Lewis Hamilton has ended Red Bull Racing’s excellent qualifying form this season by taking pole position at the Korea International Circuit. This was his first pole since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix.
By taking his nineteenth career pole position, the McLaren driver has finally halted the dominant run by Red Bull in claiming poles stretching back to Abu Dhabi last year. Hamilton’s lap time of one minute, 35.820 seconds was impressive and he will take satisfaction in beating pole master Sebastian Vettel by three-hundredths of a second.
New world champion Sebastian Vettel will line up on the front row but in unusual spot of second place, ahead of Japanese Grand Prix winner Jenson Button.
Hamilton was quickest in the first two parts of qualifying, and then pipped Vettel by 0.03 seconds as they made their first Q3 runs.
Button had briefly made it an all-McLaren front row with his final Q3 run, and even though Vettel managed to beat the time with one minute, 36.042 seconds on his second run, it was Hamilton who achieved the goal in taking pole position.
Despite that, Vettel should have the advantage in the race after saving a set of the soft (Prime) tyre, following an unusual qualifying strategy by using the super-softs (Option) in Q1.
Mark Webber abandoned his second flying lap and will start in fourth position but ahead of the Scuderias. Once again, Felipe Massa has outqualified his team-mate Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov will line up on row four, with the Force Indias both reaching Q3 but choosing not to set any lap times.
Rosberg was the only Mercedes driver in the top ten as Michael Schumacher was squeezed out of the Q3 positions in a busy end to Q2. Troubled by a tyre vibration on his last timed lap, Schumacher was shuffled down to P12, between the Toro Rossos, with Jaime Alguersuari narrowly missing out on the top ten when di Resta jumped ahead in the closing moments.
Bruno Senna was six-tenths of a second down on his Renault team-mate Petrov in Q2 and will start the race in P15.
It was a low-key session for Sauber, as Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez took only P14 and P17 respectively, while Williams struggled again. Pastor Maldonado knocking out his more experienced team-mate Rubens Barrichello out in Q1 then only making it to P16.
While at the back, the Lotus, Virgin and HRT drivers lined up in familiar order, with Daniel Ricciardo unable to set a lap time due to a technical issue.
Qualifying times from Yeongam:
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.820s
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m36.042s
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.126s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.468s
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.831s
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m36.980s
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m37.754s
8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m38.124s
9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes no time
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time
11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.315s
12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.354s
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.508s
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.775s
15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m38.791s
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m39.189s
17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.443s
18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m39.538s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m40.522s
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m41.101s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.091s
22. Jerome D’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m43.483s
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m43.758s
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth no time
107 per cent time: 1m44.351s
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was delighted with his first pole position of the season but insists that nothing is won yet until the race. Autosport.com has the story.
Lewis Hamilton said he was delighted to be on pole position for the Korean Grand Prix, but admitted it is the race that counts.
The Briton secured his first pole since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix, also putting an end to Red Bull’s run after the team had been on top in every race during this year.
The McLaren driver finished ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel, who had been on pole for the last six events.
“I am happy. I am very happy,” said Hamilton. “I am happy to be here and very proud of what the team have been able to achieve over the course of the last few races and for Jenson to have won the last race and us to be on front two rows again and us the only ones able to compete with Red Bull.
“I am very happy. But tomorrow is what counts.”
Hamilton admitted his pole was one of the first “positives” he’s had in recent races, having endured a tough time as team-mate Jenson Button has shone.
He insisted, however, that nothing was won yet and that it was Sunday that counts.
“It is probably one of the first positives I have had a for a while, so to be back on pole is a great feeling of course,” he said.
“But tomorrow is the most important day. We had some difficult races in the past, so hopefully I’ll try to redeem myself tomorrow and as long as we can get some strong points for the team as they have worked hard. I hope tomorrow me and Jenson can repay them.”
Despite being knocked off pole position by Lewis Hamilton, ending Red Bull Racing’s superb qualifying form, new world champion Sebastian Vettel has said that this qualifying result was better than he expected. Autosport.com has the details.
