Vettel bags Monza poleposted in F110 | 09 | 2011
RED BULL maintained its 100% record of securing pole position in 2011 when Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. Bathgate's Paul di Resta, racing at Monza for the first time, missed out on a top 10 slot by just six-thousandths of a second.
"That was though unfortunate," the 25-year-old Scot (pictured today), who nice again outqualified his more experienced Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil, said afterwards.
"In qualifying you're looking for a slipstream; you're looking for the perfect opportunity to do that, and finding a faster car is hard.
"We didn't get one in Q2, but we did a good lap, in fact both my lap times were exactly the same — lap one and three — and in the end I missed getting into the top 10 by just six-thousandths of a second.
"I hear that (Bruno) Senna, who pipped me, got a little slipstream off Lewis (Hamilton) on an in-lap, but with hindsight, it maybe actually puts us in a stronger position for tomorrow in terms of tyre choice. It certainly means I'll be able to start on a fresh set of options.
See more photos of Paul in qualifying at Monza
"Being in 11th certainly frees us up a bit to make decisions, and we're on the clean side of the track for the start, which is good.
"It's been a difficult weekend, but we made a change this morning which has transformed the car for me. That change was based on long-run performance and it also improved our single-lap performance, so it was a win-win situation."
Vettel meanwhile breezed through the first two segments of qualifying, comfortably setting the best time in Q2, and ended Q3 0.450s ahead of Hamilton's McLaren His team-mate Jenson Button starts third alongside the lead Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.
And Vettel, who bagged his 10t pole position of the season, such has been his dominance — he starts tomorrow's race leading the championship by 92 points — admitted he was surprised by how easy it was.
"We thought it would be much closer than that," Vettel admitted. "I had a bit of an improvement in the first run for my second lap. We weren't sure whether the tyres worked best in the first or second lap, but I did a bit of a mistake and we stayed out and focused on the last run only.
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"I know we had a bit more time in the car, I had one or two cars down the road, which always helps at Monza but surely we would not think of going for pole by that big margin today on a track that did not suit us.
"This year the car is very good here, the balance is perfect even though for most of the people we don't carry much wing around, so it is very slippery. We are quick in all three sectors, so I am happy today. We think we have quite a racy approach so very pleased."
Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber lines up fifth, next to Felipe Massa's Ferrari, with the final four places filled by the two Renaults of Vilay Petrov and Senn in seventh and 10th; and the two Mercedes of eighth-placed Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Italian Grand Prix, Monza (Qualifying):
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault — 1m22.275s;
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes — 1m22.725s +0.450;
3. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes — 1m22.777s +0.502;
4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari — 1m22.841s +0.566;
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault — 1m22.972s +0.697;
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari — 1m23.188s +0.913;
7. Vitaly Petrov, Renault — 1m23.530s +1.255;
8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes — 1m23.777s +1.502;
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes — 1m24.477s +2.202;
10. Bruno Senna, Renault — No time;
Q2 cut-off time: 1m24.157s Gap **
11. Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes — 1m24.163s +1.249;
12. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes — 1m24.209s +1.295;
13. Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth — 1m24.648s +1.734;
14. Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth — 1m24.726s +1.812;
15. Sergio Perez, Sauber-Ferrari — 1m24.845s +1.931;
16. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari — 1m24.932s +2.018;
17. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari — 1m25.065s +2.151;
Q1 cut-off time: 1m25.164s Gap *
18. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari — 1m25.334s +1.358;
19. Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Renault — 1m26.647s +2.671;
20. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault — 1m27.184s +3.208;
21. Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth — 1m27.591s +3.615;
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth — 1m27.609s +3.633;
23. Daniel Ricciardo, HRT-Cosworth — 1m28.054s +4.078;
24. Tonio Liuzzi, HRT-Cosworth — 1m28.231s +4.255.
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Jim McGill