort of thing can happen as can be seen from the fact that no action was taken.I reached the exit of the final corner, I saw the red light and, instinctively, I thought I had not got there in time to do the flying lap. In fact, I had made it, but I did not push immediately as hard as I could have done, so I came back to the pits when I realised I would not have improved my time. It’s a real shame because I could definitely have done better and therefore started further up the grid. Tomorrow, I am expecting a very hard fought battle between three teams - us, McLaren and Red Bull - who are all very much on the pace. I will try to make up some places at the start and then to do the maximum for the team. However, in terms of performance, I think the situation is better than we could have expected. Fernando starts with a couple of aces to play, which in Poker usually signifies a strong hand.”
Rubens Barrichello (7th, Q3 - 1m 40.203s)
“It was a great qualifying, especially considering where we were yesterday. On Friday we were struggling a little, but we have improved the car in every aspect and I am just delighted with the outcome today. Seventh is better than I expected and I hope we can maintain this tomorrow. Of course tomorrow is another day, but my engineers and I have good momentum together this weekend, so I am very positive.”
Michael Schumacher (8th, Q3 - 1m 40.516s)
“I didn’t have the best last lap in Q3 today unfortunately as I didn’t quite get the sectors together. That was a shame because I could have ended up one or even two positions higher. However this gives me room to improve for tomorrow and that will be my target for the race. We’ve had a pretty straightforward weekend at this fantastic venue. I really enjoy driving here, the atmosphere is great and driving from day into night is very special. It’s a big spectacle and I hope the race adds to it.”
Nico Rosberg (9th, Q3 - 1m 40.589s)
“The speed was there today, however unfortunately only on the hard tyre, so it’s disappointing to be starting from ninth place on the grid. For our race strategy, I had to run the options in Q3 and I just struggled with them all the way through qualifying.”
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