Sebastian Vettel said he got closer to McLaren’s pace than expected in Korean Grand Prix qualifying, so could not be too disappointed that Red Bull’s pole run had finally been ended.
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton became the first man to take pole in anything other than a Red Bull this season as he claimed the top spot at Yeongam.
But champion Vettel said that getting ahead of the second McLaren of Jenson Button and lapping within 0.03 seconds of Hamilton was satisfying given McLaren’s speed so far this weekend.
“To be honest I think McLaren was very very competitive yesterday,” said Vettel. “I know conditions were completely different, but you can see they were a fair chunk ahead of everyone else – as well as this morning in the dry.
“Once again, we pushed them very, very hard in qualifying and got very close, closer than probably they expected and closer than we expected so we did a very good job in qualifying.”
Red Bull used a set of super softs in Q1 to keep a fresh set of soft tyres back for the race, which Vettel thinks will prove to be a big advantage.
“We saved all our prime tyres which will be crucial tomorrow,” he said.
The German expects a very open race tomorrow and an eventful first lap.
“It’s not a long way down to the first corner and Turn 3 is a little bit exposed,” Vettel said. “It’s a long race, lots of things can happen. Tyre wear is crucial and Jenson did a good race last race, so that will be important tomorrow.”
Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen was quite pleased with his qualifying performance in Korea. The Finnish driver will start in P19 and ahead of his team-mate. Autosport.com has the story.
Heikki Kovalainen believes he produced his best qualifying performance of the season in spite of the fact the Team Lotus driver will start from his habitual 19th position on the grid.
“Next to Hungary, I think I got as much as I possibly could out of the car and nailed every sector, so it’s a good feeling to know when you’ve wrung as much as you can from a single lap,” said Kovalainen. “We worked hard last night and today to find a balance that would suit the dry conditions today and tomorrow, and I think we’ve done that, so I’m feeling pretty good about the race.
“It’ll be very interesting to see how the tyre strategies play out, and if we can keep up the pace from Suzuka we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Team-mate Jarno Trulli was less satisfied with his lap, feeling that there was more to come from his car.
“I think we did ok today, but there was definitely a bit more in the car,” said the Italian, who lined up 20th. “This morning I had a really good setup and found a lot of grip, but this afternoon it just didn’t feel quite the same so I wasn’t able to get as much out of the car as I could.
“Still, I’m reasonably happy with where we are – we’re well ahead of the cars behind and close enough on race pace to a couple of the teams just ahead, so another good start tomorrow and we’ll be ok.”
Jamie Alguersuari is targeting a strong finish in the points in Korea after just missing out on Q3 on Saturday.
The Toro Rosso driver will start from 11th position after being outpaced by Force India’s Paul di Resta by just 0.030 seconds in the second qualifying segment.
Alguersuari is now hoping to score good points to close the gap on seventh-placed Sauber in the standings.
“Just three hundredths off Q3 so we can say this was a good qualifying for the team,” said Alguersuari. “We did a good job, starting yesterday when the car felt fine in the wet. I think we now have a better understanding of some of the upgrades we introduced in Suzuka and made the most of them.
“I was also encouraged by the long run I did, as there was not as much tyre degradation as we had expected, so this issue should not trouble us tomorrow. I am expecting a lot from the race in which I hope we can score enough points to close up the gap to Sauber, who are starting behind us on the grid.”
The Spanish driver also explained his incident with world champion Sebastian Vettel in this morning practice session, where the Red Bull driver was unhappy with Alguersuari for not letting him through.
“As for the incident this morning with Vettel, it’s clear to me what happened: I was on a long run, he was on his fast lap, so I let him by. Then he made a mistake so he was behind me, but he caught me again. Having already let him by once, I pushed for another lap on my long run. You cannot keep letting one driver pass you.
“I know it would have been easier for him if I had moved over again, but I also had a job to do to get enough data, because we had no information regarding a long run in the dry because of yesterday’s rain. I’m sorry about that, but they have to understand my point of view too.”
Team-mate Sebastien Buemi will start the race from 13th position, and the Swiss admitted he could have done better.
“I am reasonably happy with my performance in today’s qualifying, even if thirteenth is not where we really want to be,” he said.
