Vettel Takes 11th Pole in Singapore

SINGAPORE- Even a night drive on Saturday in hot conditions, along with a tight track with no runoff, did not deter Sebastian Vettel from winning his 11th pole of the season with a time of 1:44:381 ahead of teammate Mark Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button for the following evening’s Grand Prix of Singapore.

“The last run I tried too much around turn 10,” stated an exhausted Vettel. “And I was quite happy with my lap but I am happy here, and it is difficult. But we learned a lot from last year’s qualifying, and let see, because it will be a very long race.”

Vettel dominated every qualifying session, setting the opening two sessions with times of 1:44:397 and 1:44:931, respectively. The warm night did not have many incidents, except in the second session with 9:31 left in the round when Sauber’s Kamui Kobyaschi lost control of his car coming out of the turn 10 chicane and ran into the wall, causing a five minute stoppage on the track for debris cleanup. Renault had a poor time on the Marina Bay circuit when Bruno Senna bumped out his teammate Vitaly Petrov in the opening phase, while Paul Di Resta just beat Sergio Perez’s time to advance to the final session.

The track itself has three and a half miles of tight corners and with the race time predicted just less than two hours, some drivers were just glad to finish well, including Webber and Button.

“Pretty happy it is quite a test really, and  it  is very challenging for us, and a great result.” Said Webber

Button was in agreement also.

“For me the lap was good, but it is very difficult here and very tricky. And I am pleased to be in the top three.”

For the rest of the top ten, the field is lined up with teammates right next to one another, with Lewis Hamilton lining up next to Button in fourth, while Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa next in fifth and sixth in their Ferrari’s. Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished seventh and eighth in the Mercedes, while Adrian Sutil and Di Retsa closed out the top grid in ninth and tenth, respectively.

Vettel’s pole gives him only four more to break Nigel Mansall’s 1982 record, but the German is not worried about that.

“ I have a lot of respect for that record, but I am not worried about that,” said Vettel afterwards.

Although the pole record might not be bothersome, the idea is that the defending world champion could clinch his second title if certain things go his way Sunday night.