It was once again a Red Bull car that took pole position at the German Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel outpaced Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the end to get the top spot in the 3rd qualifying session by just 0.002 seconds.
Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso had a tough fight throughout qualifying, and it was only fair that the duo would line up on the front row at the German Grand Prix.
Overall, it was good day for Ferrari, as Felipe Massa was also impressive and ended up in 3rd place. Mark Webber from Red Bull had a few hiccups but did manage to finish 4th fastest.
The two McLaren drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, currently lead the driver standings, with Hamilton on top and Button in 2nd. The British duo was not on their game and got 5th (Button) and 6th (Hamilton) places at the starting grid.
Ferrari have not had the best of seasons so far, and had vowed to improve their performance in the 2nd half of the season. The last 3 races in the season had only yielded 19 points, but Alonso looked in supreme form in practice and qualifying. Massa also was looking in good rhythm, so Ferrari may be the team to watch out for on race day.
Fernando Alonso is currently trailing championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 47 points, and he would be lining up on the front row for the first time this season.
The 2 time world champion was himself surprised by the splendid performance in the last 2 days. He said that considering the way this season has gone so far, this certainly is a great improvement. Alonso added that they expected Red Bulls to come hard at them in the final qualifying session and he had to work really hard to keep up with Vettel’s pace.
The Spaniard said that in the end he was himself quite surprised by the performance of his car. He said that Red Bulls have been much faster than anyone this season, and the upgrades certainly do look to be working well for Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, will be lining up on pole position for the 6th time in 11 races this season. Vettel is currently trailing Hamilton by 24 points, and said that there is plenty of time left in the season to catch up with the Brit.
Vettel added that the qualifying was a tough job, and that Alonso was very quick and it was touch and go in the end.
The 24 year old said that Ferrari certainly have been working hard on their cars; he added that he was surprised by the brutal pace Alonso was showing throughout the session. Vettel went on to say that even though he has secured 1st spot on the starting grid, he is sure that Alonso will not be making things any easier for him on race day.
Vettel, who was delighted to get the top spot, said that in the early part of the season he certainly had the edge ahead of his rivals. He added that as the season has gone on, teams have worked hard and have almost caught up to Red Bull, and the final 9 races would be a tough fight.
There was a fear of wet tracks after a rain affected practice session, but it was a dry day and Red Bull and Ferrari certainly were a good distance ahead of the chasing pack. Championship leaders Hamilton and Button were off the pace and were 0.634 seconds behind the front two.
Hockenheim is expected to be one of the most testing circuits in F1 calendar, and Red Bull and Ferrari are expected to fight tooth and nail for the honours on Sunday.
