Sebastian Vettel beat Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg to pole position for the Indian Grand Prix as diverging tyre strategies set up an intriguing race. Vettel, who has been in imperious form all weekend, was 0.752 seconds clear of Rosberg, but beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.07secs.
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber was fourth on the medium tyre in search of an advantage during the race. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso made the same choice and qualified eighth.
The Spaniard is the only driver who mathematically can prevent Vettel from tying up his fourth consecutive world championship this weekend, although it an extreme long-shot.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fifth ahead of Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. McLaren drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button were ninth and 10th on the medium tyre.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.119s 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.871s +0.752s 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m24.941s +0.822s 4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.047s +0.928s 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.201s +1.082s 6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m25.248s +1.129s 7. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.334s +1.215s 8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.826s +1.707s 9. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.153s +2.034s 10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.487s +2.368s Q2 cut-off time: 1m25.458s Gap 11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.519s +0.951s 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.711s +1.143s 13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m25.740s +1.172s 14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.798s +1.230s 15. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m26.134s +1.566s 16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.336s +1.768s Q1 cut-off time: 1m26.178s Gap 17. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m26.577s +1.003s 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m26.842s +1.268s 19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.970s +1.396s 20. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m27.105s +1.531s 21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m27.487s +1.913s 22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m28.138s +2.564s