“However, we are getting very close to Q3 which is very important. Being two tenths off getting into the top ten is a sign that the car is improving.
“I am sure I could have done a bit better, but this still looks good for tomorrow, especially considering we had a strong long run in free practice this morning, during which we got a good idea about tyre degradation. This means we should be well prepared for the race, in which we have every reason to believe we can get a good result.”
Source: Autosport.com
Japanese Grand Prix winner Jenson Button believes it will be a battle royale between McLaren and Red Bull in the race following an exciting qualifying. Autosport.com has the story.
Jenson Button believes that victory in Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix will go to either McLaren or Red Bull as the two teams dominated the top four position on the grid in qualifying.
Button starts third on the grid, having been bumped off the front row by new world champion Sebastian Vettel as Lewis Hamilton took pole, but says he reckons the race is wide open given the high tyre degradation expected in the race.
“As a team and in terms of the car, I think we are in a great place right now,” said Button, “I really don’t know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you would think it would be between us and the Red Bulls. I don’t think Ferrari is that far behind in terms of consistency over one lap they don’t have the pace in race consistency.
“It is a great way to end the season, as a team we are obviously disappointed we could not get this performance earlier in the year, but it can only be good for next year. Obviously there are rule changes but having a good base for this year going into 2012 is something we really need.”
Button added that while he was a bit disappointed not to be on pole, he felt he was in a strong position to record back-to-back victories following his Suzuka triumph last weekend.
“We all want to be on pole position, and congratulations to Lewis for getting pole, he’s been quick all weekend and tough to get hold to,” he said. “I am reasonably happy and we can race well from here, as Seb [Vettel] said there is lot to play for.
“We haven’t a clue in terms of tyre degradation on high fuel so it’s a little bit of an unknown but another challenge tomorrow.”
Asked what the key performance factors in the race would be, Button replied: “Being quick! That is something we have been good at in the last few races in terms of consistency.
“We know the tyres have a short life here and if you can make any difference by looking after them is a little bit unknown tomorrow. We will see, but I think everyone is looking forward to tomorrow, it should be a lot of fun.
“We are finding our feet on high fuel, seeing how it feels and acts. Today was a reasonably good day for me, obviously thought we could fight for first but Lewis was too quick today but all in all a pretty good day and looks good for tomorrow.”
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez said their cars were simply off the pace in Korean Grand Prix qualifying, as they struggled to 14th and 17th on the grid.
After appearing to take a step forward with a new update package in Japan, Sauber never looked like reaching Q3 at Yeongam.
“We have had a difficult time here so far,” said Kobayashi. “Fourteenth on the grid is obviously not what we were hoping for, and we are quite far away from our competitors.
“The main problem is still a lack of grip, which is caused by a combination of factors. My lap as such in Q2 was okay, I can’t complain about traffic and didn’t make a mistake. It was pretty much the best I could achieve today.”
Perez, who will start 17th, said he compounded his problems with a scruffy Q2 lap.
“For me this was a very bad qualifying,” said the Mexican. “After our only dry running was this morning and also for me the track is new, I am not happy with the balance and the set-up of the car.
“I didn’t feel at all confident in the car. My final lap in Q2 was particularly bad because I hadn’t got the brake balance right and had the fronts locking. I now have a bad grid position and I think we should go for an aggressive race strategy.”
Source: Autosport.com
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher will start the Korean Grand Prix in a disappointing P12 and has blamed a vibration issue that ruined his qualifying. Autosport.com has the details.
Michael Schumacher blamed a vibration during his final run for being unable to make it into the top ten in qualifying in Korea.
The German driver will start from 12th position after being unable to complete his final flying lap because of the problem that emerged right after he left the pits.
Schumacher was still positive about having saved a set of super soft tyres.
“To start with the positives of today’s qualifying, I have saved two fresh sets of option tyres which is always helpful,” said Schumacher. “On the other hand, it was obviously a pity what happened. Everything went normally in Q1, and from what you can expect of the tyres under normal circumstances, it was absolutely justified to go for just one run in Q2.
