Indian GP – Qualifying: Pole for Vettel, Wall for Massa

Whatever happens, changes will occur between qualifying and the starting grid. Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have each received a 3-place grid penalty, and Vitaly Petrov as well as Daniel Ricciardo have a 5-place penalty, due to the collision in South Korea and for a gearbox change.

Q1: The two Lotus drivers are the first to set off, quickly followed by half of the drivers. Dust is still present on the track, leaving only a real trajectory for the drivers at the risk of losing grip, and it’s Bruno Senna who sets the best time at first before being overtaken by Vitaly Petrov, then Fernando Alonso. Many drivers are on hard tires, which are almost 2 seconds slower than the softs according to Pirelli.

Sebastian Vettel then sets the fastest time ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa midway through the session, while Michael Schumacher completely goes wide in the last corner. The two Sauber drivers set off a bit later directly on soft tires and are quickly joined by the midfield drivers, with Michael Schumacher even in 18th position while Timo Glock is outside the 107% time, but his car seems to have a problem. Vitaly Petrov sets the fastest time on soft tires and Jenson Button goes back out on soft tires to set the 3rd fastest time, both eliminating Kamui Kobayashi.

Eliminated from Q1: Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Trulli, Ricciardo, Karthikeyan, d’Ambrosio, Glock

Q2: The two Lotus Renault GP drivers are the first to hit the track, following Vitaly Petrov’s best time in Q1. Sebastian Vettel uses the soft tires during this session; it seems the time difference between the two tire compounds forces everyone to use them. Jaime Alguersuari sets a reference time of 1:26:668, and the double world champion improves this time by more than two seconds, raising the bar even higher than during the free practice 3. Just behind, Mark Webber is six tenths adrift. Jenson Button finishes a few thousandths behind the Australian, while Lewis Hamilton slots between the Red Bull drivers. Further down the standings, a good battle seems to be brewing between the Toro Rosso drivers, both in the top 10 with 5 minutes remaining, and the Lotus Renault drivers.

At the very end of the session, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez finally come out, and the Sahara Force India driver pushes Bruno Senna back to 16th position, while Jaime Alguersuari pushes Michael Schumacher down a place. Sutil also enters the top 10 in eighth place, pushing Michael Schumacher to 11th place. The Toro Rosso drivers are on the edge as Vitaly Petrov sets the same time as Jaime Alguersuari to the closest thousandth. The advantage goes to the Spaniard who set his time earlier. Michael Schumacher falls in Q2 after missing his final timed lap, which pushes him to 12th place. The German will start from 11th place, given that Vitaly Petrov, who set the 11th fastest time, is under a 5-place penalty for colliding with the Mercedes driver in South Korea.

Eliminated from Q2: Petrov, Schumacher, di Resta, Maldonado, Senna, Barrichello, Perez

Q3: Lewis Hamilton and the two Ferrari drivers are the first to head out for the super-pole. Fernando Alonso sets the first fastest time at 1:24.586, before Sebastian Vettel takes the lead by 149 thousandths. Lewis Hamilton then secures the second fastest time ahead of Mark Webber. The top three drivers are within 71 thousandths. The 5 drivers who hadn’t started go out at mid-session while the leaders change tires. Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button set a timed lap while Adrian Sutil and the two Toro Rosso drivers go out, but without posting any time.

In the last run, Sebastian Vettel sets the best second and third sectors to clock a time of 1:24:178, while Felipe Massa takes a heavy hit. The Ferrari driver went a bit too far over a curb and his wheel simply detached from its support, sending him straight into the wall. Mark Webber qualifies in 3rd place, giving Red Bull the front row considering Lewis Hamilton’s penalty. Fernando Alonso beats Jenson Button for the fourth fastest time.

It’s another pole for Sebastian Vettel, with almost 3 tenths of a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber.

Results of the 2011 Indian Grand Prix qualifying: