Saturday: Vettel surpasses Clark, Red Bull locks out the front row
By securing his thirty-fourth career pole position, Sebastian Vettel dislodges the great Jim Clark—longtime record holder for the number of pole positions—and Alain Prost from the third spot on the podium of drivers with the most pole positions in Formula One. The German outpaces Mark Webber, thereby enabling Red Bull to lock out the front row.
Sebastian Vettel – 1st and Pole Position
« With the yellow flag coming out later, it was good to set the time during the first stint. The car’s balance was phenomenal. We only needed one stint per session, which doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s very pleasing here when the car runs as you want, especially with low fuel and fresh tires.
It’s very special. Last night, I wasn’t very happy because I was losing time in the first sector, but I found my mistake and today, in free practice, it went smoothly. I don’t know why it’s only this year that I’m discovering this mistake, but it shows that we never stop learning.
Tomorrow will be interesting! It’s tough with the tires here, so we need to work to stay where we are.
Mark Webber – 2nd and 2nd:
« It was a rather solid session. We knew it was going to be intense in Q3, but this circuit, with low fuel and new tires, is something else. I was quite happy with my first attempt, aside from the hairpin [where he slightly missed his braking, ed.], but Sebastian had those few tenths and I think in all fairness it was a competitive lap from him.
In the end, we were both competitive in qualifying and that puts us in a good position for tomorrow. All the hard work done at the factory is paying off. That said, the most important day is tomorrow, that’s when we earn points.
