Vettel Takes Pole Position in a Phenomenal Abu Dhabi 2010 Qualifying

Now, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t like the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I think it says a lot about Bernie Ecclestone’s priorities that the final race of the season has been given to a country where the average citizen owns just under $18 million (£11 million).

However, I will most certainly concede that it is fantastic to see the final race decide the Championship; regardless of the circuit. I will also admit that today’s qualifying session was outstanding.

Qualifying One

Jamie Alguersuari opened the season’s final qualifying session and set the pace with a 1:43:428.

It was clear from the beginning that the McLarens were fast but it wasn’t plain sailing for the silver team. Lewis Hamilton’s set up had gone backwards in the final practice session and Jenson Button was suffering from brake vibrations early on.

By the halfway stage, three out of the four Championship contenders had occupied P1 (Webber was the only top driver not to do so). In fact, the top five drivers were only separated by 3/10ths of a second!

Of course, with six minutes remaining, the new teams all occupied the drop out zone. They were initially joined by Alguersuari, but after a great last lap, the Spaniard relegated his team mate Sebastian Buemi.

Q1 Top 3 (and Title contenders)

Alonso

Rosberg

Vettel

(Hamilton P4)

(Webber P5)

Out

Buemi, Trulli, Kovalainen, Glock, di Grassi, Senna, Klien

Qualifying Two

As the sun slowly set, the track got cooler and the second session, opened by the Ferraris, felt fresh and exciting.

Massa set the first time of 1:40:906, but he was quickly beaten by Alonso, who was himself quickly despatched by the fast McLaren of Button.

But where was the other McLaren? The second session of qualifying was a tricky one for Lewis Hamilton who failed to make an impact early on due to driver errors. When he did finally get under way, he found himself bumping into Felipe Massa.

Now this could prove to be vital, as although Hamilton probably couldn’t see Massa, his failure to get out of the way caused an incident which may see the McLaren man in front of the stewards for the second time this weekend.

What of the Red Bulls then? Well, Vettel was doing a great job, lapping well and looking fast. However, Webber was really struggling for pace and whilst his team mate hit P1, he could only manage P4.

The session finished with the obvious contenders bowing out, but it was by no means a dull watch.

Q2 Top 3 (and Title contenders)

Vettel

Button

Rosberg

(Webber P4)

(Hamilton P5)

(Alonso P6)

Out

Kubica, Kobayashi, Sutil, Heidfeld, Hulkenberg, Liuzzi, Alguersuari

Qualifying Three

Of course this session was exciting, because it would be vital for the Championship, but that wasn’t the only reason F1 fans all over the world can feel satisfied by the final qualifying of 2010.

Barrichello opened the proceedings with a 1:41:092, but all eyes were on four cars (two of which were leaving it late to exit the pits!).

The McLarens were awesome and the Ferraris had no answer early on. The session opened with McLaren, McLaren, Ferrari, Ferrari.

As I said, the Red Bulls left it slightly later and whilst this was seemingly working for Vettel, it was certainly not for Webber.

It took a couple of laps, but out of what felt like nowhere Vettel stormed to P1 and stayed there.

Webber lapped again and again but couldn’t break into the top three. The chequered flag ended the session, but only Vettel’s place seemed certain.

The Ferraris and McLarens were stuck in traffic and Webber was driving for the Title. It was brilliant.

Webber crossed the line first…was it enough? NO! P4.

The camera then cut to Hamilton, the only man who could beat Vettel…across the line and…P2.

Now it was Alonso’s turn. The Ferrari driver had been held up and probably started his lap on cold tyres. It was surely game over, I watched through my fingers as one of my F1 heroes approached the line in…P3! YES!

A vital lap from Alonso puts him ahead of Webber and still in with a fantastic shot at the title. Fernando Alonso showing his true class there in a phenomenal showdown.

I think it goes with out saying, tomorrow will be great, but what have we learnt about qualifying in 2010?

Well, early on, qualifying was frankly awful and although it picked up as the Title fight intensified, it remained largely predictable. Perhaps 2010’s biggest problem was the new teams and their lock out of Q1. It will be very interesting to see how much they can improve next year.

The bright side of 2010’s dull qualifying has been more exciting races. So Abu Dhabi’s qualifying was great, but let’s hope with the most exciting showdown in years to come tomorrow, the race is even better!

1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:39.394

2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.425

3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:39.792

4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.823

5 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:39.925

6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:40.202

7 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:40.203

8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:40.516

9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:40.589

10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:40.901

11 Robert Kubica Renault 1:40.780

12 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.783

13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:40.914

14 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.113

15 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:41.418

16 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:41.642

17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:41.738

18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:41.824

19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:43.516

20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:43.712

21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:44.095

22 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:44.510

23 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:45.085

24 Christian Klien HRT-Cosworth 1:45.296