Apr.18 (GMM) Red Bull on Saturday secured Red Bull’s first ever pole position in qualifying for the Chinese grand prix.
A jubilant Sebastian Vettel, who last year captured sister team Toro Rosso’s debut pole and win at Monza, played it cool with very few laps throughout the session to beat Fernando Alonso to the front row.
Alonso’s Renault has been fitted with a new ‘double’ diffuser in Shanghai on Saturday, having been flown from the UK in the back of Flavio Briatore’s own jet.
>It is almost certain the Spaniard, who struggled for laps in practice as the device was being fitted, was using low fuel in the Q3 phase.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber is third, ahead of both Brawns, with Australia and Malaysia winner Jenson Button just fifth.
“It’s not quite as good as I expected,” Button told the BBC. Referring to Red Bull’s pace, the Briton added: “They’re competitive. It’s not us driving around slowly or with a lot of fuel.”nnWorld champion Lewis Hamilton said he was happy to be inside the top ten: an achievement not managed by either BMW and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
Toyota’s Timo Glock qualified just fourteenth, and his penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change drops him nearly to the back of the grid.
Chinese GP, qualification
1 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:36.184
2 F. Alonso Renault 1:36.381
3 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.466
4 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:36.493
5 J. Button Brawn GP 1:36.532
6 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.835
7 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.397
8 K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:38.089
9 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:38.595
10 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.321
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:35.975
12 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.032
13 F. Massa Ferrari 1:36.033
14 T. Glock Toyota 1:36.066
15 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.193
16 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.906
17 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:36.908
18 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.966
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:36.669
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:37.672
