Vettel Storms to Pole For Australian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel got his 2011 World Championship defence off to the best possible start with a dominant pole position in Australia. Team mate Mark Webber was disappointed to finish third with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton preventing an all Red Bull front row. 

Sebastian commented “It was a funny winter; the cars changed a lot and testing was really busy. We all tried to work our way around the Pirelli tyres and coming here we’re all impressed by how they’re working on one lap and also when there’s more fuel in the car. It’s promising for Sunday, so we’ll see how we get on. We have made the first step and starting the season this way with a pole position is a good sign for the team. We’ve been working very hard to get the RB7 to where it is now – it’s thanks to all those in the factory and those here, down under, for preparing the car. If you look at the points we still have zero like everyone else, so we need to see what happens tomorrow.” 

Mark Webber, who was clearly not happy to have been beaten by such a margin said “I was disappointed with my performance today. Sebastian put in a very good lap. I’m a little bit mystified by the gap to be honest, I tried my best. I’ll have to go through it and have a look at where I can improve and go from there. It’s frustrating, but credit to the team; the guys have done an incredible job. Obviously it wasn’t the best day for me, but the bar is high. I would like to have done better, but reflecting on the performance of the team and what they’ve done over the winter – it’s incredible.” 

A slightly more philosophical Christian Horner was happy with the teams result - “A great team performance. First and third for the first grand prix of 2011 is a very good start. Sebastian produced two stunning laps. Mark just lost out on the last run by less than a tenth to Lewis, but first and third on the clean side of the grid is a good place to be starting tomorrow’s grand prix. It should be a fascinating race tomorrow, especially with the new regulations. We’re delighted to achieve Pirelli’s first pole position on their return to Formula One.”  

Cyril Dumont from engine partner Renault said “It’s nice to be back on track and especially with the pace we had today. What a showing it was from Seb. Mark was a bit behind, but we will see tomorrow, as the race is long. Engine-wise we were pretty happy to use all the tuning we have been working on during winter testing. It is a good result for Renault and Red Bull so far and we will see tomorrow what happens in the race. Fuel consumption will be important tomorrow.”