Webber on pole after blistering show

Vettel off the front row for German GP.

NüRBURGRING:

Red Bull’s Mark Webber stormed into pole position for the German Grand Prix with a blazing performance in a tense and competitive qualifying session while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished second after a superb drive.

Champions Red Bull have now seized pole for the last 11 races, 10 of them this season, but their world champion Sebastian Vettel could only manage third spot on the grid. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, winner in Britain earlier this month, qualified fourth.

It was the first time in 15 races that runaway championship leader Vettel, who has an 80-point lead over Webber, was not on the front row but he put on a brave face before his adoring home crowd.

“Overall there wasn’t much missing to Lewis and Mark, the most important thing is I have a much better feeling for the car today than before,” he said.

Meanwhile, Webber will line up first on the grid for the second straight race and third time this year. The Australian seemed satisfied with his form this season.

“My form has been getting a little bit better over the last few races,” he said. “The session went pretty well. The boys did a great job on the car, some pretty late nights in the lead-up.”

Briton Hamilton produced a brilliant effort to take second position, less than one-tenth of a second behind Webber. Seven-times champion Michael Schumacher squeezed into the final phase of qualifying in his Mercedes and will start 10th in the Grand Prix.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2011.