Race 4 - Shanghai - Chinese GP - Qualifying Results

Qualifying - Vettel leads a Red Bull one-two




A dramatic Q3 qualifying session saw Red Bull’s Mark Webber snatch pole position from Sebastian Vettel, only to have his team mate snatch it back at the very last second, as Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg pushed ahead of the hitherto dominant McLarens.

In the end Vettel’s 1m 34.558s lap clinched things, with Webber left to be content with second place on 1m 34.806s. Alonso was right in there with 1m 34.913s for Ferrari, while Rosberg jumped up at the last moment with 1m 34.923s.

Jenson Button also went ahead of McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton, who had set the pace for most of the weekend. The 2009 world champion lapped in 1m 34.979s compared to the 2008 title-holder’s 1m 35.034s.

Behind the top six, Felipe Massa was seventh on 1m 35.180s in the second Ferrari from Renault’s Robert Kubica on 1m 35.364s, while Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher’s 1m 35.646s just pipped Adrian Sutil’s 1m 35.963s for Force India at the very end.

As Hamilton had continued to set the pace in Q2 with 1m 34.928s, Schumacher had a scare as his 1m 35.715s was only just enough to earn 10th place and keep Rubens Barrichello at bay after the Brazilian took his Williams round in 1m 35.748s.

Behind them, Jaime Alguersuari continued to outpace Toro Rosso partner Sebastien Buemi, with 1m 36.047s to 1m 36.149s. Vitaly Petrov recovered from his Saturday morning shunt to take 14th place for Renault with 1m 36.311s, then came the BMW Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa which sandwiched Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams. Respectively they lapped in 1m 36.422s, 1m 36.647s and 1m 37.020s.

Q1 also saw Hamilton set the pace with 1m 35.641s and first weeded out Vitantonio Liuzzi in the second Force India, which still had handling problems as the Italian could not better 1m 37.161s. Then Timo Glock again aced the Lotuses, lapping his Virgin in 1m 39.278s to beat Jarno Trulli (1m 39.399s), Heikki Kovalainen (who spun in Turn Six early on, and then recorded 1m 39.520s), and Lucas di Grassi in the second VR-01 on 1m 39.783s.

Bruno Senna turned the tables on HRT team mate Karun Chandhok, as they lapped in 1m 40.469s and 1m 40.578s respectively. Chandhok will receive a five-place penalty for non-regulation gearbox work on his car on Friday.


Standings:

Pos Driver Team
01 S Vettel (GER) ( Red Bull )
02 M Webber (AUS) ( Red Bull )
03 F Alonso (ESP) ( Ferrari )
04 N Rosberg (GER) ( Mercedes )
05 J Button (GBR) ( McLaren )
06 LC Hamilton (GBR) ( McLaren )
07 F Massa (BRA) ( Ferrari )
08 R Kubica (POL) ( Renault )
09 M Schumacher (GER) ( Mercedes )
10 A Sutil (GER) ( Force India )
11 RG Barrichello (BRA) ( Williams )
12 J Alguersuari (ESP) ( Toro Rosso )
13 S Buemi (SUI) ( Toro Rosso )
14 V Petrov (RUS) ( Renault )
15 K Kobayashi (JPN) ( BMW Sauber )
16 N Hülkenberg (GER) ( Williams )
17 PM de la Rosa (ESP) ( BMW Sauber )
18 V Liuzzi (ITA) ( Force India )
19 T Glock (GER) ( Virgin )
20 J Trulli (ITA) ( Lotus )
21 H Kovalainen (FIN) ( Lotus )
22 L di Grassi (BRA) ( Virgin )
23 B Senna (BRA) ( HRT F1 )
24 K Chandhok (IND) ( HRT F1 )