Hamilton starts from the left side – the dirty side – of the grid on Sunday,
but he has an excellent chance to reach the first corner, a tight
left-hander, in the lead.
He said he was just happy to have kept his nose clean thus far. “To be on
the front row and not having any penalties is a blessing for me,” he
joked of his three-place grid penalty at the last race in India for ignoring
yellow flags.
“The car is feeling good and the race is tomorrow. That’s the most
important day.”
Hamilton has appeared far more at ease with himself this weekend than he has
in recent weeks. Button, who has struggled to find the right balance this
weekend, also declared himself content after posting a lap time just one
hundredth of a second slower than his team mate.
“I’ve been struggling with a nervous rear end and I don’t like that,” he
said, prompting giggles in the press conference. “But we’ve improved
and tried a few different things. It was not a bad lap and, as Lewis said,
the car is working well round here.”
The 2009 world champion will this evening become the first of Hamilton’s team
mates to beat him over the course of a season provided he gives away fewer
than 13 points to his younger rival.
Like Vettel, Button appears to be channelling the spirit of Mansell in Abu
Dhabi; a dash of upper lip fuzz, grown to raise money for the ‘Movember’
charity, has lent him an old-school look.
Not as old-school as McCartney, though. The 69 year-old provides the entertainment
at tonight’s grand prix weekend-closing concert – Abu Dhabi’s
organisers spare no expense in this regard, booking Britney Spears on Friday
night – and said he was hoping to go into the gig celebrating a
British win.
“I’ve only been to the Monaco Grand Prix before,” he said. “Now I see what
George [Harrison] was so passionate about. The adrenalin is fantastic. The
British boys are hopefully going to win tomorrow because we’re in town
vibin’ it up.”
Perhaps Macca will serenade Ecclestone with a special rendition of Taxman
given the F1 chief executive’s testimony in a Munich courtroom this
week that he risked being hit with a £2bn bill had he and his family
trust not paid $44 million to keep a German banker schtum.
Ecclestone was back in his natural environment on Saturday, taking the Crown
Prince of Bahrain on a tour of the paddock in a public show of faith for the
troubled kingdom whose grand prix this year was cancelled due to civil
unrest. “We believe there’s no problem, it’s on the calendar and we
are going to be there [next April],” Ecclestone told reporters.
The Crown Prince added that Bahrain was “safe”. “Just like any other country
that has faced troubles in the past, we will learn and move on,” he said.
Ecclestone did, though, cast doubt on the new race in Austin, Texas, next
November. “Austin? I wouldn’t want to put my money down that that will
happen,” he said.
Leading positions after qualifying:
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 38.481secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:38.622
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:38.631
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:38.858
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:39.058
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:39.695
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:39.773
8 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:40.662
9 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:40.768
10 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India No Time
11 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.874
12 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 1:40.919
13 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.009
14 Bruno Senna (Bra) Renault 1:41.079
15 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.162
16 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.240
17 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:41.760
18 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 1:42.979
19 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 1:43.884
20 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 1:44.515
21 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) HRT-F1 1:44.641
22 Jerome d’Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin Racing 1:44.699
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT-F1 1:45.159
24 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams No Time
Note: Pastor Maldonado receives a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding
the limit of eight engines allowed during the season and therefore will
start from 24th.