India – Qualifications: Vettel Without Surprise

The Buddh International Circuit, like the Yeongam Circuit in Korea, is used only once for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and the track conditions constantly change during each session. Before the qualifying session, it was Sebastian Vettel who positioned himself as the strong man of the weekend, with the German having recorded the fastest time in all three practice sessions. The question at the start of this qualifying session is therefore who can challenge the double world champion.

Present since the beginning of the weekend, the sun is shining once again. It is 29°C in the air and 38°C on the track.

Q1: The Force India drivers are the first to hit the track. Paul di Resta is also the first to set a time, 1:28.786 for the Scotsman on hard tires. Romain Grosjean makes a small error at the entrance of turn number 10 and decides to abandon his lap.

At the front, the lead position regularly changes hands. Massa completes a lap in 1:27.082. On the next lap, the Brazilian helps his teammate with a slipstream on the long straight of the Buddh circuit. The Spaniard moves to 4th place while Bruno Senna, who was 10th yesterday afternoon and 6th this morning, takes the lead with a time of 1:26.980 but is immediately beaten by Massa with a time of 1:26.939.

Ten minutes before the end of Q1, the Red Bull and McLaren drivers have not yet taken to the track. Lewis Hamilton is the first of the four to go out against the clock, while Maldonado seizes the best time, proving that the FW33 is performing well on this circuit. On his first flying lap, Vettel sets the pace with a 1:26.621. Felipe Massa spins once again this weekend, in turn 15, just before the pit entry.

After an initial missed attempt, Webber secures himself with the third-best time in this first part of the qualification. Behind him, Jean-Eric Vergne, 18th, is back on track with soft tires trying to make it to Q2. The Frenchman has 2 minutes to displace his teammate who is in 17th place. Vergne records the 16th fastest time, putting Paul di Resta in the danger zone, but the Force India driver gives himself some breathing room with the 14th time.

On the wire, Ricciardo sets the 12th fastest time, pushing Vergne out. Charles Pic brings up the rear, 24th, a good second behind his teammate in 21st.

Eliminated in Q1: Vergne, Petrov, Kovalainen, Glock, De La Rosa, Kartikheyan, Pic.

Q2: After a short interruption, the sound of engines roars again, under yellow flag, following Kovalainen’s exit at the end of Q1. Kobayashi is the first to set a time of 1:27.011, immediately beaten by Di Resta and Senna: the Brazilian provisionally occupies the first place.

Vettel continues his domination and sets the fastest time at 1:25.435, ahead of his teammate who is relegated by 3 tenths. Nico Rosberg, in 3rd, concedes 5 tenths to his compatriot with 5 minutes remaining in this second part of qualifying.

This is the moment Jenson Button chooses to leave his pit: the 2009 champion ranks 6th. Paul di Resta also wants to place in the Top 10 and pushes as hard as he can to achieve it, but without success, he remains 12th.

Bruno Senna moves up to 6th position and could thus find himself in Q3 for the second time this season. But the positions are constantly changing. Grosjean gets into the Top 10 while Räikkönen finds himself 13th… but Iceman eventually places 8th. Less luck for Grosjean, who ends up in 11th position, while Button achieves the 2nd fastest time between the two Red Bulls, under the checkered flag of Q2.

Eliminated in Q2: Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Senna, Schumacher, Ricciardo, Di Resta, Kobayashi.

Q3: When the lights go out at the end of the pitlane, Hamilton is the first to attack the Indian track. In this final part of qualifying, it’s the soft tires from Pirelli’s range that are fitted on the cars. Alonso sets a reference time of 1:25.773, while Hamilton misses in his first attempt, as does Vettel who returns to his pit and will therefore have only one attempt to place ahead of everyone. In his second lap, Hamilton clocks 1:26.007. Mark Webber proves that the Red Bull is very strong, 1:25.327 and provisional pole for the Australian.

Jenson Button places 2nd but 4 tenths behind Webber while Vettel enters the battle with a slight lead in the second sector. As he crosses the line, the German improves his teammate’s time by 44 thousandths with a 1:25.283. At Mercedes, Nico Rosberg stays in the garage and will start 10th tomorrow.

Fernando Alonso goes out for one last flying lap to try to get closer to the two Red Bull drivers. But he doesn’t improve, worse, he falls back as Hamilton takes third position ahead of Button. Felipe Massa is 6th ahead of Räikkönen, Pérez, Maldonado, and Rosberg.

2012 Indian Grand Prix Qualifying Results: