South Korea – Qualifications: Webber surprises Vettel!

There are five rounds left before the end of the season, and the mini-championship that Fernando Alonso talks about really begins in South Korea, with this sixteenth qualifying session of the season.

Q1: Heikki Kovalainen is the first to start on a track at 28°C, while the air temperature is 23°C, and on soft tires: with 1:42.028, he sets the first time of this session. The Finn is quickly overtaken by Pastor Maldonado with 1:39.716. All the drivers are on track, except for the Red Bulls, with 13 minutes remaining. Alonso takes the opportunity to temporarily place himself at the top of the timesheet with 1:39.543. During this lap, Narain Karthikeyan suffers a brake failure at the end of the second straight, avoiding a collision with the competitor in front of him: « I have no brakes » he reports to his pit.

With ten minutes remaining in Q1, Massa takes the lead but Räikkönen surpasses him with a time of 1:38.887. The other Lotus driver, Romain Grosjean, is unable to get a clear lap. It is worth noting that neither the Red Bulls, nor Hamilton, nor Schumacher have set a decent time. The 2008 world champion and the seven-time world champion quietly reposition themselves in the top 10. Vettel shatters Räikkönen’s time with a 1:38.208. Button closes in to within four-tenths of the Red Bull driver.

With less than two minutes remaining, some major drivers come back out because the mid-range teams’ drivers are putting on the super soft tires. Alonso and Schumacher are notably forced to come back out. Lewis Hamilton stays in the pits, even though he is in a delicate situation. The British driver is lucky as he takes the seventeenth position. Alonso is only sixteenth on his end, at the cost of a last lap on super softs, and Maldonado fifteenth.

Eliminated in Q1: Senna, Petrov, Kovalainen, Pic, Glock, De la Rosa, and Karthikeyan.

Q2: Pérez opens the ball for this second part of the session. The Mexican clocks 1:38.981 on super-soft tires, but is overtaken by his teammate who does better by four-tenths. Vettel and Webber are already on track this time: the Australian takes the lead with 1:38.220, briefly reclaimed by Alonso, before Vettel puts everyone in agreement with 1:37.767. Hamilton takes the provisional third place halfway through Q2.

Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Grosjean, Button, Räikkönen, Kobayashi, and Di Resta are the provisional top ten as we enter the second half of this part of the session. Schumacher takes seventh place, less than seven-tenths behind Vettel. Rosberg, Pérez, and Maldonado are struggling in the elimination zone.

All the drivers come out for one last lap. All except Vettel. Hülkenberg and Rosberg rank in the top 10, which is a surprise because Button is only eleventh! Ricciardo was forced to abandon his Toro Rosso on the side, due to a problem, which could cause trouble for Kimi Räikkönen, who seems to have improved under the yellow flag caused by the Australian.

Eliminated in Q2: Button, Pérez, Kobayashi, Di Resta, Maldonado, Ricciardo, and Vergne.

Q3: Rosberg is the first to go, followed by the nine other drivers, which is very unusual in Q3. All drivers are on super soft tires. Alonso clocks in at 1:37.667, temporarily taking the lead. Vettel improves by three-tenths immediately after. Hamilton, on the other hand, made a small error and is only in fifth place, behind Webber and Massa. Before the second round of laps, it’s worth noting that the Mercedes and Nico Hülkenberg have not completed a timed lap after all.

As the checkered flag is waved, Webber sets a time of 1:37.242, edging out Vettel by mere thousandths to take pole position! Hamilton and Alonso faltered in the final sector. It is the 11th pole of the Australian’s career and the 44th for the Red Bull team!

2012 Korean Grand Prix Qualifying Standings: