This weekend, India hosts its first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix at the newly constructed, 5.1 km (3.17-mile) long Buddh track in New Delhi. Along with being a big event for the country it also marks a new record for this year’s world champion.
The unstoppable Sebastian Vettel scored his 13th pole position this year, matching Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost for most poles in a season. He needs just one more to equal Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record of 14 poles, while his team has already set its own record in F1 with is 16th pole position in a season.
That’s no mean feat considering the drivers and teams that have raced in the top form of motorsport the past six decades…
The second Red Bull of Mark Webber will be sitting beside his teammate in tomorrow’s starting grid. That’s because Lewis Hamilton, who posted the second fastest time of the day, received a three-place demotion penalty for ignoring double-waved yellow flags in Friday’s first free practice session.
Nevertheless, the Brit was upbeat about his chances on Sunday’s race since he found the pace of the McLaren quite competitive and, as he said, “was surprised to split the Red Bulls”.
Another man who was optimistic about the inaugural Indian Grand Prix is Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. “Pole is not as important as previously”, explained the Spaniard. “With the new rules and tire degradation, the race is decided from maybe its middle or near the end, so the first couple of laps or the pole position is not a huge help anymore.”
Alonso is second in the four-man battle for second place in the championship, trailing McLaren’s Jenson Button by 10 points and leading Webber and Hamilton by three and 16 points respectively.
With only two races to go, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix on Sunday may very well play an important role in the outcome of this battle.
