“I’m trying not to think much about these things,” Vettel said afterwards.
“I think it is not the right mindset to go into a race thinking about a
higher target than just the race. I’ve done well with that kind of approach
so far so I don’t see any reason to change.”
Vettel’s best lap of one minute 36.338 seconds was set under overcast skies,
with Webber threatening to take his third pole in four races.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean, still chasing his first win, put Lotus third on the
grid with Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg a fine fourth for Sauber.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, a winner in Texas last year for McLaren, will start
fifth alongside Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who hurt his back in Abu Dhabi
and was only given the all-clear to race after a medical on Thursday.
McLaren’s disastrous season continued, however, with Jenson Button missing the
final top 10 shootout. Although the 2009 world champion qualified 13th, he
will start 15th on the grid after various penalties have been meted out.
Paddock gossip this week, when not concerned with the ongoing $140m High Court
action against Formula One’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, has centred
almost exclusively on the driver market for
2014.
McLaren’s decision to jettison Sergio Perez has added a new dimension to
proceedings, with Lotus now weighing up the merits of the Mexican as well as
the sponsor-backed Pastor Maldonado and the quick but impoverished Nico
Hulkenberg.
Until the Enstone team make a decision – which may yet boil down to whether
they can complete a deal with investors Quantum Motorsports – the rest of
the pitlane is likely to watch and wait.
If they can get some new investment then Hulkenberg is the preferred option.
If not then Maldonado, who comes with about £30m of backing from
Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA, is deemed the most likely alternative.
PDVSA president Rafael Ramirez admitted this weekend that Lotus were his
preferred option although it is not yet clear how the PDVSA backing would
work with Lotus’ current sponsors Total, who back Grosjean.
Maldonado caused a major fuss after going out in Q1 on Saturday while team
mate Valtteri Bottas ended the first session top of the timesheets.
Williams were forced to deny that they deliberately sabotaged his qualifying
session after the Venezuelan suggested that someone had tampered with his
car’s temperature and pressure settings.
Asked to clarify his apparent accusation, Maldonado added: “You need to
ask the team, the guys that are working on the car, it is quite clear.”
Williams’ deputy team principal, Claire Williams, refuted the allegation.
“Qualifying is a big adrenaline rush for drivers and so I’m not surprised
by that, people say things after these kind of situations,”
she said. “We will go back and talk to the engineers and find out what happened
but never in Williams’ history would we ever do anything like that.”