Vettel on track for hat-trick in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel may be on course to seal a hat-trick of triumphs at the Yas Marina Circuit in Sunday's Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Grand Prix, but his rivals are ganging up to give the two-time world champion a torrid time in the only Middle East race this season.

The 24-year-old German equalled Briton Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record of 14 poles in a season with a stunning final lap in qualifying to end the dominance of McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button during a troubled weekend for Red Bull.

Vettel could not hide his delight as he screamed “Believe in it, baby, believe in it!” as a crew member said “Good evening Mr Mansell” over the car’s radio.      

The twice winner in Abu Dhabi who was crowned the youngest world champion in last year and retained the title in Suzuka, is also in line to match Formula One legend Michael Schumacher's record of 13 wins in a season if he wins the remaining two races in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

However, he is acutely conscious of the fact that there is a lot at stake despite the championship being decided especially since the battle for second position in still on between Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Spaniard Alonso who has bitter memories of the last season's race in Abu Dhabi where he was favourite to win the world title but finished a disappointing seventh after being held up in the traffic, is all fired up to exact some sort of revenge.

The two-time world champion is hoping to make lightning start from the "clean side of the track" after qualifying fifth for the eighth time this season.

“I will start from the clean side of the track and hope I can make up some places. The first lap is a good window of opportunity. We know we can fight for the podium, but to succeed, we will have to do everything perfectly, beginning with the start and our strategy," said Alonso philosophically.

“We’re more or less where we expected to be - all year long, with a few exceptions, Red Bull and McLaren are stronger than us on Saturday, while on Sunday the situation is usually different, with the gaps between us being much closer,” said Alonso who won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Hoever, Vettel is expecting tough competition in particular from McLaren duo Hamilton and Button.

“When I crossed the line I looked up to the monitor and I couldn’t read the laptime, but the green was good so I was very pleased.”

“It is going to be a long race, a fun race, as we have seen all weekend,” he added.

“McLaren are very competitive on the long runs as well, and they will be very quick in the race.”

Another former world champion Hamilton is more relieved he has qualified well clear of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

The pair has collided six times this season, most recently in India two weeks ago when they were alongside on the grid, but Hamilton qualified his McLaren on the front row at Yas Marina while Massa starts sixth.

“I am ahead of Felipe, so that helps,” the 2008 champion said with a grin when asked whether it would be easier to have a clean race and fight for victory on Sunday. 

He was fastest in two of the three practice sessions and missed out on pole only at the very last to Vettel. 
 
He remains the sole driver outside of Red Bull to have started a race on pole this year, and in Abu Dhabi he earned warm praise from former McLaren team mate and Ferrari foe Fernando Alonso. 

“With racing, a lot of it is mental,” said Hamilton, who spoke earlier in the week of his desire to create a happy ‘bubble’ around him like that enjoyed by team mate Jenson Button. 

“I’m second on the grid now, taken no penalty, which is usually quite a big hit to confidence and we are in a good position tomorrow to move forward,” said Hamilton who revealed that he had spent time with his family since India before flying to the Middle East.

Despite the McLaren pair dominating most of free practice, Button, 31, said he was not surprised to see Vettel on pole again.

“We have seen it before, we’re very quick in practice, we are working through our programme,” said Button.

“It is not about being quickest during the day, it is just the way it happens. We run a different programme, we’ve seen it before and we expect RBR (Red Bull Racing) to be quick.

“We feel we are more competitive and can challenge them in the race more than qualifying.”

Button also suggested that despite the introduction of two DRS zones, it will be difficult to overtake, and believes his best chance of a pass may come through the form of a pit-stop.

He said: “I think it is going to be tough to overtake with DRS, hopefully we will have a different story tomorrow in the race, we will have to see, but the DRS zone does feel short here.

“Yesterday I was using the DRS doing Turn 7 to Turn 8 and still could not overtake anybody.

“Hopefully there will be possibilities. It is a long, long race, with a couple of pitstops that are important to get right.”

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid

1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

2nd row
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)

3rd row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)

4th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)

5th row
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes)

6th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari)
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Lotus-Renault)

7th row
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Bruno Senna (BRA/Lotus-Renault)

8th row
Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari)

9th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Cosworth)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Team Lotus)

10th row
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Team Lotus)
Timo Glock (GER/Virgin-Cosworth)

11th row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Hispania-Cosworth)
Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL/Virgin-Cosworth)

12th row
Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/Hispania-Cosworth)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Williams-Cosworth)
 

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