Webber claims pole, Di Resta 6th fastest at British GP
July 9th, 2011 - 10:39 pm ICT by IANSSilverstone, July 9 (IANS) Force India’s Paul di Resta produced his and his team’s season’s best qualifying performance by finishing sixth fastest in the rain-affected Formula One British Grand Prix qualifying here Saturday, ahead of teammate Adrian Sutil at 11th position.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber clocked 1m:30.431s to claim his second pole position of the year.
Webber’s teammate and championship leader this season Sebastian Vettel recorded 1.30.431 to complete the front row. Ferrari’s of Fernando Alonso of Felipe Massa were third and fourth fastest after rain in the dying minutes of Q3 eluded them of a flying lap.
The sudden showers towards the end, however, proved to be a blessing in disguise for local hope di Resta with the front-grid teams calling their drivers to the pits due to a slippery track and the Brit held on to his sixth place with a time of 1:31.929. Sutil’s effort of 1:32.617 pushed him out of the top 10.
The challenge for di Resta now will be to translate the qualifying performance into Sunday’s race, something he hasn’t done well in the previous eight races. He has finished among points in two races despite being faster than the experienced Sutil in qualifying on six occasions. The German has scored bulk of the 12 points for Force India with the seventh place in Monaco being his best result.
India’s Narain Karthikeyan had to watch the actions from pits as he is being replaced by Australian Daniel Ricciardo in Hispania.
“It is most unfortunate that I have to sit out of the race. That is all I can say at the moment,” said a discreet Karthikeyan.
- No points for Force India, Karthikeyan 21st at Turkish GP - May 08, 2011
- Sutil, di Resta 14th and 15th fastest in Monaco qualifying - May 28, 2011
- Force India disappoint, Vettel wins Spanish Grand Prix - May 22, 2011
- Red Bull dominate third practice of Indian GP - Oct 29, 2011
- Force India's Sutil 8th fastest in opening practice at Monaco GP - May 26, 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
- Untouchable Vettel wins Indian GP - Oct 30, 2011
- Vettel races to another victory, Sutil finishes 9th at European GP - Jun 26, 2011
- Vettel takes pole, di Resta 10th in Bahrain - Apr 21, 2012
- Karthikeyan completes race for first time, no points for Force India - Apr 17, 2011
- Hamilton takes pole in Malaysian GP, Force India disappoint - Mar 24, 2012
- Force India bags maiden Q3 position at Chinese Grand Prix - Apr 16, 2011
- Vettel wins Bahrain GP, Force India's Di Resta finishes sixth - Apr 23, 2012
- Di Resta, Sutil to start 11th and 12th in Italian Grand Prix - Sep 10, 2011
Tags: adrian sutil, blessing in disguise, british gp, british grand prix, championship leader, felipe massa, fernando alonso, force india, formula one, hispania, mark webber, narain karthikeyan, pits, pole position, red bull, resta, s paul, sebastian vettel, silverstone, slippery track