Sebastien Vettel grabs pole for Malaysian Grand Prix
The qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit near Kuala Lampur started with perfect conditions with a forecast for a sprinkle of rain.
Q1 started with Marussia´s Max Chilton coming out first to rubber the clear track as most teams delayed to preserve tyres for the race stints. Rosberg on the Mercedes set the real quick lap which was overcome only by Sutil on the Force India to top the Q1 session. The Redbulls suffered in the session with Webber managing 9th fastest and Vettel narrowly missing the knockout by just able clock 14th fastest. Knocked out are Vergne, Bottas. Bianchi. Pic, Chilton & Van der Garde
Q2 started dry but started to shower at the mid part of the session counting the times clock by the driver in the first stint. Rosberg was the fastest with Webber and Hamilton close behind while again Vettel narrowly escaped knockout on 9th fastest. Knocked out are Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Gutierrez, di Resta & Maldonado.
Q3 started with all cars shod on intermediates and trying to clock a time as easly as possible fearing further showers. For the first time in the qualifying the Redbulls are challenging for the topspot. As the track started to dry out Rosberg, Sutil and Hamilton touched the top spots one by one while Vettel came in at the final moments to grab the top slot beating Alonso. Massa on the other Ferrari pipped his team mate to take the front row along side Vettel.
Pos |
No |
Driver |
Team |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
1 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull Racing–Renault |
1:37.899 |
1:37.245 |
1:49.674 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
Felipe Massa |
Ferrari |
1:37.712 |
1:36.874 |
1:50.587 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
Fernando Alonso |
Ferrari |
1:37.314 |
1:36.877 |
1:50.727 |
14 |
4 |
10 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
1:37.513 |
1:36.517 |
1:51.699 |
15 |
5 |
2 |
Mark Webber |
Red Bull Racing–Renault |
1:37.619 |
1:36.449 |
1:52.244 |
14 |
6 |
9 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
1:37.239 |
1:36.190 |
1:52.519 |
14 |
7 |
7 |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Lotus–Renault |
1:36.959 |
1:36.640 |
1:52.970 |
12 |
8 |
5 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren–Mercedes |
1:37.487 |
1:37.117 |
1:53.175 |
14 |
9 |
15 |
Adrian Sutil |
Force India–Mercedes |
1:36.809 |
1:36.834 |
1:53.439 |
12 |
10 |
6 |
Sergio Perez |
McLaren–Mercedes |
1:37.702 |
1:37.342 |
1:54.136 |
16 |
11 |
8 |
Romain Grosjean |
Lotus–Renault |
1:37.363 |
1:37.636 |
|
7 |
12 |
11 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Sauber–Ferrari |
1:37.931 |
1:38.125 |
|
12 |
13 |
19 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
STR–Ferrari |
1:37.722 |
1:38.822 |
|
12 |
14 |
12 |
Esteban Gutierrez |
Sauber–Ferrari |
1:37.707 |
1:39.221 |
|
14 |
15 |
14 |
Paul di Resta |
Force India–Mercedes |
1:37.493 |
1:44.509 |
|
10 |
16 |
16 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Williams–Renault |
1:37.867 |
No time |
|
10 |
17 |
18 |
Jean–Eric Vergne |
STR–Ferrari |
1:38.157 |
|
|
8 |
18 |
17 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams–Renault |
1:38.207 |
|
|
7 |
19 |
22 |
Jules Bianchi |
Marussia–Cosworth |
1:38.434 |
|
|
8 |
20 |
20 |
Charles Pic |
Caterham–Renault |
1:39.314 |
|
|
6 |
21 |
23 |
Max Chilton |
Marussia–Cosworth |
1:39.672 |
|
|
8 |
22 |
21 |
Giedo van der Garde |
Caterham–Renault |
1:39.932 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
Q1 107% Time |
|
1:43.585 |