UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Vettel takes pole for Red Bull

RB5 class of the field in China

The 2009 season continues to throw up surprises, and qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix proved no exception to the rule.

While the loss of both Force India cars in the first sector was not one of them, the failure of Robert Kubica – in the BMW-Sauber F1.09 – to advance certainly was. The blue and white cars have been all at sea here, and Robert had abandoned the KERS system – as did Ferrari – after running it on Friday. That team mate Nick Heidfeld only just scraped into the second session was little consolation for the beleaguered team.

It was little surprise, too, to see Nelson Piquet’s Renault among the fallers, although to his credit he did not have the benefit of the new diffuser arrangement that had been hastily fitted to team mate Fernando Alonso’s car, and that Sebastien Bourdais failed to make the cut despite team mate Sebastien Buemi’s ability to do so was just another indication of the Swiss rookie’s abundant talent.

The second session saw the true speed emerge, and rather than the up to now dominant Brawn duo, it was the Red Bull pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber who led the pack. The RB5 has looked the business all weekend, and was showing a clean pair of heels to the ‘diffuser gang’ here to the surprise of many.

Ferrari’s woes mirrored those at McLaren, for both of the big two lost a car at this point. The faller for the red camp was Felipe Massa, and at McLaren Heikki Kovalainen. There is a case in point for Kovalainen who had one of his fast laps ruined when a Red Bull backed off in the middle of a corner right in front of him, but neither car is on the pace and that Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both advanced to the knock out stage may have come as something of a surprise.

Timo Glock has had all of Toyota’s problems this weekend, and a new gearbox will see him drop five places, hence the young German finds himself well down the grid, while Nick Heidfeld just failed to make it into the final ten. Kazuki Nakajima was the final runner not to make it any further, the Japanese in the Williams doing his usual trick of showing pace but not when it matters.

So to the final qualifying segment, and the surprise entry here was the impressive Buemi.

This is a good start to the season for the youngster, and further evidence of the qualities of the Red Bull/Toro Rosso chassis.

Buemi will start tenth, after making a mistake on one of his runs, but we can allow him some leeway for inexperience. He will improve, and on these showings has a bright future.

We will deal with Raikkonen and Hamilton first, for they will start eighth and ninth. This is, in truth, about the best either can hope for right now – hard times these are for the main players.

Jarno Trulli, in the Toyota, and Nico Rosberg in the Williams were never in the hunt, and will start in places six and seven, but up front a battle royal was taking place between the two Red Bulls, the Two Brawns, and Fernando Alonso in the Renault!

The latter was a curious addition to the pack, for it cannot be that the bolting on of a new part at the back has made the car a front runner. An advance has clearly been made, but it was still something of a surprise when – in the dying seconds – he stole a front row place. Alonso is, of course, a class act – perhaps the best there is – but suspicion is of a very light R29, something that will be confirmed later on when the weights are published.

Brawn were clearly not on the pace of the Red Bull RB5 here; either that or, as hinted by Christian Horner who talked of an ‘aggressive strategy’, the Red Bulls were running light.

With Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button starting fourth and fifth, then, it was left to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber – and the amazing Alonso – to fight it out.

First the Australian took the pole, but all eyes were on the young German in the other blue car, running not far behind on the track. This was an assured performance by Vettel, for he had little running earlier thanks to a problem with the drive shafts. He left it late, made only one run, and promptly stole pole position from his team mate.

That Vettel pipped Alonso – the Spaniard eclipsing Mark Webber – but two tenths of a second can be taken as an indication of many things, and with Webber a further tenth behind, but only a fraction ahead of the Brawn of Barrichello, those weights will be very interesting indeed.

A first pole position for the Red Bull team, and the second for Vettel, with an intriguing strategy mix in prospect.

Written: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:25:42