McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton will start from the pole in tomorrow’s Formula One Korean Grand Prix after pulling off the upset victory at the Korea International Circuit. It was the first time in 16 tries this season that the Red Bull team failed to win the pole.
Hamilton won the top spot with a time of one minute, 35.820 seconds around the 3.49-mile, 18-turn road course. He edged out 2011 World Champion Sebastian Vettel who had started on the pole 12 times this season. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber won the other three times.
Hamilton beat Vettel in the final practice by over half a second, but the margin was just fourth-tenths of a second in Q1. In the last session with the pole victory on the line, Hamilton posted a quick time then improved on it with Vettel still on the track behind him. Vettel tried his best, but fell .222 seconds short of the win.
It was Hamilton’s first pole win since June 2010 at the Canadian Grand Prix though it will be his seventh time on the front row this year. MiamiHerald.com
McLaren will be relieved to have secured their first pole of the season as well as ending Red Bull’s unbroken run at the top that goes back to Abu Dhabi last year, covering 16 races. Hamilton, however, after an incident-strewn season, seemed subdued and unwilling to attach too much significance to his performance.
“I am very happy. But tomorrow is what counts,” he said. “It is probably one of the first positives I have had for a while, so to be back on pole is a great feeling, of course. But tomorrow is the most important day. We had some difficult races in the past, so hopefully I’ll try to redeem myself tomorrow and as long as we can get some strong points for the team as they have worked hard. I hope tomorrow me and Jenson can repay them.” The Guardian
Vettel, who sealed his second world championship in Japan last weekend, said he was happy to have preserved his tyres for the race.
“I think McLaren were very, very competitive yesterday. They were a fair chunk ahead of everybody, including us, but once again we pushed them very hard in qualifying and got close, closer than we expected,” he said.
“Also, we saved all our prime tyres so I think we are in a good position. Tyre wear will be crucial.”
The Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso were fifth and sixth respectively.
Germany’s Nico Rosberg was seventh for Mercedes, ahead of Russian Vitaly Petrov of Renault and the two Force India cars driven by British rookie Paul Di Resta and German Adrian Sutil. Herald Sun
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