163-korea.jpg)
Red Bull confirmed their dominance of this Formula One season when Sebastian Vettel won their 14th pole position in 17 rounds here today.
Mark Webber will start alongside him on the front row tomorrow, which means Red Bull have now achieved eight lock-outs and with Fernando Alonso coming third the British pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button once again looked off the pace.
Hamilton was fourth fastest, three ahead of Button, with the pair separated by the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
After his ninth pole Vettel said: “I’m very happy today. We tried to save the car this morning.
“It was very close at the end. I was happy with the car in the first run but couldn’t put the lap time in especially in the first sector.”
Click Here to Read More
Formula 1: Korean Grand Prix - Race Line Up
F1 Standings Ahead of Korean Grand Prix
“In the second run I was happier there. In the last run I gave a little bit too much margin and lost in the middle section and I thought maybe it was not enough so I speeded up in the final sector and it was enough for pole. It’s good after a difficult day yesterday.” The Guardian
Poland’s Robert Kubica, who topped morning practice for Renault, finished eighth, while Germany’s nine-time world champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes and Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello (Williams) rounded out the top 10.
With races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to follow the maiden Grand Prix in Korea, Webber leads the championship on 220 points, with Alonso and Vettel both on 206. AFP
Adrian Sutil took his Force India to 14th with 1m 37.783s, closely followed by Renault’s Vitaly Petrov on 1m 37.799s. The Russian had a half spin, and in any case gets a five-place grid penalty because of his shunt at the start in Suzuka, so he drops to 20th on the grid. Jaime Alguersuari continued to head Toro Rosso team mate Sebastien Buemi, with 1m 37.853s to the Swiss driver’s 1m 38.594s.
Q1 saw Hamilton fastest in 1m 37.113s from Vettel and Alonso on 1m 37.123s and 1m 37.144s apiece, and weeded out the expected runners apart from Tonio Liuzzi. The Italian looked quick all through Friday but his VJM03 lost some pace this morning. On his final run in Q1 he set a time only two-tenths of a second off fastest man Hamilton in Sector One, but failed to improve sufficiently in Sectors Two and Three to move up. His 1m 38.955s left him in a disappointed 18th place, behind even the Toro Rossos.
Jarno Trulli really got going for Lotus to set the best new team time with 1m 40.521s, but again spinner Timo Glock kept him honest as he lapped his Virgin in 1m 40.748s. Heikki Kovalainen was 21st in the second Lotus with 1m 41.768s, comfortably ahead of Lucas di Grassi’s Virgin. The Brazilian posted 1m 42.325s, which left him only just ahead of the HRTs, with Sakon Yamamoto on 1m 42.444s and Bruno Senna on 1m 43.283s.
With Petrov’s penalty taken into account, Alguersuari starts 15th from Buemi, Liuzzi, Trulli and Glock, leaving the Russian 20th on the grid. Formula 1
| 
|