Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber made good strides towards finishing the season on a high by locking down the first row during qualifying of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On his way to the front row, Vettel grabbed his record 15th pole position of the season. His performance allowed him to edge in front of Britain's Nigel Mansell, with whom he previously shared the record for the number of pole in a season.
Webber did better than his 2011-usual to take second spot beside the German. He could not join him however in the 1min11sec – the best lap he recorded being a 1min12,099sec. Nico Rosberg also surprised during qualifying. He posted the second fastest lap of Q2, only shy of the world champion.
In Q3 he bested not only his team-mate Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) but also local boy Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Still, Schumacher will be a man to watch come the race. He did not record any lap in Q3, but this only means he has the freedom to pick which rubber he starts on.
Massa, despite his two home wins at Interlagos, will have to prove his mettle once more, since younger local boy Bruno Senna is on the up. The Renault driver did remarkably well to end the session ninth. He did better than expected and better than his team-mate Vitaly Petrov as well. The Russian is only 15th.
And the timing could not be better for Senna. As the season winds to an end, he must impress if he is to remain with the team next year. The third – and oldest – Brazilian on the grid, Rubens Barrichello missed out on the top 10, but came out on top of Williams team-mate Pastor Maldonado.
Jenson Button's (McLaren) great season continued as he once more out-qualified Lewis Hamilton. May be Button handles the bumpy layout better than Hamilton. At least the rough track was the only difficulty the grid had to deal with, as the rain held off.
At the back of the grid, Jérôme d'Ambrosio earned some value back. He is set to be replaced by Frenchman Charles Pic next year but still out-pace team-mate Timo Glock in qualifying, albeit by only 41 hundreds of a second.
Qualifying results – Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)
On his way to the front row, Vettel grabbed his record 15th pole position of the season. His performance allowed him to edge in front of Britain's Nigel Mansell, with whom he previously shared the record for the number of pole in a season.
Webber did better than his 2011-usual to take second spot beside the German. He could not join him however in the 1min11sec – the best lap he recorded being a 1min12,099sec. Nico Rosberg also surprised during qualifying. He posted the second fastest lap of Q2, only shy of the world champion.
In Q3 he bested not only his team-mate Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) but also local boy Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Still, Schumacher will be a man to watch come the race. He did not record any lap in Q3, but this only means he has the freedom to pick which rubber he starts on.
Massa, despite his two home wins at Interlagos, will have to prove his mettle once more, since younger local boy Bruno Senna is on the up. The Renault driver did remarkably well to end the session ninth. He did better than expected and better than his team-mate Vitaly Petrov as well. The Russian is only 15th.
And the timing could not be better for Senna. As the season winds to an end, he must impress if he is to remain with the team next year. The third – and oldest – Brazilian on the grid, Rubens Barrichello missed out on the top 10, but came out on top of Williams team-mate Pastor Maldonado.
Jenson Button's (McLaren) great season continued as he once more out-qualified Lewis Hamilton. May be Button handles the bumpy layout better than Hamilton. At least the rough track was the only difficulty the grid had to deal with, as the rain held off.
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| Solid performance from Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Photo: WRi2) |
At the back of the grid, Jérôme d'Ambrosio earned some value back. He is set to be replaced by Frenchman Charles Pic next year but still out-pace team-mate Timo Glock in qualifying, albeit by only 41 hundreds of a second.
Qualifying results – Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – 1'11"918
- Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 1'12"099
- Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'12"283
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) - 1'12"480
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) - 1'12"591
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1'13"050
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) - 1'13"068
- Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'13"298
- Bruno Senna (Renault R31) - 1'13"761
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W02) - no time
- Paul di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1'13"584
- Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'13"801
- Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'13"804
- Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1'13"919
- Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1'14"053
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'14"129
- Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1'14"182
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1'14"625
- Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'15"068
- Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 1'15"358
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'16"631
- Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 1'16"890
- Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'17"019
- Timo Glock (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 1'17"060