India 2011 - Qualifying results - A handful of penalties hit the grid, but Vettel takes pole position
Published by Christine
Sebastian Vettel took another supreme pole position at the Buddh International Circuit, helped a little by yellow flags caused after an accident by Felipe Massa. The Ferrari driver crashed off into the barriers, meaning those behind had to lift and compromise their laps. Further back, Timo Glock was outside the 107% time but had a gearbox problem that curtailed his running in the first session. There are penalties galore for this race, but here is how the qualifying order finished, with a note of those facing grid drops.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:24.178 | 16 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton (1) | McLaren | 1:24.474 | 18 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1:24.508 | 17 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:24.519 | 19 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:24.950 | 20 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:25.122 | 18 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.451 | 19 |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | No Time | 19 |
| 9 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso | No Time | 19 |
| 10 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | No Time | 19 |
| 11 | Vitaly Petrov (2) | Renault | 1:26.319 | 20 |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:26.337 | 17 |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1:26.503 | 15 |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1:26.537 | 18 |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1:26.651 | 16 |
| 16 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | 1:27.247 | 17 |
| 17 | Sergio Pérez (3) | Sauber | 1:27.562 | 10 |
| 18 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:27.876 | 6 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:28.565 | 13 |
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus | 1:28.752 | 13 |
| 21 | Daniel Ricciardo (4) | HRT | 1:30.216 | 11 |
| 22 | Narain Karthikeyan (5) | HRT | 1:30.238 | 11 |
| 23 | Jérôme D'Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:30.866 | 14 |
| Timo Glock | Virgin | 1:34.046 | 3 |
107% time: 1:32.222
- Hamilton takes a three place grid drop for ignoring yellow flags in FP1.
- Petrov faces a five place drop after the crash with Schumacher in Korea.
- Pérez has a similar penalty to Hamilton, three places for ignoring yellow flags.
- Ricciardo gets a five place grid drop after changing his gearbox ahead of qualifying.
- Karthikeyan took a five place drop for impeding Michael Schumacher in qualifying.
