Vettel Grabs F1 Pole in One Lap Showstopper

Round eight of the 2012 Formula 1 has officially begun with qualifying today, and Sebastian Vettel made it worth watching. While him teammate was knocked out in the first session, and the Ferraris went down in Q2, Vettel did one lap in Q3 that was four tenths faster than anyone else on track.  

Like Monaco, Valencia emphasizes good qualifying because it is nearly impossible to pass during the race. Think of it has a faster, less historic Monaco.

Timo Glock did not qualify due to the stomach flu. If he is not feeling well tomorrow, he may not race as well. That meant that the slowest six drivers in Q1 were eliminated, instead of the usual seven. 

Schumacher set a fast time in Q1 with about 10:30 minutes left with a 1:39.5 lap, but about a minute later Lewis Hamilton crushed his time with a 1:39.1. Then, basically out of nowhere with just a few minutes left, the Force India cars jumped to the top. Paul di Resta did a 1:38.8, and Hulkenberg did a 1:39.0. The fastest car of Q1 qualifying was Pastor Maldonado. Mark Webber was unable to find a good setup and was knocked out in the first round. Webber says that his DRS was not working, and that caused him to qualify so poorly. 

Maldonado was still fastest at the beginning of the second session with a 139:9, but he dropped down quickly. Rosberg took the lead with a 1:38.5. Rosberg's opening time stood through nearly the entire session. The big news was the Force India cars again doing extremely well Paul di Resta in third. With no time left in the session, Romain Grosjean set a 1:38.4 giving him provisional pole. Both Ferraris and Michael Schumacher were knocked out in the session. A little more than two tenths of a second separated the top 10 cars in Q2. 

In the first round of laps in Q3 Rosberg continued to lead with a 1:38.623. Most teams conserved tires, and Rosberg, Button, Hamilton and Raikkonen did laps early in the session. No one else did laps until there was four minutes left in the session. Grosjean was the first of the other six drivers to go out. He had the track completely to himself. He became pole leader with a 1:38.505. With less than a minute to go, the other five drivers had not qualified. Maldonado went to the top with a 1:38.475, but Vettel was on a flying lap setting the fastest first and second sector times. He took the pole with a 1:38.086. Hamilton came around seconds later and took second place with a 1:38.41. Vettel's lap was the fastest by four tenths of a second, and he did it with a single flying lap. 

Vettel and Hamilton are the only two-time pole sitters this year. In terms of the championship, Lewis Hamilton has 88 points, just two ahead of Fernando Alonso and three ahead of Sebastian Vettel.