Vettel on pole in Ozposted in F126 | 03 | 2011
FORMULA ONE world champ Sebastian Vettel (pictured) got the defence of his title off to a stunning start when he delivered a masterful display in qualifying for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix.
The German seared round the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne to demolish the opposition. The Red Bull racer grabbed his first pole position of the year, a whopping 0.778secs ahead of the surprise package of the session, Lewis Hamilton's McLaren.
Vettal's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber lines up in third place alongside the second McLaren on Jenson Button. The third row of the grid is filled by Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and the Renault of Viatly Petrov, while the top 10 is completed by Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and the Toro-Rosso of Sebastien Buemi.
Scotland's Paul di Resta, taking part in his first Formula One qualifying session, posted the 14th-fastest time and will start Sunday's race two places ahead of his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil.
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Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne — Qualifying times:
1. Sebastian Vettel: Red Bull-Renault, 1m23.529s;
2. Lewis Hamilton: McLaren-Mercedes, 1m24.307s +0.778s;
3. Mark Webber: Red Bull-Renault, 1m24.395s +0.866s;
4. Jenson Button: McLaren-Mercedes, 1m24.779s +1.250s;
5. Fernando Alonso: Ferrari, 1m24.974s +1.445s;
6. Vitaly Petrov: Renault, 1m25.247s +1.718s;
7. Nico Rosberg: Mercedes, 1m25.421s +1.892s;
8. Felipe Massa: Ferrari, 1m25.599s +2.070s;
9. Kamui Kobayashi: Sauber-Ferrari, 1m25.626s +2.097s;
10. Sebastien Buemi: Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1m27.066s +3.537s.
Q2 cut-off time: 1m25.882s
11. Michael Schumacher: Mercedes, 1m25.971s;
12. Jaime Alguersuari: Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1m26.103s;
13. Sergio Perez: Sauber-Ferrari, 1m26.108s;
14. Paul di Resta: Force India-Mercedes, 1m26.739s;
15. Pastor Maldonado: Williams-Cosworth, 1m26.768s;
16. Adrian Sutil: Force India-Mercedes, 1m31.407s;
17. Rubens Barrichello: Williams-Cosworth.
Q3 cut-off time: 1m27.222s
18. Nick Heidfeld: Renault , 1m27.239s;
19. Heikki Kovalainen: Lotus-Renault, 1m29.254s;
20. Jarno Trulli: Lotus-Renault, 1m29.342s;
21. Timo Glock: Virgin-Cosworth, 1m29.858s;
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio: Virgin-Cosworth, 1m30.822s;
23. Tonio Liuzzi: HRT-Cosworth, 1m32.978s.
24. Narain Karthikeyan: HRT-Cosworth, 1m34.293s.
(107% time: 1m31.266s)
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Jim McGill
Photo: Getty Images