Even a fifth-place finish will hand Red Bull driver the world championship title today in Greater Noida
Sebastian Vettel swept to an imperious pole position in qualifying for today’s Indian GP, giving himself the best possible chance of claiming a hat-trick of wins on Indian soil and keeping him comfortably on course to clinch his fourth-straight world title.
Sebastian Vettel celebrates after finishing first in qualifying for the Indian GP at Buddh International Circuit on Saturday
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Vettel set a blistering time of 1:24.119 which was nearly a second quicker than the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton who completed the top three.u00a0But the pace of the two Silver Arrows cars was flattered by Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, who qualified fourth, running the harder medium tyres in the final part of qualifying.
With drivers required to start the race on the same compound on which they set their fastest lap in the final part of qualifying, Webber could gain a strategic edge in the race as his harder tyres could allow him to run longer in the first stint and help him leapfrog the Mercedes.u00a0“The car worked, basically, very, very well, since yesterday morning,” Vettel said after qualifying.
“We didn’t have to change a lot and through qualifying I think it just got better when the track ramped up. The car was amazing. It’s a great circuit. I really like the flow of the track especially around the middle sector with all the high speed corners”u00a0Behind the top four, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was in fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso who will also start the race on medium compound tyres.u00a0The two McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.u00a0
Sebastian Vettel celebrates his 2012 Indian GP win. Pics/Gettyu00a0Images
Sebastian’s domination in India
Vettel’s pole in India continues his dominant run of form around the Buddh International Circuit.u00a0The German has won both the races India has hosted so far and has led every single lap around the 5.1 kilometer track located on the outskirts of India’s capital New Delhi.u00a0
Vettel has also topped every session here going all the way back to third practice ahead of the inaugural race in 2011 and this weekend the Indian track, one of Vettel’s most rewarding circuits, looks more than likely to set the stage for the German to become the first driver in the history of the sport to clinch his first four titles in succession.u00a0Vettel arrives in India with a 90-point-lead over Alonso and with just three races to go after Sunday’s race, needs to leave the sub-continent with a 75-point margin.
Vettel on the verge
What this means is that all Vettel needs to clinch his fourth straight title is a fifth-place finish in the race, while if Alonso finishes lower than second, Vettel can afford to score no points at all.u00a0But as usual, the soon-to-be quadruple world champion played down all the fuss surrounding the title. “I’m trying not to think about it. Obviously it’s difficult when every second person in the paddock asks you the same question.
“But I think we’ve done pretty well in the past focussing on every single step and I don’t see a reason to change things for tomorrow or the next couple of races.u00a0“Yeah, we’re in a good position. We worked hard to be there, and tomorrow is a long race. As I touched on with strategy, I think it will be tricky to always do the right thing but there’s a lot of laps. I think we have a quick package so we should be in good shape tomorrow,” he said.u00a0
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