Motor Sport:Red Bull today made Formula One history by becoming the first team to achieve 16 pole positions in a single season, with Sebastian Vettel chalking up his 13th pole of the year ahead of tomorrow's inaugural Indian Grand Prix to leave him one shy of Nigel Mansell's 1992 record.
Red Bull have now beaten the mark they equalled last year, set at 15 alongside McLaren and Williams.
Vettel posted the quickest lap of the weekend with a time of one minute 24.178secs, beating McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton into second place by almost three tenths of a second.
Hamilton, though, will start from fifth on the grid after incurring a three-place grid penalty yesterday for ignoring double waved yellow flags urging him to slow down at a time when marshals were recovering Pastor Maldonado’s Williams following a spin.
It means it will be an all-Red Bull front row at the Buddh International Circuit, with Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber lining up second.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in his McLaren occupy the second row, with Hamilton heading the third from Felipe Massa in his Ferrari.
The Brazilian, though, caused drama at the end of the top-10 shoot-out when the front-right suspension of his car broke running over a high kerb at turn nine, sending him into the gravel and a tyre wall.
Vettel, with 28 career poles to his name, is now equal sixth in the all-time standings alongside five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
“It was tricky with the dust on the track, ending up with one racing line clear of dirt, and going slightly off means you lose a small amount of time,” said Vettel. “But it’s good to be here, a very interesting race, a challenging circuit, so I’m excited to race tomorrow.”
Hamilton, smiling on this occasion unlike his sour demeanour in Korea a fortnight ago when he qualified on pole, said: “It’s been a good day for me, and we’re surprised at splitting the Red Bulls. But I’ve got the penalty, a silly mistake from myself and we paid the price, but I’m still optimistic regardless of where I start.”
Webber, still chasing his first win of the season, said: “It’s a challenge for us all, a new venue. But overall a good job from the team, with a good foundation for the race.”