Australian GP: Vettel Sets Pole Position

World champion Vettel to start Sunday's race from pole (Foto: eurosport.com)

Vettel is one step from starting the new season the way he finished the last one. The 23-year-old German has won the qualifying round in Melbourne after stopping the clock at 1:23,529.

Although he came second and fourth respectively in the first two free practices, Vettel left it late to cross the line in both the last practice and the qualifying. Thus, he will start big race, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, from pole position. His team-mate Mark Webber, who came first in the first free practice on Friday, came third.

Said the German: “Although the gap now might appear to be big, it’s a long season and a lot of things can happen. It’s a good position to be in, and I’m very happy with that (but) we need to keep our feet on the ground.” Lewis Hamilton, who came second in the second free practice and third in the third one, has a 0,778 seconds gap, which seems to be a pretty big one, at least apparently.

Vettel’s team-mate Webber came third with a 0,866 gap, while Jenson Button, who arrived first in the second free practice, came home 1,250 seconds later than the German. Former world champion Fernando Alonso had a poor performance, the Spaniard being expected to start fifth tomorrow due to a 1,445 seconds gap.

Another world champion, Michael Schumacher came 11^th, setting a 2,442 gap which scatters the German all the chances for a top spot. Vitaly Petrov, who has had a pretty good end of the season, will start sixth after coming 1,718 seconds behind Vettel. Schumacher’s Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg did a much better job, coming seventh, 1,892 seconds behind Vettel.

Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa has also done a better job than team’s favorite. The Brazilian established a 2,070 seconds gap which puts him eighth tomorrow. Finally, Kamui Kobayashi from Sauber came ninth with a 2,097 gap, while Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bueni will start tenth following a 3,537 seconds gap.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any incident during the qualifying, but, at least Vettel, should be very careful in tomorrow’s race, realizing that he failed to finish last year’s Aussie GP.

Jaime Alguersuari came 12^th with a 2,574 seconds gap, while Kobayashi’s team-mate Sergio Perez set a 2,579 seconds one to start the race 13^th. Team Force India will have Paul di Resta in the 14^th position and Adrian Sutil starting 16^th. Pastor Maldonado came 15^th, while his Williams team-mate Rubens Barrichello will start 17^th. Barrichello was the only one to commit an error, reaching the gravel. Fortunately, he will take part on tomorrow’s race.

Renault’s Nick Heidfeld will start 18^th due to a big gap of 3,710 seconds. Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli came 19^th and 20^th respectively with a 5,725 and 5,813 time. Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio, both from Virgin, will start 21^st and 22^nd, while Hispania’s Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan will start from the last positions.11