Abu Dhabi GP – Qualification: Indomitable Vettel!

Q1: Here we go in this penultimate qualifying session of the 2011 season. It’s a Lotus Renault GP that kicks things off with Bruno Senna making a mistake right at the beginning of his first flying lap. After three minutes, still no times but practically everyone is on track, with only the two McLarens and the two Brazilians, Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello, missing; the Williams driver had some technical issues this morning.

The first, not very significant, time is set by Senna, but he is quickly outpaced by the Toro Rossos of Alguersuari and Buemi. Di Resta takes the lead very temporarily, but Webber clocks in at 1:41.816 and puts himself safely ahead. Alonso, Hamilton, and Vettel join the fray: the world champion sets a time of 1:41.268 and tops the timesheets, quickly overtaken by his teammate who improves by three-tenths. Hamilton soon reminds Red Bull of his presence, taking the lead with a time of 1:40.661.

With ten minutes left in Q1, Schumacher still hasn’t set a decent time, and Barrichello is still in the pits. The seven-time world champion posts a 1:42.605, putting him in ninth while Webber and Hamilton briefly trade the lead, with the Englishman remaining the provisional leader at 1:39.782. At the back, the six drivers from the modest teams are in the red zone, one second behind Pastor Maldonado, the last qualified. Barrichello is still stuck in the pits.

The drivers of the leading teams, on the other hand, stay warm and leave the field open for the other drivers, allowing Buemi to slip into eighth position and Di Resta to move into the top 5. Michael Schumacher, with only one minute left, is just 3 tenths of a second ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, the first driver in the red zone. He still manages well, despite being a victim of a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) issue.

Eliminated in Q1: Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, Ricciardo, D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, and Barrichello.

Q2: The two Toro Rosso cars are already on track in this second part of the qualifying. Alguersuari will unlock the stopwatches. But it is from the big sister that we need to look for the first significant time: 1:38.516 for Vettel. But he is quickly surpassed by Hamilton, who improves by nearly a tenth. The red flag is waved, not for an accident, but because the bollard used to mark the inside of one of the chicanes came loose and could pose a potential danger to the wheels and wings of the drivers. Once it’s changed, the session resumes with 9 minutes and 15 seconds remaining. Felipe Massa has rushed out of the pits, he is alone on track: the Brazilian is currently 6th, 1.7 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg joins the circuit in turn as he has not yet set a time, unlike the other Mercedes driver, Schumacher, who has the 7th provisional time.

With six minutes left in Q2, the Force India cars have yet to set a flying lap, just like Maldonado. Rosberg currently sits in sixth place with a time of 1:39.420. The top four drivers, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, and Button, still haven’t returned to the track after the interruption. Webber takes advantage to slot into third position. Schumacher is in tenth place, behind Sutil and Di Resta, and is thus at risk from improvements by the Saubers and Toro Rosso cars as everyone enters the final minute.

The last qualifying spot will be contested between Pérez, Petrov, and Schumacher: the Russian fails and the Mexican doesn’t do better, so “Mister Eleven” will see Q3.

Eliminated in Q2: Pérez, Petrov, Buemi, Senna, Alguersuari, Kobayashi, and Maldonado.

Q3: It is Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton who open the track for this last part of qualifying, in the Abu Dhabi night, under artificial lights and the crackling of flashes. With the exception of Schumacher, Sutil, and Di Resta, everyone is on the track. Hamilton clocks 1:38.704 and Vettel 1:38.746. The two men are separated by a breath before the final salvo! Behind them, Webber, Button, Alonso, and Massa have posted times. The Mercedes and Force India will attempt to qualify on a lap.

Last lap launched in this qualifying session for the championship leaders. Vettel is, as usual, the last to start. Button improves by 73 thousandths but Hamilton takes back the best time by 9 thousandths. Only Vettel can do better! And he does! He clocks in at 1:38.481 and achieves the fourteenth pole position of the season, equaling the record held by Nigel Mansell since 1992!

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying Standings: