United States – Qualifications: Sebastian Vettel Remains in the Saddle

The sky is clear blue above the Austin circuit with 20 degrees in the air and a track temperature of 32 degrees for this qualifying session where Sebastian Vettel, who dominated the three practice sessions, is the clear favorite.

Q1: The HRT drivers are the first to head out in front of well-filled stands. The Spanish cars were more than 7 seconds behind Vettel during FP3. Sergio Pérez also leaves his pit to the delight of the many Mexican fans present at the Texan circuit. It is the last winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen, who sets the first reference time at 1:41.058. His teammate, Romain Grosjean, is also on track and has already opted for medium tires, as has Paul di Resta. The second Lotus driver unsurprisingly moves to the top of the timing sheet with a time of 1:39.078.

After 10 minutes, many drivers have not yet set a timed lap, with only nine cars having a recorded time. At that point, Grosjean is ahead of Massa and Alonso. In the second half of this Q1, things get seriously lively. Grosjean improves with a 1:37.965 while Webber moves into second initially, quickly displaced by Vettel.

It should be noted that 5 minutes before the end, Karthikeyan is not within 107% of Vettel’s best time, on hard tires, set at 1:37.165. Petrov, Kobayashi, and Schumacher are also not qualified, but the German improves and moves up to 12th. Kobayashi also moves into the top 17. Rosberg, in 17th, also goes for another lap with the medium tires provided by Pirelli. The German does not improve due to a yellow flag caused by Karthikeyan’s HRT, and it’s Ricciardo who moves into 17th with only one minute left in this first part of qualifying. On the next lap, Rosberg improves to 17th and will therefore be in Q2, knocking Ricciardo out. Contrary to the concerns expressed by Pedro de la Rosa, both HRTs are qualified.

Eliminated in Q1: Ricciardo, Glock, Pic, Petrov, Kovalainen, De la Rosa, and Karthikeyan.

Q2: At the lights out, Pastor Maldonado is the first to hit the track. However, the Venezuelan only completes an installation lap before heading back to his garage while Räikkönen sets off for a timed lap. The Finnish driver records a time of 1:37.672 on medium tires. Fernando Alonso, on a fast lap, complains of being hindered by Michael Schumacher. The Spaniard is only 9th, but there are still 6 minutes left in this Q2, which is still led by Kimi Räikkönen. However, the Finnish driver’s time is improved by Lewis Hamilton, with the Englishman clocking in at 1:36.795.

Webber and Maldonado slot in between the McLaren and the Lotus while Alonso, in 11th, tries to improve his position without success, dropping to 12th while Vettel sets a 1:35.971. The Spaniard stays on track and continues his efforts, moving up to 4th and can breathe a sigh of relief. Small issue for Jenson Button, in 10th, as he complains of a power loss in his McLaren. The 2009 World Champion returns to the pits and will not rejoin. Michael Schumacher knocks the Briton out of the Top 10 by taking 5th place while Rosberg is only 16th. Strong performance from Massa who places 2nd in the final seconds, before Webber takes this place at the last moment.

Eliminated in Q2: Senna, Button, di Resta, Vergne, Pérez, Kobayashi and Rosberg.

Q3: Only 10 remain for the final part of this 19th qualifying session. At Williams, they are trying to define a strategy for these last ten minutes. Michael Schumacher leads the way, followed by Alonso and Massa. Vettel leaves his pit as his title rival begins his flying lap.

The Ferrari driver clocks a time of 1:42.411 compared to 1:43.786 for Massa, who is second. Romain Grosjean improves the benchmark time to 1:37.227. Webber also improves, clocking 1:36.845 for the Australian, but is outpaced by Hamilton with 1:36.209. However, Vettel is also on a fast lap and is ahead in the second sector. The Red Bull driver extends this lead in the last sector and sets a 1:35.877, three-tenths better than Hamilton. The German won’t be threatened and further improves with a final time of 1:35.657. He leads ahead of Hamilton and Mark Webber, while Fernando Alonso can do no better than the 9th fastest time. He will start 8th due to a five-place penalty imposed on Romain Grosjean for a gearbox change.

2012 United States Grand Prix Qualifying Classification