“It’s a weird feeling to stand in the garage with two minutes to go,”
said Vettel, who had made the call himself after his race engineer Guillaume
Rocquelin asked him if he wanted another run.
“It’s much worse when you watch the others and there’s nothing you can
do. I was watching the sectors times closely. Mark [Webber] started with a
purple sector and Nico [Rosberg] and Romain [Grosjean] then had a purple
sector, but fortunately my last sector was strong enough.
“It was a great feeing, I’m very happy with the result. The car has been
phenomenal all weekend.”
Vettel has won his last two races from pole and is likely to do so again, on
the tight confines of a street circuit, providing he makes a good start.
Already leading the championship by 53 points from Ferrari’s
Fernando Alonso, another win for the German would likely represent a
decisive blow, particularly if the Spaniard has a poor race.
Alonso could only qualify seventh fastest, behind his team-mate Felipe Massa
for the second race running, and admitted afterwards that he was “struggling
for pace”.
He said: “We were not competitive in any session. But in a way it’s nothing
new from some other weekends. Qualifying struggling a little bit, Sunday
improving things, and in the end getting close to the podium or on the
podium.”
Alonso’s skirmish with Massa at the start will be one of several interesting
sub-plots on race day. The Brazilian has already declared that with his
Ferrari contract not being renewed he is no longer “racing for Alonso”.
At Monza two weekends ago, the Brazilian obligingly made way for his team-mate
in the early part of the race but he may not be so happy to do so on Sunday
as he tries to impress Lotus.
A number of other drivers will be similarly anxious to impress the Enstone
team. Force India’s Paul di Resta, for example.
Linked with Ferrari and McLaren
last year, the Scot would love a move to Lotus but his miserable run of form
continued on Saturday as he exited in Q1 for the fifth time in eight races,
albeit he was sent to the back of the grid at Silverstone due to a weight
issue after qualifying fifth.
“We’re not quick enough as a team,” Di Resta said. “We simply haven’t got the
speed.” That is patently true, although his team-mate Adrian Sutil managed
to squeeze through to Q2, almost two tenths quicker.
Romain Grosjean, hoping to stay on as a Lotus driver next year, did not fluff
his lines. The Frenchman produced a brilliant lap to take third on the grid,
his display made to look even better as team-mate Kimi Raikkonen – who
nearly pulled out of qualifying with a sore back – qualified 13th fastest.
Former world champion Damon Hill, commentating on Sky Sports, speculated that
Ferrari-bound Raikkonen was perhaps giving Lotus “value for money” with the
Finn waiting to be paid an estimated £12.5 million in salary and bonuses.
Elsewhere, Sergio Pérez will be sweating on his McLaren future after going out in Q2 again. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted this weekend
the Mexican was on thin ice, although Whitmarsh also said that he does not
expect a change to his driver line-up for next season.
Such intrigue aside, this was an entirely predictable session. If the rest of
Singapore’s spectacular race weekend follows the script, it may well be
lights out in the championship.
Final grid positions:
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 42.841secs
2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:42.932
3 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:43.058
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:43.152
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:43.254
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:43.890
7 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:43.938
8 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:44.282
9 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:44.439
10 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari No Time
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:44.555
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:44.588
13 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:44.658
14 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:44.752
15 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:45.185
16 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:45.388
17 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:46.121
18 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:46.619
19 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1:48.111
20 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 1:48.320
21 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:48.830
22 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:48.930
(Edited by Giles Mole)