German world champion Sebastian Vettel secured his fifth pole position of the season on Saturday in Monaco in a qualifying session that was interrupted late on.
Vettel lapped the twisty street circuit almost half a second faster than McLaren’s Jenson Button, who claimed second place. Mark Webber, Vettel’s team mate at Red Bull, will start the Monaco Grand Prix third, ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Michael Schuamcher of Mercedes GP.
Vettel’s closest title challenger Lewis Hamilton starts seventh on the grid. Deutsche Welle
“It is a long race always here, a bit of a casino,” said Vettel. “Seventy-eight laps is a long race and as we have seen grands prix this year with multiple pit stops that could change in the last minutes. But one thing that remains unchanged is that pole position is very important here. All eyes are on tomorrow’s race and we have to push hard - so we will see what we can do.
“All in all I am very happy with qualifying, starting on the clean side, so it couldn’t be any better.”
The qualifying session was stopped with just over two minutes remaining when Sauber’s Sergio Perez had a huge accident. Perez has no major injuries but was concussed and will stay in hospital overnight. ESPN
With Perez racing in the third session for the first time this season, the Mexican lost control of his car as he was about to come out of the tunnel. The front slid over to the right and slammed into the tunnel barrier, spinning the car round and sending it into a tire wall on the circuit.
Button had a similar tunnel crash in 2003.
“I know how much it hurts, so hopefully he’ll be OK,” Button said.
A medical crew rushed to the car, and a giant blanket was immediately draped over it. After a few minutes the battered car was lifted off the track after Perez had been taken away for treatment. His injuries were not immediately known.
Sauber team official Hanspeter Brack told reporters: “Sergio was conscious and he has been talking. He is now being brought to the hospital and we will have to wait for further information.” The Associated Press
Felipe Massa took the sixth spot in his Ferrari, while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg from Mercedes and Williams’ Pastor Maldonado were seventh through ninth, respectively.
Hamilton led the way in Q1 and Q2, but faltered in the last stint.
Perez was credited with 10th. His status for the 78-lap Monaco race is unknown at this time.
During the opening minutes of final practice, Rosberg also crashed in the same location where Perez’s incident took place.
That area of the circuit has been known for serious accidents in the past.
“In terms of safety, it’s probably an area where we need to look at and improve for the future,” Webber said. MiamiHerald.com
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