Category: Red Bull Racing

Well he’s done it. Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position over night at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix and now holds the outright record for the most number of pole positions in a single season. He has started from P1 15 times this year, one better than Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record.

Vettel (1:11.918) was made to earn his record with Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber (1:12.099) alongside in P2. Completing a top three we’ve seen a few times already this year was Jenson Button (1:12.283) for McLaren.

The post-quali press conference below includes some good material about tomorrow’s race, and the possibility of rain, as well as the three guys reflecting on the career of Rubens Barrichello. Rumours are around suggesting Rubens may not get a drive with Williams in 2012, so will this be his last ever race?

Daniel Ricciardo has pressure of his own to secure a drive for the 2012 season and he’ll be happy that he has qualified ahead of the two Virgins, but dissatisfied to behind his HRT teammate Tonio Liuzzi. Here’s hoping Daniel can put in a strong race tomorrow and that we may see him in a Toro Rosso next year.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images & Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]

Once again Sebastian Vettel proved his qualifying prowess by putting his Red Bull on pole position for the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It is his fourteenth pole for the year and equals the record for most poles a single season with Nigel Mansell’s efforts in 1992.

Incredibly, Vettel, now on 29 career pole positions, needs just five more to move into third in the all-time list, behind Michael Schumacher (68) and Ayrton Senna (65).

Second fastest at Yas Marina was Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver had been the form driver of the practice sessions and was quickest in Q1 and Q2, but his best lap of 1:38.622 could not match Vettel’s time of 1:38.481.

Jenson Button completed the familiar trend of McLaren and Red Bull qualifying in the top three with a 1:38.631 lap time.

Australian drivers Mark Webber (Red Bull; 1:38.858) and Daniel Ricciardo (HRT; 1:44.641) qualified fourth and twenty-first respectively.

Comments from the first three can be read below.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images & Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]

It might be a new Grand Prix in a new country on a very green and dusty track, but it was the same old story in qualifying at the Indian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel claimed his thirteenth pole for the year, making is a total of 16 for Red Bull Racing; a new record for a single season.

In second place was Lewis Hamilton for McLaren, while Mark Webber rounded out the top three. However, Hamilton will lose three places due to a penalty for driving too fast through yellow flags in one of the practice sessions on Friday.

That means Webber will now start the race alongside his teammate in P2 and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) moves up to P3. Hamilton moves back to P5, one place behind his McLaren buddy Jenson Button.

Daniel Ricciardo was happy qualifying in P21 for HRT, even though he was only a few hundredths quicker than Narain Karthikeyan.

Unfortunately for Daniel he incurrred a five place grid penalty for changing a gearbox after Saturday practice. Luckily for him, though, he will only lose one place after Karthikeyan also received a penalty for impeding Michael Schumacher during qualifying. Timo Glock will start from last place after he suffered mechanical issues and was unable to post a qualifying lap.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Sebastian Vettel capped off a great Sunday for Red Bull Racing by winning today’s Korean Grand Prix. It was the new world champion’s tenth win of the year and it sealed back-to-back constructors’ titles for his team.

Rain had affected proceedings on Friday and Saturday and Lewis Hamilton and McLaren had looked the team to beat. This perception was reinforced when Hamilton became the first non-Red Bull driver to claim pole position.

However, on race day Vettel was able to claim the lead on the opening lap and it was only surrendered momentarily before Fernando Alonso pitted for new tyres. Situation normal, it would seem.

Behind Vettel and Hamilton the opening lap had provided action and excitement. Mark Webber, for example, started fourth, was down to fifth and ended the lap in third place. He managed to stay there and was probably denied a better finishing result when his team called him in for a first pit stop on the same lap as Hamilton.

The Australian was still looking strong and had he stayed out, with clear track ahead, his tyres appeared to have the grip left in them to give Webber an opportunity to build a lead over Hamilton. It was not to be and Mark spent the rest of the race looking at Hamilton’s gear box.

After conventional methods hadn’t worked, Webber tried something different by overtaking Hamilton at the end of pit straight. However, Hamilton was able to get past Mark before the next corner by using his DRS on the long 1.1km straight. Unfortunately for Mark, his car was not as effective with DRS and he finished slightly frustrated in third.

At the back of the field Daniel Ricciardo was able to gain track position from last place and finish ahead of Jerome d’Ambrosio and teammate Tonio Liuzzi. He is expected to sit out the next race in India to allow Narain Karthikeyan a drive at his home race.

If Ricciardo is to secure a drive with Toro Rosso next year the once vulnerable Jaime Alguersuari looks safe; he put in a solid drive today to finish seventh. The Spaniard has performed very well since Ricciardo started with HRT and if the young Aussie has hopes for a better pathway with his Red Bull connections then he must have Sebastian Buemi’s seat in his sights.

Post-race comments from the three podium placegetters can be read after the break. You almost begin to feel sorry for Hamilton after every journo seemed to ask him the same question over and over.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

It’s finally happened. Sixteen races into the season and Lewis Hamilton has broken Red Bull’s qualifying dominance after he put his McLaren onto pole position at the Korean Grand Prix.

Hamilton very nearly took pole last week at Suzuka, but there was no mistimed second run in Q3 this at Yeongam and Lewis topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1:35.820. Unsurprisingly, newly crowned world champ Sebastian Vettel was second quickest in his Red Bull (1:36.042). Continuing the McLaren-Red Bull pattern are Jenson Button in P3 (1:36.126) and Mark Webber in P4 (1:36.468).

Red Bull only used super soft tyres (options) during quali, choosing to keep all three sets of soft tyres (primes) brand new for the race. It will be interesting to see how that strategy plays out, with as many as four stops being predicted.

Daniel Ricciardo will start from the rear of the grid after a lingering cooling issue from Free Practice 3 prevented him from taking part in qualiyfing.

The transcript from the post-qualifying press conference can be read in full after the break. The closing lines from Vettel and Button provide a bit of a chuckle too.

Oh, does anyone else think the sulking and sour faces from Lewis Hamilton of late are way out of perspective with his lot in life? Sure, by his lofty standards, he hasn’t had a great year. But c’mon Lewis, you drive an F1 car for a living, cheer up mate.

[Pics: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images & Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]