Abu Dhabi – Qualification: Webber shuts down Vettel!

The sun sets over the United Arab Emirates. The Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi hosts the antepenultimate qualifying session of the 2013 F1 season. It will be contested with an air temperature of 32°C and 36°C on the track, but it will decrease throughout the session.

Q1: Paul di Resta (Force India) is the first driver to take to the track as soon as the green light is on. After two minutes, everyone is on the track except for the two Red Bulls and the two Ferraris. Sebastian Vettel is still out of his car, listening to music at the back of the garage. Most drivers are on medium tires. Jean-Eric Vergne sets the first significant time with 1:43.442, but Nico Rosberg immediately improves by nine-tenths to take the lead. His teammate is just six thousandths behind.

There’s a mix-up between Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus). Hamilton requests a helmet change as his visor is too dark for him. The Ferraris are finally out on track, however, twelve minutes from the end, the Red Bulls are not on the circuit. Rosberg improves again with 1:42.279. As for Button and Grosjean, the wheels lock up during some heavy braking: while the Englishman manages to rank third behind the Silver Arrows, the Franco-Swiss returns to the pits; he is only 17th with eight minutes remaining in this Q1.

The Red Bulls finally emerge from their den on soft tires, unlike their competitors, who are almost all on medium tires. Hamilton provisionally ranks at the top of the timing sheet with 1:42.231. But the Red Bulls significantly improve with the soft tires: Webber leads Vettel with 1:41.568. As a result, the other drivers also switch to soft tires to push for Q2. Räikkönen then takes first place with 1:41.276, Grosjean follows in second by less than two tenths while Vettel and Webber calmly return to the garage.

Improvements galore in the last minute: Massa takes the lead, Alonso takes third place. The track improved significantly at the end of Q1. Ultimately, it’s Hamilton who finishes at the top of the timesheet, 5 tenths ahead of the Brazilian. Sutil was caught off guard and does not advance to Q2.

Eliminated in Q1: Gutierrez, Sutil, Van der Garde, Bianchi, Pic, and Chilton.

Q2: Once again, it’s Di Resta who is the first to go out. Clearly, most of the drivers are on soft tires, but it’s still to be seen whether they are worn or not. Performances improve on the track, with engines running better as the air cools down. Hülkenberg takes the lead with a 1:41.147, but Räikkönen then improves by less than two-tenths. The Mercedes drivers are battling each other, with Rosberg taking the lead, four-thousandths ahead of Hamilton. Vettel sets a time three-tenths behind the Stuttgart team’s cars.

At mid-Q2, Alonso is still in the danger zone, just like Button, Di Resta, Ricciardo, and the two Williams. Rosberg’s Mercedes had to undergo weighing during the session, and the mechanics are bringing it back. With less than five minutes remaining, only Grosjean and Di Resta are on the Yas Marina track: 5th place for the Frenchman and 7th position for the Scotsman.

Alonso will have to qualify in one lap: he is the only top driver in trouble as the checkered flag comes down, but many drivers are improving. However, the Ferrari Spaniard fails to do better than Massa, and he is therefore eliminated in this Q2.

Eliminated in Q2: Alonso, Di Resta, Button, Vergne, Maldonado, and Bottas.

Q3: Hülkenberg opens the ball as the night has almost completely fallen on the Yas Marina circuit. Obviously, everyone heads out on softs: only Massa is still in the pits after two minutes of Q3. The Sauber driver records a 1:41.379, but Hamilton does better, immediately overtaken by Rosberg. But Vettel comes back with a vengeance, clocking 1:40.091! Räikkönen is fourth, ahead of Webber and Grosjean, the latter falling a second short of Red Bull No. 1. Ricciardo, Pérez, and Massa have not set a time in this first run.

Webber takes the provisional pole with 1:39.957 and Vettel falls short by a tenth! At the same time, Rosberg secures third place while Hamilton, in fourth, made a mistake and is stranded off track, with no apparent damage. Räikkönen is fifth while Grosjean, seventh, never seemed able to do better, especially in the first sector where he is 3 to 5 tenths slower than his competitors.

Mark Webber thus secures the 13th pole position of his career – equaling the record for the number of pole positions for an Australian driver, previously held by Jack Brabham. He will start ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2013 Qualifying Standings: