Korean GP – Qualifying: Hamilton Ends Red Bull’s Dominance!

Q1: It’s underway here at Yeongam, with Senna being the first to hit the track for these qualifications, quickly followed by his teammate, Vitaly Petrov. Senna sets the first time at 1:39.951. Petrov takes the lead, improving by more than five-tenths. Improvement from Lewis Hamilton, who clocks in at 1:38.278. Behind him, we find Alonso, Massa, Button, Webber, and Vettel. Rosberg takes the fourth place with only ten minutes left in this Q1. Hamilton continues to improve with 1:37.929. Meanwhile, Barrichello finally exits the pits to attempt a flying lap. He will have to fight with his teammate, Pastor Maldonado, to avoid ending up in the red zone. He doesn’t succeed! Ricciardo hasn’t completed a single flying lap and logically finds himself last, potentially eliminated with the 107% rule.

Eliminated in Q1: Barrichello, Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, and Ricciardo

Q2: The second part of the session begins, but no one leaves. Calm reigns in Yeongam as Paul Di Resta decides, after more than a minute of waiting, to take his Force India out of the garage. Hamilton, Button, and Alonso follow suit. Vettel and Webber as well. Di Resta sets the first time of this Q2 at 1:38.868 but Hamilton smashes it with 1:36.526! Webber takes second position at 1:37.292, but Button does better. It’s ultimately Vettel who moves to second with 1:37.285. Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button, Alonso, Rosberg, Massa, and Petrov, this is the ranking halfway through this second part of the session. Schumacher complains of a vibration, which seems to hinder him, as he is only ninth at the moment. He is alone on the track for now, but does not improve his time on super soft tires. He returns to the pits with only two minutes remaining, clearly in danger. Sutil moves ahead of him as the session theoretically ends, Alguersuari takes the tenth place, and it’s over for Schumacher who will not be in Q3! Finally, Di Resta dislodges Alguersuari and both Force India cars make it into the top 10!

Eliminated in Q2: Alguersuari, Schumacher, Buemi, Kobayashi, Senna, Maldonado, and Pérez

Q3: It’s Nico Rosberg who takes to the track first, he will have a clear track to set an initial time. Behind him, everyone is out on super soft tires. Lewis Hamilton immediately takes the lead with 1:36.130, Vettel falls short by just thirty-thousandths! Behind them, Webber is three-tenths back, Button four-tenths, followed by Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, and Petrov. The Force India cars did not come out for this first series of laps. The second stint kicks off and Hamilton improves with a 1:35.820, Button falls short by three-tenths and Vettel by two-tenths!! Lewis Hamilton secures pole position and ends Red Bull’s incredible streak!

Result of the 2011 South Korean Grand Prix qualifying: