Massa crashes out in India, as Vettel takes pole - A penalty-strewn grid forms and Felipe Massa crashes
Published by Christine
Welcome to F1Minute - Massa crashes out in India, as Vettel takes pole.
Qualifying began with a close run for Michael Schumacher, who struggled to keep his Mercedes out of the bottom eight drop zone in the first session. Instead, it was Kamui Kobayashi who fell out with the new teams - notably Timo Glock had to sit out half the session due to gearbox trouble with his car.
The second session was pretty quiet, and again, it was Michael Schumacher who was struggling. Teammate Nico Rosberg got up to seventh, but Schumacher couldn’t make it through to the top ten, finishing 12th. Vitaly Petrov and Jaime Alguersuari set identical times but it was the Renault who dropped out - and he faces a five place drop hangover from Korea.
The top ten shoot out was dominated by Sebastian Vettel, as we have come to expect, and any charge was muted after Felipe Massa crashed out. His Ferrari hit a kerb and the front suspension snapped sending him into the barriers. He climbed from the car okay, if disappointed. Lewis Hamilton qualified second, but faces a three place grid drop. Pérez also drops three from 17th, and Ricciardo drops five from 21st after a gearbox change.
