
Young Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing scored their first ever pole position in their five year attempt in F1.
The young German was on the cautious side and did only one run in each of the three sessions. He was off to a flying start as he set the fastest time in both Q2 and Q3, timed at 1:35.130 and 1:36.184 respectively. The timings was enough to capture the all important top pole for tomorrow race.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault managed to pip Mark Webber for second spot. His Renault car seems more competitive now after the team made changes to the aero structure, where the team worked the whole night to build a new double-deck rear diffuser.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber had a fine run during qualifying as he managed third spot on the grid. He was surprised at his own driving results and attributed it to the fast RB5 car.
Current leading driver’s title championship, Jensen Button had to settle for fifth spot. Is it just me or the Brawn car today just looked sluggish. We’ll know tomorrow if Button will rise to the challenge of starting down the grid.
Also seeing a marked improvement is the other Brit, Lewis Hamilton. Looking menacing during the last practice session after McLaren’s very own aero upgrades, the defending champion was disappointingly ninth on the grid starting tomorrow.
As for my prediction for tomorrow, I would love to seeing the Grand Prix winner changing hands. Personally I’m a big fan of the young German Vettel and team Red Bull. Whoever the winner is, I just wish it will be a race full of excitement and overtaking. Flag off for tomorrow is 3pm local time.
China GP Sat. Qualifying (18 April 2009)
- Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) Q1 01:36.565 / Q2 1:35.130 / Q3 1:36.184 / 11 laps
- Fernando Alonso (Renault) Q1 01:36.443 / Q2 01:35.803 / Q3 01:36.381 / 21 laps
- Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) Q1 01:35.751 / Q2 01:35.173 / Q3 01:36.466 / 19 laps
- Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) Q1 01:35.701 / Q2 01:35.503 / Q3 01:36.493 / 21 laps
- Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) Q1 01:35.533 / Q2 01:35.556 / Q3 01:36.532 / 19 laps
- Jarno Trulli (Toyota) Q1 01:36.308 / Q2 01:35.645 / Q3 01:36.835 / 21 laps
- Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) Q1 01:35.941 / Q2 01:35.809 / Q3 01:37.397 / 23 laps
- Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) Q1 01:36.137 / Q2 01:35.856 / Q3 01:38.089 / 19 laps
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) Q1 01:35.776 / Q2 01:35.740 / Q3 01:38.595 / 17 laps
- Sebastien Buemi (STR-Ferrari) Q1 01:36.284 / Q2 01:35.965 / Q3 01:39.321 / 21 laps
- Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) Q1 01:36.525 / Q2 01:35.975 / 14 laps
- Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) Q1 01:36.646 / Q2 01:36.032 / 10 laps
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) Q1 01:36.178 / Q2 01:36.033 / 11 laps
- Timo Glock (Toyota) Q1 01:36.364 / Q2 01:36.066 / 14 laps
- Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) Q1 01:36.673 / Q2 01:36.193 / 13 laps
- Sebastien Bourdais (STR-Ferrari) Q1 01:36.906 / 10 laps
- Nelsinho Piquet (Renault) Q1 01:36.908 / 10 laps
- Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) Q1 01:36.966 / 8 laps
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) Q1 01:37.669 / 10 laps
- Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India-Mercedes) Q1 01:37.672 / 10 laps
China GP Sat. Practice (18 April 2009)
- Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) 01:36.133 / 17 laps
- Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 01:36.272 / 22 laps
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 01:36.330 / 17 laps
- Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) 01:36.463 / 16 laps
- Nelsinho Piquet (Renault) 01:36.464 / 16 laps
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 01:36.528 / 18 laps
- Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) 01:36.547 / 13 laps
- Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) 01:36.560 / 17 laps
- Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 01:36.568 / 17 laps
- Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 01:36.642 / 17 laps
- Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 01:36.702 / 14 laps
- Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 01:36.742 / 14 laps
- Sebastien Buemi (STR-Ferrari) 01:36.742 / 16 laps
- Sebastien Bourdais (STR-Ferrari) 01:36.834 / 17 laps
- Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) 01:37.330 / 8 laps
- Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) 01:37.349 / 7 laps
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 01:37.534 / 17 laps
- Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India-Mercedes) 01:37.732 / 18 laps
- Fernando Alonso (Renault) 01:38.003 / 6 laps
- Timo Glock (Toyota) 01:39.110 / 6 laps