“But unfortunately I could feel that something was not right when leaving the pits as I had vibrations straight away. All that was left for us to do was hope that the gap would be big enough to remain in the top ten but that turned out not to be the case.
“We will now have a close look into what exactly happened and fully concentrate on trying to make up some positions in the race tomorrow.”
Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg had a better session, finishing in seventh position. The German was happy with the result, but admitted it will be hard to do better than that in the race.
“I’m quite pleased with today,” he said. “To find the right set-up for the qualifying and the race is always a compromise, particularly after such limited dry running, so I’m happy that we saved one set of option tyres.
“It will be tough to catch one of the top six drivers tomorrow but hopefully I’ll have a good start and may be able to gain a position there. It will be an interesting race from the tyre perspective with a lot of stops, and I’m confident that our boys will do a great job in the pits again.”
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh believes pole position for the Korean Grand Prix will cheer Lewis Hamilton up after a series of disappointing results.
“I’m sure pole will cheer Lewis up, not as much as a race win, but for any racing driver being on pole position is a proud moment,” Whitmarsh told the BBC after the British driver secured his first pole of the season.
“To be sort of on the top step on Sunday is probably a little bit better. He’s set himself up to be in a good position tomorrow. I think we’ve got a reasonable balance.
“It’s still a little bit of an unknown just how the tyres are going to survive but I think it will be quite intriguing. Hopefully we can get the job done, we’ll see tomorrow.”
Although Whitmarsh conceded the team was mainly targeting victory on Sunday, he did admit ending Red Bull’s run of poles was a good feeling.
“Obviously we are here to win races but pole feels fairly good if you haven’t had one for a long time,” he said.
“We’ve missed a few that we felt we should have had this year, so I think both drivers did a great job. Sebastian also does a pretty good job himself in qualifying, so to come out on top [of him] in qualifying is important, but I think tomorrow’s another day, it’s a long race.
“There are going to be some interesting tyre decisions and some interesting strategies. I think ourselves, Red Bull and Ferrari – who knows? It could go anyway, but I think both of our guys fancy their chances tomorrow.”
Source: Autosport.com
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has said he is not ruling out on fighting for victory in the Korean Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso is not ruling out fighting for victory in Korea despite a disappointing qualifying on Saturday.
The Spanish driver qualified in sixth position as his Ferrari was unable to match the pace of McLaren and Red Bull.
Alonso, who finished second in Japan last weekend, was also outqualified by team-mate Felipe Massa for the second time this season.
Although Alonso conceded that Ferrari was no match for its rivals in qualifying trim, he believes the race could be very different, especially with the high tyre degradation expected.
“I can’t be happy with sixth, but the position reflects our current situation: McLaren and Red Bull are stronger than us so it just leaves us to fight between ourselves for fifth and sixth places,” said Alonso. “That’s how Saturday goes, but maybe tomorrow will end up like Sunday in Suzuka and we will find ourselves again fighting for the win.
“When tyre degradation is very high, usually we are in good shape, but here the situation is not very clear, as the behaviour of the super softs over a long run and on full tanks is still an unknown quantity. We had considered using this tyre right from Q1 but then we decided not to take too many risks.
“Unfortunately, I start from the dirty side of the grid, which should be a major disadvantage here, so I hope I don’t lose a place to Rosberg. We will have to keep an eye on what happens ahead of us and exploit the strategy in our favour.”
Massa, on the other hand, was pleased with his day’s job after finishing over a tenth of a second ahead of Alonso.
“I am happy with my performance today,” he said. “I think I got a good lap on my final run, after the first one in Q3, when I used the same set of Super-softs I had already run in Q2. My impression is that we are now also improving our Saturday performance, but there are still four cars in front of us and so the grid position stays more or less the same.
“Going into this Grand Prix there was a lot of concern about tyre degradation but, at least from what we have seen today, it seems to be less severe than expected. Let’s see how things go tomorrow. I am confident: if nothing strange happens to me, as has been the case in the last few races, then I think I can do a good job.”
Both Red Bull drivers will hope that running an alternative tyre strategy in qualifying will be a major benefit in the race. Autosport.com has the details.
