AUSTIN (Texas), Nov 17: Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel produced a dramatic last-gasp surge in the dying seconds to snatch pole position for pole position at the US Grand Prix on Saturday.In a tense qualifying session run in windy conditions, the 26-year-old German, who clinched his fourth successive driver’s title in India last month, clocked a best lap of one minute and 36.338 seconds to outpace nearest rival and team-mate, Australian Mark Webber by 0.103 seconds at the Circuit of the Americas.
“Shake and bake!” the German and his crew shouted to each other, a humorous and quite American nod to the fictional NASCAR movie Talladega Nights.
Webber appeared set to earn his third pole position in the last four races until Vettel’s speedy last lap pushed the Australian into second.
Webber, who is leaving F1 after this season to drive in the world endurance championship, was clearly frustrated by his drop.
“At some point you’re happy to be in the front row,” Webber said. “It slipped through the fingers. It’s not satisfying when you do that.”
It was the fifth time this year that Red Bull had locked out the front row of the grid and a perfect 40th birthday present for team boss Christian Horner.
“It was a tricky session as the wind picked up quite a lot from this morning,” said Vettel. “It’s not that easy round the high-speed corners.
“I was not happy with my first run, but I think I had a solid run at the end which was enough to put the car on pole.
“It was a good battle with Mark, he has got closer and closer as the weekend has gone on.”
Frenchman Romain Grosjean, still chasing his first win, put Lotus third on the grid — but seven tenths slower than Webber — with Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg a fine fourth for Sauber.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, a winner in Texas last year for McLaren, will start fifth alongside Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who hurt his back in Abu Dhabi and was only given the all-clear to race after a medical on Thursday.
Mexican Sergio Perez was seventh for McLaren ahead of two Finns, Heikki Kovalainen for Lotus and Valtteri Bottas of Williams with another Mexican Esteban Gutierrez taking 10th in the second Sauber.
Gutierrez was later demoted 10 places on the grid after being accused of blocking Williams driver Pastor Maldonado.
Kovalainen shone again as he did on Friday after stepping in as a late replacement for fellow-Finn Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen, who has undergone back surgery and will not race again this season.McLaren’s season of suffering continued, with 2009 world champion Jenson Button missing the final cut.
Although the Briton qualified 13th, he will start even further back on the grid after being handed a three place penalty for passing under a red flag during Friday’s opening practice session.
Qualifying results:
- Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 1:36.338; 2. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 1:36.441; 3. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus-Renault 1:37.155; 4. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.296; 5. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:37.345; 6. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1:37.376; 7. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 1:37.452; 8. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus-Renault 1:37.715; 9. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Renault 1:37.836; 10. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.034; 11. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.131; 12. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India-Mercedes 1:38.139; 13. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:38.217; 14. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:38.364; 15. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:38.592; 16. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.696; 17. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 1:39.250; 18. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams-Renault 1:39.351; 19. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham-Renault 1:40.491; 20. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia-Cosworth 1:40.528; 21. Charles Pic (France) Caterham-Renault 1:40.596; 22. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia-Cosworth 1:41.401.
Starting grid:
- Vettel, 2. Webber, 3. Grosjean, 4. Huelkenberg, 5. Hamilton, 6. Alonso, 7. Perez, 8. Kovalainen, 9. Bottas, 10. Gutierrez, 11. Ricciardo, 12. Di Resta, 13. Rosberg, 14. Massa, 15. Vergne, 16. Button, 17. Sutil, 18. Maldonado, 19. van der Garde, 20. Bianchi, 21. Chilton, 22. Pic.—Agencies
