Vettel claims another pole, Sutil sneaks into 10th at European GP
June 25th, 2011 - 9:42 pm ICT by IANSValencia, June 25 (IANS) Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta qualified at 10th and 12th places, respectively, in the Formula One (F1) European Grand Prix qualifying session here Saturday.
The new engine mapping rule did not affect the performance of the Red Bull’s as Sebastian Vettel secured his seventh pole in eight races with the fastest lap of 1m:36.975s at the Valencia Street Circuit, ahead of team mate Mark Webber who recorded 1:37.163, and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton at 1:37.380.
It was only the second time this season that Sutil was faster than his rookie teammate Di Resta.
Sutil’s time of 1:39.034 gave Force India a place in Q3 section of the qualifying for the second time this season after he pipped Renault’s Vitaly Petrov to finish inside the top ten. The German however did not come out on the track in the final session as the team management decided to save tyres for the Sunday’s race.
Di Resta clocked 1:39.422 and will start with Rubens Barichello of Williams on the sixth row. The British driver too looked in course for Q3 but an error at the end of his flying lap in the second session pushed him back.
The 5.4 km circuit, comprising long straights and hairpin bends, should give Force India confidence going into the race with the VJM04 proving competitive on the straight-ine speed.
The Silverstone-based outfit drew a blank in the last race in Canada and will be expecting a top 10 finish from the drivers to heat up their battle with closest rivals Toro Rosso in the Constructor’s Championship. Force India are placed eighth with 10 points while Torro Rosso are one place ahead with 12 points.
Meanwhile, India’s Narain Karthikyean set the slowest time of 1:44.363 behind his Hispania team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi at 1:43.735.
- Karthikeyan completes race for first time, no points for Force India - Apr 17, 2011
- Force India drawing inspiration from last year's race at Valencia - Jun 21, 2011
- Force India's Di Resta feels making Q3 will be tough - Mar 23, 2012
- Vettel claims pole in Hungarian GP, Sutil 8th fastest - Jul 30, 2011
- Vettel races to another victory, Sutil finishes 9th at European GP - Jun 26, 2011
- Vettel takes pole in Japan, Force India to start from sixth row - Oct 08, 2011
- Belgian Grand Prix: Force India disappoint, Vettel secures pole - Aug 27, 2011
- Alonso wins British Grand Prix, Force India draw blank - Jul 10, 2011
- Vettel equals pole record in Abu Dhabi, Force India secure top-10 finish - Nov 12, 2011
- Di Resta fetches a point for Force India - Apr 10, 2011
- Vettel takes pole for Indian GP, Karthikeyan penalised - Oct 29, 2011
- Hamilton takes pole in Malaysian GP, Force India disappoint - Mar 24, 2012
- Button storms to victory in Hungarian GP, di Resta seventh - Jul 31, 2011
- Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, both Force Indias in top-10 - Nov 13, 2011
- Force India's Sutil and Di Resta 8th and 12th at the German GP qualifying (Lead) - Jul 24, 2011
Tags: adrian sutil, engine mapping, european gp, final session, force india, hairpin bends, lewis hamilton, liuzzi, mapping rule, mark webber, mate mark, narain, rubens barichello, s lewis, sebastian vettel, second session, team management, team mate, valencia street, vitaly