It was unsurprisingly Sebastian Vettel who scored pole position in Abu Dhabi today going into tomorrow’s championship decider. He will start alongside Lewis Hamilton on the front row, with both drivers needing to win the race to keep their championship hopes alive. Fernando Alonso will start 3rd and is very much in pole position to win the championship. Read on to find out what happened earlier on today, session-by-session:
Q1
It was a tight battle between the title contenders for the fastest Q1 time, so much so you’d think it was Q3 with them trading times at the top. It was Fernando Alonso who set the fastest time in the first part of qualifying; a 1:40.170.
Toro Rosso really struggled in Q1, being the only midfield team without an F-duct – something which is crucial on the long straights at the Yas Marina circuit. In their in-house battle it was the younger driver of the youngest pairing on the grid who won, with Jaime Alguersuari just scraping through, but Sebastien Buemi going out.
Buemi will join the new teams at the back of the grid, with the Lotus cars out-qualifying the Virgins, with HRT bringing up the rear. Bruno Senna will start ahead of Hispania teammate Christian Klien for the first time this season.
Q2
It was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel back on top in Q2, setting the only time of the session in the 1:39s. He was ahead of Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg as a tantalising Q3 was in prospect.
Lewis Hamilton left it late – into the last minute of the session in fact before he secured his Q3 slot, after locking up at one corner and almost coming to blows with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa at another! In the end he put in an impressive lap to cruise through.
Prior to the start of this session there had been three drivers who had made it through into the final part of qualifying all year, however Robert Kubica who was alongside the Red Bull drivers on this rather impressive list fell at the final hurdle, only managing 11th place.
He joined the two Saubers, the two Force Indias, Nico Hulkenberg and Jaime Alguersuari in the drop zone at the end of the 20 minute session.
Q3
The sun may have set but the racing action was hotting up in Q3, which would decide the crucial pole position and possibly the championship ahead of tomorrow’s race. Surprise, surprise it was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who put the RB6 on pole position, ahead of Lewis Hamilton by three tenths, with Fernando Alonso in 3rd.
Mark Webber could only manage 5th behind Jenson Button, leaving Christian Horner and Adrian Newey looking rather dejected on the pit wall after the session, despite pole position. Fernando Alonso is now certain favourite to take the championship – if the race finishes as it will start tomorrow, the Spaniard would collect his third world title on his debut season with Ferrari.
However as we know, anything could happen. With the McLaren drivers so far up the grid, who knows? In the words of Murray Walker:
“Anything can happen in Formula 1, and it usually does”
Timesheet
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian | Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:40.318 | 01:39.874 | 01:39.394 | 17 |
| 2 | 2 | Lewis | Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:40.335 | 01:40.119 | 01:39.425 | 19 |
| 3 | 8 | Fernando | Alonso | Ferrari | 01:40.170 | 01:40.311 | 01:39.792 | 21 |
| 4 | 1 | Jenson | Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:40.877 | 01:40.014 | 01:39.823 | 23 |
| 5 | 6 | Mark | Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:40.690 | 01:40.074 | 01:39.925 | 20 |
| 6 | 7 | Felipe | Massa | Ferrari | 01:40.942 | 01:40.323 | 01:40.202 | 19 |
| 7 | 9 | Rubens | Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 01:40.904 | 01:40.476 | 01:40.203 | 26 |
| 8 | 3 | Michael | Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 01:41.222 | 01:40.452 | 01:40.516 | 20 |
| 9 | 4 | Nico | Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 01:40.231 | 01:40.060 | 01:40.589 | 25 |
| 10 | 12 | Vitaly | Petrov | Renault | 01:41.018 | 01:40.658 | 01:40.901 | 21 |
| 11 | 11 | Robert | Kubica | Renault | 01:41.336 | 01:40.780 | 13 | |
| 12 | 23 | Kamui | Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:41.045 | 01:40.783 | 14 | |
| 13 | 14 | Adrian | Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 01:41.473 | 01:40.914 | 18 | |
| 14 | 22 | Nick | Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:41.409 | 01:41.113 | 17 | |
| 15 | 10 | Nico | Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 01:41.015 | 01:41.418 | 18 | |
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio | Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 01:41.681 | 01:41.642 | 18 | |
| 17 | 17 | Jaime | Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 01:41.707 | 01:41.738 | 18 | |
| 18 | 16 | Sebastien | Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 01:41.824 | 11 | ||
| 19 | 18 | Jarno | Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:43.516 | 11 | ||
| 20 | 19 | Heikki | Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:43.712 | 11 | ||
| 21 | 24 | Timo | Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:44.095 | 10 | ||
| 22 | 25 | Lucas | di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:44.510 | 9 | ||
| 23 | 21 | Bruno | Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 01:45.085 | 10 | ||
| 24 | 20 | Christian | Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 01:45.296 | 10 |
Photos (C) Red Bull/LAT, Renault/LAT
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Great choice of pictures. The 2 best looking F1 cars and the best looking helmet
Why thank you Mr B
Very bad for Webber. He is in that midfield & the thing I am very worried is that that run down to turn 1 is not that long so the driver in front will brake earlier & he runs in a danger of been hit by someone from behind.Before the qualifying I was thinking that no one could win the title on Saturday but can loose it,Webber just did it.
I am happy that Hamilton didn’t get any punishment for that incident though it was scary for any camera man! It was his fault or the team’s as they should have told him about the track situation.Vettel did what he can do but to get pole, I think Alonso will settle with third but the battle between him
& Hamilton will be interesting to watch at the start of the race.
My heart is biting very fast since last night not sure why, seems like I am more tense than the F1 drivers.I think what Alonso will do is to sir behind Hamilton & Vettel & watch them fight for the lead as needs to win maximum,cruse to 3rd & win the title.Webber is in very very bad situation he might be having a sleepless night.Alonso shouldn’t have trouble he just needs to stay out of trouble & finish on the podium,Ferrari needs Massa to back him up.Yesterday before the qualifying I was telling that it will be a miracle if Hamilton wins the title but for now it will be a miracle if Webber wins it.