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World champion Sebastian Vettel claimed his third straight pole position of the 2011 season on Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver, who won both the opening races, lapped the Shanghai International Circuit in a time of one minute 33.706 seconds - a record for the 5.451-km track.
He qualified 0.715 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Jenson Button, who starts immediately ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg lines up fourth ahead of Ferrari pair Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, with Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari qualifying seventh. SkySports
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Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - Race Line Up
F1 Standings Ahead of Chinese Grand Prix
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in First Practice at China
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Second Practice at China
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Final Practice at China
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
Vettel, the defending world champion, clocked his time with six minutes of the session remaining and a last-minute push by Hamilton failed to break the German’s pole-winning streak.
“Obviously we did it again but I try to remind myself and the team that every time is tough,” Vettel told reporters at the end of qualifying.
“It all starts from zero again on Sunday. We are as happy as we can be with the car, we had good long runs on Friday so have reason to feel good,” he added.
By taking pole in Shanghai, Vettel became the first Formula One driver since Michael Schumacher in 2004 to start at the front of the grid in the opening three races of the season. AFP
Birthday boy Paul di Resta underlined his great potential and was the one giving the presents as he took a terrific eighth place for Force India in 1m 36.190s.
With three minutes of Q2 left, Vitaly Petrov did one run on soft rubber and leapt up to fourth place on 1m 35.149s, but then his R31 stopped on the track, necessitating the red flag with two minutes left. That was, however, enough to leave him 10th on the grid. But his misfortune put those who had yet to put decent laps together in their first Q2 runs - notably team mate Nick Heidfeld who had been saving tyres - on their back foot when the session resumed.
Also on the bubble were Sergio Perez, Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado. They were joined by the Ferraris and Force Indias in a mad scramble.
Adrian Sutil once again was outqualified by his rookie Force India team mate, taking 11th spot with 1m 35.874s.
Then came Perez on 1m 36.053s in the lead Sauber, Kobayashi on 1m 36.236s in the second, Schumacher on 1m 36.457s for Mercedes, Barrichello in 1m 36.465s for Williams, the frustrated Heidfeld on 1m 36.611s and Maldonado in the second Williams on 1m 36.956s.
Webber’s weekend of disaster was made even worse when Schumacher and Maldonado staged late improvements in Q1, leaving the unhappy Australian only 18th on 1m 36.468s. Formula 1
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