Vettel takes pole, Webber surprised to be 4th
There was nothing but optimism with Red Bull after today's qualifying session as Sebastian Vettel took pole position in a dominant manner. Mark Webber was slightly in trouble throughout the entire session but in the end was still happy to be up in 4th pace.
Sebastian Vettel, Position: POLE POSITION, (3rd Practice – P1, 1:14.442):
“We were clear about the car today and able to improve step by step in qualifying. I’m very happy with the result and the laps at the end of qualifying, as we were able to improve each time. It puts us in a great place, but nevertheless tomorrow is more important. We put ourselves in a good position, eight metres ahead of Lewis and then we go from there. It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow, so it’s important to get a good start and see what we can do. A lot of things can happen.”
Mark Webber, Position: 4th, (3rd Practice – P4, 1:14.724):
“I’m surprised I’m in fourth – it wasn’t the smoothest session, so I’m actually quite surprised to be there. I wasn’t super happy with the last few runs in terms of confidence in the car and that means you don’t get the most out of yourself, so fourth is okay. It’s a long race and we’re up there. Seb did a very good lap. The car’s good here and the weather should be good tomorrow for the race.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal:
“A strong team performance today. Sebastian looked really competitive throughout qualifying, going quickest on his first run in Q3 and improving slightly on his second run to take pole position for tomorrow. Mark also had a strong qualifying and will line up on the second row of the grid, we had a small issue with a tyre blanket on his last run, but nonetheless he did an excellent job and to be starting on pole and the second row is a great for tomorrow’s grand prix.”
Cyril Dumont, Renault:
“What a lap from Sebastian today, it was very solid. Mark was a bit behind, but I think he will be up there tomorrow also. It’s good how the team has reacted to the start of the season and got the pole today. Engine-wise, we know there are many straights on this circuit so it works the engine a lot. There is also the hairpin which is difficult as it has a low RPM; it’s not that easy but we managed it quite well and we got this result.”
