ABU DHABI: A happy and supremely-dominant Lewis Hamilton crushed all his rivals yesterday as he set up a Red Bull party-wrecking race in today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by taking his sixth pole position of the season.
The 27-year-old Briton was simply untouchable as he steered his car to the fastest time in all three parts of the session, finishing with an outstanding best time of one minute and 40.630 seconds.
His dazzling display ended Red Bull’s run of three consecutive races in which they dominated qualifying and produced front row lockouts.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has been disqualified from qualifying and will start from the back of the field.
The title leader, who had qualified third, did not have enough fuel in his car for a fuel sample to be taken.
Vettel stopped his car out on the track on his way back to the pits at the end of the session, as Hamilton had done in Spain in May.
It promotes his title rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari to sixth on the grid.
Vettel heads into the race with a 13-point lead over the Spaniard after winning the last four races.
The decision gives Alonso a golden opportunity to make up some of the ground he has lost in the championship following a major step forward in performance made by Red Bull since the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of September.
When Hamilton started at the back at the Spanish Grand Prix, after qualifying on pole by more than half a second, he made it back up to eighth by the end of the race.
Hamilton starts from pole position, ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Williams’s Pastor Maldonado will start third, ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Alonso.
The F1 rules require the car to return to the pits with at least one litre of fuel on board - running less fuel gives a performance advantage.
The rule - article 6.6.2 of the technical regulations - dictates that cars must make their way back to the pits under their own power but says that exceptions may be made in cases of force majeure.
Yesterday, Hamilton’s best lap, clocked on his first run in the top ten shootout, was good enough to leave him three-tenths of a second clear of Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber who will share the front row with him for today’s 55-laps race at the 5.554 kms Yas Marina Circuit.
Hamilton’s pole was his sixth this year and the 25th of his career on a circuit that he clearly responds to with great elan.
Hamilton, whose father Anthony has been with him in the paddock, said: “I’m very excited. It’s the first time for a long time to be ahead of the Red Bulls and starting at the front.
“It’s going to be tough in the race and I hope we are strong enough to fight them once again. The car’s felt beautiful all weekend but we’ve not made any improvement since last weekend so I guess it just likes the track and hopefully it will continue to like it tomorrow.”
Also on the second row is Williams’ Pastor Maldonado who won his maiden F1 race at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the season. Agencies
