Vettel on pole at Silverstone

Red Bull has been looking good at Silverstone, and Sebastian Vettel continued the domination, taking pole for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

Vettel’s time of 1:19.509 bested Rubens Barrichello in the lead Brawn. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber starts third.

The best championship leader Jenson Button would manage was sixth, behind the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima, who put in a last minute stunner to take fifth.

The big losers for the day were Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton. Sutil, who nailed third in Friday’s second session, lost it at Abbey in Q1, resulting in a red flag that ruined Hamilton’s flyer and left him on the outside looking in at the end of the first session.

So, once again, Vettel is in prime position. But he will want to avoid a mistake, because he has two hungry vets on his tail, both looking to take that first big win of the season.

Meanwhile the odds look long for the championship leader. It all adds up to a memorable send off for one of F1’s storied tracks, if this is indeed the end of the road. Bernie told the BBC if Donington’s not ready, “Silverstone will ‘for sure’ host the British Grand Prix next year.”

The grid and pre-race weights

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 666.5 kg
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 657.5
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 659.5
4. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 658
5. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 652.5
6. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 657.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 661.5
8. Timo Glock, Toyota, 660
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 654
10. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 654
11. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 675
12. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 689.5
13. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 695.5
14. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 682.5
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 665.5
16. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 668
17. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 687.5
18. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 692
19. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 666
20. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 672.5

FIA post-qualifying press conference - Great Britain

Qualifying - selected team and driver quotes

Saturday weather update - cloudy but dry at Silverstone

Missed it? Qualifying as it happened (BBC)

---

SpeedRead's on Facebook - Become a fan!

SpeedRead on Facebook

Vettel on pole at Silverstone

Sphere: Related Content