Vettel takes pole in Abu Dhabi; ties Mansell's record

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates- R.I.S- Just when many had thought that Lewis Hamilton, who had a very convincing week would take his second pole of the season, Sebastian Vettel recorded a 1:38:481 best lap Saturday night to eclipse the Englishman’s best time to take pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit. For the German, it is his 14th pole of the season, which ties Nigel Mansell’s record set back in 1992. Jenson Button took third.

“After yesterday, I was not happy with the car.” Commented the recently clinched World Champion. “We thought we had still enough performance, but we could not really get to it. This afternoon, it was quite a lot better, but the circuit behaves differently and everything here has to get into one lap.”

Vettel might have taken the pole, but Hamilton was completely dominate in the first two sessions, with times of 1:39:782 and 1:38:434, respectively. One driver who never could get out onto the track at all was veteran Williams pilot Rubens Barrichello, who suffered from engine difficulties.. Despite this problem, the Brazilian should be cleared to race Sunday because he violated the 107 percent rule, but since it was a technical issue, it could be lifted by the marshalls.

“I don’t know, it was just one of those things that happen.” Said Barrichello. “I should not think about that now, because there is still the race tomorrow.” In all the races that the Brazilian has done, this is the worst performance for him in years, with his contract still undecided for next season.

With just under nine minutes to go in the second session, Felipe Massa cut the corner too sharp and hit a track bollard, which tossed it out onto the track. The piece of material caused a red flag, which delayed the session for only less than five minutes, before it resumed once again.

For the final session, Hamilton and Button exchanged leads, but Vettel was the last driver left to finish his lap, and in his traditional mode, the Red Bull driver just edged out Hamilton for his record tying 14th pole of the season, something that got Hamilton disappointed, but the McLaren driver could not do much more.

“It was a bit good couple of days,” he said, “But we were quick. But at the end, it was just about as fast as we could get it”.

Mark Webber led the rest of the grid with fourth, while Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Massa were next in fifth and sixth, respectively. Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher were next in seventh and eighth, while Force India pilots Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta rounded out the top ten.

“I think it is going to be a long race, a fun race.” Said Vettel, looking forward to Sunday “As we have seen, both McLarens are very competitive all weekend and that it what we expect and we have to focus on ourselves and I am looking forward to the race. I am confident and ready.”