Pirelli: Sebastian Vettel equals Juan Manuel Fangio

Sebastian Vettel broke another record by securing his fourteenth pole position of the season at the Yas Marina circuit. Held since the 1992 season, Mansell’s record is now matched by Vettel, thanks to his time of 1:38.481. A time much faster than his 1:39.394 which earned him pole last year.

The top drivers used the white-walled medium compound during the first phase of qualifying and qualified for Q2. The yellow-walled soft tire, about 1.2 seconds faster per lap, was then fitted for the remainder of the session.

The McLarens were dominant during yesterday’s practice sessions and this morning. Lewis Hamilton once again set the fastest time in Free Practice 3 with a lap of 1:38.976 on soft tires. This time was set in much warmer track conditions than during the qualifying, which started at 5 p.m. local time, as the sun began to set. The session was briefly interrupted due to a broken bollard marking the apex of a corner, with debris removed before Q2.

Nico Rosberg was the only driver to go out with medium tires in Q3. Completing only one lap, he will start from seventh place on the grid tomorrow. Force India driver Paul di Resta did not set a time and will be free to choose his tires at the start of the race. Vettel’s last lap on soft tires marked his fourteenth pole position of the season, the twenty-ninth of his career. This equals the achievements of the sports legend Juan Manuel Fangio. A victory tomorrow would allow Vettel to still aim to match Michael Schumacher’s record for the number of wins in a season.

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: « We have undoubtedly witnessed the closest battle of the year for pole position today. It was clear from the free practice sessions that the fight would be very tight between McLaren and Red Bull Racing, and indeed it was, with both teams making particularly good use of the soft tires. Lewis Hamilton’s time in Q2 would have been enough for pole if it had been achieved in Q3. A great prospect for tomorrow’s race. From what we’ve observed so far, tire degradation is not a big issue here in Abu Dhabi, and drivers should be able to push and focus on on-track battles. It’s interesting to see that our lap times here are on average 2.2 seconds faster than those in the Abu Dhabi tests last November. This demonstrates just how phenomenal the pace of development in F1 is ».

[From the official Pirelli press release]