Malaysian GP: Qualifications – Vettel on pole, Hamilton closing in

Free Practice 3 showed the domination of Red Bull and McLaren, so the qualifying session promised to be a top battle between these four drivers.

Liuzzi is the first to take to the track during Q1, quickly followed by Jerome d’Ambrosio and Paul di Resta. At the start of the session, only Liuzzi’s HRT is on soft tires. Most drivers are on hard tires, while Jaime Alguersuari uses soft tires on his Toro Rosso. After only eight minutes of a session that sees Hamilton, Vettel, and Alguersuari leading, Sebastien Buemi watches as the piece of bodywork covering his left pontoon flies off his car, causing a red flag while race marshals clear the track of Toro Rosso debris!

At the restart, the two Team Lotus drivers are the first to return to the track, setting the seventh and ninth fastest times, while the two Ferrari drivers take the lead positions using soft tires, joined by Kobayashi and the two Lotus Renault drivers. A few minutes before the end of the session, the two Mercedes drivers are eliminated and switch to soft tires! These two drivers climb back up the rankings, ousting the Team Lotus drivers and Maldonado’s Williams.

Eliminated in Q1: Maldonado, Kova, Trulli, Glock, D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, and Karthikeyan

The two Toro Rosso drivers are the first to start during Q2, followed by Hamilton who takes the first place while the two Red Bulls use soft tires, and set the fastest times of the weekend, with a time under 1’36 for Sebastian Vettel, surpassed by Jenson Button in 1’35’569. We see the difference with Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes, which is relegated to 1.5 seconds behind, hindered by openings on the sidepods designed to help with the car’s cooling, challenged in Malaysia. The two Lotus Renault drivers, meanwhile, come out at the end of the session to set their times. Both drivers qualify in 4th and 5th place, ahead of the Ferraris before Alonso overtakes them. Hamilton, meanwhile, sets the second-fastest time, knocking Rosberg out of Q3 with one minute to go! But Rosberg then sets a very good time and knocks his teammate out of the top 10, while Kobayashi qualifies between Heidfeld and Petrov.

Eliminated in Q2: Schumacher, Buemi, Alguersuari, Di Resta, Barrichello, Perez, and Sutil

Lewis Hamilton is the first to hit the track in Q3, with a McLaren that seems at top level and there’s no doubt both McLaren drivers are aiming for pole! Both are battling, and Lewis Hamilton sets a time of 1’35’000, three-tenths ahead of his teammate. Mark Webber takes second place before Sebastian Vettel claims it, one-tenth behind the 2008 world champion. The four drivers make two attempts, while the others will do only one lap! With two minutes remaining, all drivers hit the track. Hamilton improves his time as Sebastian Vettel completes a magnificent lap in 1’34’870 to win pole, a very small tenth ahead of Lewis Hamilton. This is a change from the Australian race, which saw nearly a second gap between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull Renault and McLaren drivers are battling for the lead of the race, while Ferrari and Lotus Renault are fighting to be the best of the rest. Who will make the most out of this qualifying session? Find out tomorrow during the race!

Results of the 2011 Malaysian GP Qualifying: