India – Qualification: Vettel demolishes the competition!

It is under a usual but less significant mist than this morning that the qualifying session for the sixteenth Grand Prix of the 2013 season will take place at the Buddh Circuit near New Delhi, India. The track temperature is 38°C and the air temperature is 31°C.

Q1: As during FP3, it’s Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) who is the first to head out. He sets the first time of the session at 1:27.529. Most of the drivers are on track after six minutes of Q1, except for the two Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso, and Romain Grosjean. Meanwhile, the Mercedes take the lead, with Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton at 1:26.622. The Mercedes driver, after losing his position to Sergio Pérez (McLaren), regains it immediately with a time of 1:26.252.

Mid-session, all the drivers who have gone out have set a time. Rosberg leads Räikkönen, Pérez, Hülkenberg, and Button. Grosjean (on mediums) and Alonso (on softs) finally go out. Gutierrez is the first driver to fit the soft (yellow) tires: he logically sets the best time with 1:26.057. Sebastian Vettel joins the track as well, followed by Mark Webber a few minutes later.

Alonso sets the best time at 1:25.934 on soft tires, just a tenth ahead of Gutierrez. Vettel falls short by a few thousandths of a second to the Spaniard, but on medium tires. Webber, on the other hand, is on soft tires and is 12 thousandths behind his teammate. Grosjean gradually improves his times on medium tires, despite some errors in his fast lap: he is seemingly betting on not switching to soft tires. His teammate, however, takes the lead with a time of 1:25.819 on soft tires. Hamilton then takes the lead with 1:25.802, but Ricciardo and then Webber surpass him.

At the back, it’s chaos for Grosjean who cannot set a proper time on mediums. He remains stuck in Q1, overtaken at the last moment by Massa! Among the small teams, Jules Bianchi is ahead of the Caterhams.

**Eliminated in Q1:** Grosjean, Maldonado, Bianchi, Van der Garde, Pic, and Chilton.

Q2: Räikkönen is first on track. The Finn sets the initial time, but Alonso quickly surpasses it with a time of 1:25.546. All drivers are on soft tires, obviously. The Mercedes improve their times, and Rosberg takes the lead with a 1:25.337, a little more than a tenth ahead of Hamilton. Button slots in between the two men.

As often, Vettel and Webber go out at different times. Only one driver has not yet taken to the track: Esteban Gutierrez. The Australian sets the fastest time despite going far too wide in the fast section, but the reigning triple world champion does better by five-tenths. Alonso, for his part, is three-tenths behind Vettel, taking the provisional second position, ahead of Webber and Räikkönen.

Behind, at the checkered flag, Button narrowly escapes from Ricciardo. Both McLarens reach Q3. Gutierrez doesn’t even manage to improve his Q1 time and will start 16th.

Eliminated in Q2: Ricciardo, Di Resta, Sutil, Vergne, Bottas, and Gutierrez.

Q3: Webber is the first on track, followed by Alonso. Both men are on medium tires. Vettel comes out on softs. The Spaniard is on the attack and sets a time of 1:25.826. It’s the first benchmark time, but the German obviously surpasses it: 1:24.119. Webber falls short by a second with this time on medium tires, but the Australian still leads Alonso by seven-tenths.

No one else has set a time yet. Räikkönen sets off with three minutes remaining, on soft tires. He finishes 1.1 seconds behind Vettel but, more importantly, he is third, a tenth behind Webber, who has medium tires. The Mercedes cars take their turn on soft tires: Rosberg temporarily takes second place, seven-tenths behind Vettel. Hamilton makes a big slide in the last corner and sets the third fastest time.

Webber secures fourth place on softs, two-tenths behind Rosberg. Alonso, on mediums, is only eighth on the grid, preceded by Massa who is fourth.

Sebastian Vettel thus secures the 7th pole position of the season, the 43rd of his career. He will start in front of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber, in fourth, is the first driver to start on medium tires.

2013 Indian Grand Prix Qualifying Standings: