VETTEL BLOWS IT
Hamilton on pole again but engine failure dumps his rival at the back of the grid
THE only thing that went even slightly astray for Lewis Hamilton yesterday was missing the slot allocated for the pole-sitter after qualifying.
By the point the Englishman had parked up in the adjacent pit lane, celebrating with a vocally supportive crowd, the title hopes of his rival Sebastian Vettel were dripping away as profusely as the sweat on the brows of the Ferrari mechanics who had toiled hard to get his car out in the first place.
Vettel’s engine then gave up on him in the first qualifying session — the power faded — so the German will start 20th and last in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
These are crucial weeks in deciding the destiny of the title and everything is falling Hamilton’s way: a ‘miracle’ victory in Singapore, yesterday’s unexpected pole, with Japan coming next Sunday. Then four rounds only to go.
Being Hamilton, it is never plain sailing. For example, he was placed only sixth in both Friday practice sessions, ending proceedings nearly a second-anda-half behind Vettel. Hamilton admitted he had hardly slept that night, fretting how to fix the problem. His garage men worked until 2am in search of solutions. By qualifying, having reverted to an old aerodynamic package, he was right back in the picture. But Ferrari were quietly confident they held the edge. So it took ill fortune to befall Vettel and a brilliant lap from Hamilton to settle pole, a record-extending 70th of a career that glistens more strongly with every turn of the wheel. His advantage over second-quickest Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari was fourhundredths of a second.
‘The pole lap was very well put together, a very nice lap,’ said Hamilton, like a man who didn’t know how he had just split the atom. ‘I don’t know where it came from. It’s a surprise to be up here, but I’m very grateful.’
The sense of relief at Mercedes was palpable. Chairman Niki Lauda put his hand on team principal Toto Wolff’s shoulder and then went to thank the top brains on the pit wall with warm handshakes.
The scene at Ferrari about an hour earlier was very different. Mechanics had worked like billy-o to fit a new engine in Vettel’s car in the two hours between the final practice session and qualifying. The dramas were just beginning.
Vettel got to the fifth turn on his first — and, providentially, final — flying lap when he felt the power go. The turbo could not function, possibly because of the speed at which the previous work was carried out. ‘I’m limping back,’ he told the team over the radio.
He made it to the pits, where a lot of anxious faces stared at the stricken scarlet beast. But what was wrong, they could not discern for all the tea in China. So Vettel, who had stepped back into the cockpit as part of a final attempt to get on track, took off his helmet without having set a time. Aware of the hard labour his troops put in, Vettel shook each of their hands. He cut a serene figure for a man whose world was rocking. Then in the paddock he was equally sanguine. His only seriously negative word was to describe the taste of events as ‘bitter’.
He added: ‘That is motor racing. But the good thing is the car is quick, so we should be able to get back to the leading group. I cannot give you a number. The conditions here are changeable so anything can happen. A safety car might give us a chance. We have lots of tyres. We can choose our strategy. So you never know.’
Hamilton came from 20th to sixth on this track in 2010.
Alongside the Mercedes man on the front row are the two drivers who crashed with Vettel in Singapore: Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who turned 20 yesterday.
Asked what they each wanted from the race, Verstappen said: ‘Not to be in a sandwich,’ a reference to being squeezed by the two Ferraris last time. Raikkonen said: ‘Not to be hit.’ Touche.
It is a long drive to the first corner and it offers Vettel an early chance — through attrition ahead of him — of cutting Hamilton’s 28-point lead. ‘I don’t believe in luck, good or bad,’ said the German, who nonetheless needs some of the former, and fast.