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| Photo Credit: Nissan/Infiniti |
Despite the McLaren-Mercedes cars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button dominating of all three practice sessions, the Red Bull Racing front man Sebastian Vettel came to form in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying.
Preserving his Red Bull-Renault through the Q1 and Q2 time trial sessions, Vettel was no higher than third place. Lewis Hamilton led the Formula 1 contenders in the first two qualifying rounds becoming the first driver to break past the 1 minute, 40 second barrier in Q1. Similar to his successful pole run for the Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel apparently allowed the McLaren team to get comfortable with the lead before launching a grid-topping run in the Q3 session. Lapping the 5.554-kilometer Yas Marina Circuit in 1 minute, 38.481 seconds, Sebastian Vettel was roughly 14/100th of a second ahead of Hamilton's McLaren-Mercedes. In post-race, Vettel commented on his qualifying performance saying “I’m pretty pleased. Yesterday I wasn’t very happy with my own performance and with the car and I didn’t feel that comfortable. Today was much better straightaway when we went out this afternoon, but this evening when the sun went down, I had a much better feeling and the car was more together."
With Hamilton placed in second place starting alongside Vettel on the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix front row, Jenson Button was 0.009 seconds slower than his teammate to claim the inside of the second row beside Mark Webber. The third row for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is commanded by the Ferrari team led by Fernando Alonso who held more than 4/10ths of a second over Felipe Massa. Continuing a team domination of grid rows, the Mercedes GP team cars will launch from the fourth row while Force India Formula 1 machines are positioned in the fifth.
While the five teams made up the top-10 starting positions of Sunday's race on the Yas Marina Circuit, other teams deeper in the field fought hard with little to show for qualifying work. The Williams Formula 1 team had a heartbreaking, dismal time trial period for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After having engine problems relating in the first Friday practice session, Rubens Barrichello was unable to plug in a timed lap due to an oil leak from his car. Barrichello will start 23rd but has actually gained a grid position on teammate Pastor Maldonado. While Maldonado made his way to 16th in the qualifying session, the Williams driver was penalized by the Formula 1 stewards for exceeding the season limit of 8 engines. With his 9th Cosworth powerplant, Pastor Maldonado will start last for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Running at 5pm local time at the Yas Marina Circuit, the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and second to last event on this season's Formula 1 tour will start at 8am Eastern time.
2011 Formula 1
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Starting Grid
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren
4 Jenson Button McLaren
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
14 Adrian Sutil Force India
13 15 Paul di Resta Force India
17 Sergio Perez Sauber
10 Vitaly Petrov Lotus Renault GP
18 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso
9 Bruno Senna Lotus Renault GP
19 Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso
16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber
21 Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus
20 Jarno Trulli Team Lotus
24 Timo Glock Marussia Virgin Racing
22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT F1
25 Jérôme D’Ambrosio Marussia Virgin Racing
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1
11 Rubens Barrichello Williams F1
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams F1
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