Belgian Grand Prix: Force India disappoint, Vettel secures pole
August 27th, 2011 - 10:16 pm ICT by IANSSpa-Franchorchamps (Belgium), Aug 27 (IANS) Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta finished 15th and 18th, respectively, in the F1 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying here Saturday.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel claimed his ninth pole of the Formula One season.
Vettel clocked 1m48.298s to snatch pole from McLaren’s Lews Hamilton, who set 1:48.730 in a session that took place in difficult weather conditions. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber recorded 1:49.376 to finish third.
Michael Schumacher, who made his F1 debut here 20 years ago, crashed out in Q1 and will start Sunday’s race from the last on the grid in his Mercedes.
Force India, coming to the race with solid qualifying performances in the last three races, had a disappointing session with both their drivers finding it tough on a wet track.
Di Resta spun at the end of a lap in Q1 and his team decided to call him into the pits thinking his effort of 2:07.758 will be enough to get him into Q2. That was not to be as Team Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen pipped him for the 17th place.
Things got worse for the Vijay Mallya owned outfit when Sutil crashed into a corner after running fifth fastest in Q2 with the best time of 2:07.777.
“What happened today is such a shame because the car has felt so good during practice,” said Sutil.
“Q1 was quite straightforward for me, but in Q2 I made a little mistake on the exit of Eau Rouge. I ran a bit wide, touched the kerb and the rear of the car went away from me and sent me into the barrier. It was not a very big impact, but it damaged the front and left side of my car.
“Without this we could have qualified in a very strong position. Tomorrow we expect the conditions to be drier and we know that anything can happen in the race - especially at Spa,” he said.
Force India are at seventh place in the Constructor’s Championship with 26 points.
- Vettel wins Belgian Grand Prix, Sutil seventh - Aug 28, 2011
- Di Resta, Sutil to start 11th and 12th in Italian Grand Prix - Sep 10, 2011
- Vettel equals pole record in Abu Dhabi, Force India secure top-10 finish - Nov 12, 2011
- Force India's Sutil and Di Resta 8th and 12th at the German GP qualifying (Lead) - Jul 24, 2011
- Vettel claims pole in Hungarian GP, Sutil 8th fastest - Jul 30, 2011
- Vettel takes pole in Japan, Force India to start from sixth row - Oct 08, 2011
- Vettel claims another pole, Sutil sneaks into 10th at European GP - Jun 25, 2011
- Vettel takes pole for Indian GP, Karthikeyan penalised - Oct 29, 2011
- Vettel breaks pole record in season finale, Sutil to start 8th - Nov 27, 2011
- Hamilton takes pole in Malaysian GP, Force India disappoint - Mar 24, 2012
- Sutil, di Resta 14th and 15th fastest in Monaco qualifying - May 28, 2011
- Force India make top-10 at European GP qualifying - Jun 23, 2012
- Webber claims pole, Di Resta 6th fastest at British GP - Jul 09, 2011
- Untouchable Vettel wins Indian GP - Oct 30, 2011
- Hamilton takes maiden pole in Korea; di Resta, Sutil 9th and 10th - Oct 15, 2011
Tags: adrian sutil, belgian grand prix, difficult weather, eau rouge, f1 debut, force india, heikki kovalainen, kerb, lews, little mistake, mark webber, michael schumacher, position tomorrow, red bull, sebastian vettel, spa franchorchamps, team lotus, vijay mallya, weather conditions, wet track