F1: Vettel Steals Pole In Shanghai

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Steals Pole In Shanghai

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel upset the form guide by taking pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

SPEED Staff | Posted April 18, 2009 Shanghai (CHN)

Vettel took his second career pole position (Getty)

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel upset the form guide by taking pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

The German was quickest in both Q2 and Q3 to give Red Bull their first ever pole position, seven months after he gave the sister Toro Rosso team their first ever pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. He stole the headlines away from Renault's Fernando Alonso, who scored his first front row start of the season in second, albeit 0.197s away from Vettel's pace.

Mark Webber make it a stellar day for Red Bull in third place, beating Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button into fourth and fifth respectively, as Brawn GP failed to show the form expected of them in Q3.

Notable performances came from Lewis Hamilton, who gave Mclaren their first Q3 appearance of the year in ninth, Felipe Massa missing Q3 for the second successive weekend down in 13th, Timo Glock ending qualifying in 14th, prior to taking his five-position penalty for a gearbox change, and the big surprise was Robert Kubica missing the cut in Q1. The Polish driver was quicker only than the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella, in 18th place.

Qualifying Results
1 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault) 1:36.184
2 Fernando Alonso (Renault) +0.197
3 Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault) +0.282
4 Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes) +0.309
5 Jenson Button (Brawn Mercedes) +0.348
6 Jarno Trulli (Toyota) +0.651
7 Nico Rosberg (Williams Toyota) +1.213
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) +1.905
9 Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren Mercedes) +2.411
10 Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso Ferrari) +3.137
11 Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)
12 Heikki Kovalainen (Mclaren Mercedes)
13 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
14 Timo Glock (Toyota)
15 Kazuki Nakajima (Williams Toyota)
16 Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso Ferrari)
17 Nelson Piquet (Renault)
18 Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)
19 Adrian Sutil (Force India Mercedes)
20 Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India Mercedes)

Shanghai International Circuit Wallpaper

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