Christian Horner is hoping that Red Bull’s decision to take an alternative approach to tyre use in qualifying will pay off in tomorrow’s Korean Grand Prix.
With high degradation expected in Sunday’s race, Red Bull took the unusual decision to burn through a set of fresh super soft option tyres during the initial phase of qualifying rather than use up freshness of one its prime sets.
And while Sebastian Vettel just missed out on pole, which went to Lewis Hamilton, and Red Bull failed to secure the top slot for the first time since the penultimate race of last season, Horner remains confident the team will be able to compete with McLaren – which has had the upper hand on pace throughout the weekend.
“We took a different approach to qualifying so obviously the guys didn’t take too much out of the first set of the super-soft tyres in Q1,” Horner told the BBC. “They drove to a target lap time and we will see. The McLarens have been very quick here this weekend and in all honesty we didn’t expect to get close to them.
“[It was a] phenomenal lap by Seb in the end to get himself on the front row. Although it’s the first time since Brazil last year that we’ve not been on the pole I think we are in good shape for tomorrow.”
Horner added that the strategy was pre-planned and that the team is very much race-focussed this weekend, with tyre wear rates remaining a mystery largely due to the lack of dry running on Friday.
Pirelli has brought its softest combination of tyres to Yeongam and no one is quite sure how long they will last.
“This race with the tyre choice that Pirelli have elected here, it’s going to be very strategic, and I think it will be crucial,” said Horner. “We’ve got our cars on the first two rows. Looking at McLaren’s performance yesterday we weren’t expecting that, so I think we are content and can hopefully mount a good challenge tomorrow.
“The strategy was something we discussed beforehand and we’ll see if it works. Theoretically McLaren have put five laps on that set of primes that we have the equivalent as new. If we end up using those tyres, hopefully that will be an advantage.”
Sebastian Vettel is under investigation for having cut through a corner during qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver cut out Turn 5 during one of his slowing-down laps in the final qualifying segment.
The FIA announced after qualifying that the incident was under investigation.
Vettel, who clinched his second title last Sunday, qualified in second position behind McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton.
Source: Autosport.com
Following the news that the race stewards are investigating the ‘cutting corner’ incident involving Sebastian Vettel, McLaren’s Jenson Button hopes that the new world champion would not lose his second place on the grid. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button is keeping his fingers crossed that Sebastian Vettel does not lose his second place slot on the grid for the Korean Grand Prix for cutting the track – because he does not want to start on the dirty side of the track.
Vettel was called to see the stewards after qualifying in Korea for having cut the track between Turn 4 and Turn 6 as he rushed to get back to the pits after his first qualifying lap.
That has been viewed as a breach of the regulations that state drivers must use the track at all times.
Article 20.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulations states: “For the avoidance of doubt the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.”
Although Vettel could face a drop down the grid for the offence, Button is hoping that it does not happen – because starting on the dirty side of the grid could be a penalty for the start of the race on Sunday.
“Looking at the last two years, we had a wet race last year, very wet rolling start, so nobody has started on those grid slots yet in a Formula 1 car, with our type of rubber,” said Button, while waiting for news of the stewards’ investigation.
“Every lap we do, we drive across the right hand side of the grid. I don’t think we have driven once across the left hand side yet, so the odd numbers should have an advantage. It is a good drag down to Turn 1.
“I am pretty happy being P3. I can’t be P1 as Lewis has done a better job than me and he is P1, so being P3 is probably the second best place. I hope they don’t give him a penalty. A reprimand maybe…”
Despite hoping that Vettel is not punished too much, Button did suggest that cutting the track like he did was not accepted behaviour.
“You are not supposed to,” he said. “You are supposed to stay within the white lines. Unless you make a mistake you don’t drive off the circuit really at any point, until the chequered flag is finished.”
Sebastian Vettel has escaped punishment for cutting the track after his first qualifying lap at the Korean Grand Prix.
The German was called to see the stewards after qualifying because he was deemed to have used an escape road to miss out the section of track between Turn 4 and Turn 6.
But after an investigation by the stewards, it was decided that no penalty should be handed out because the world champion had not gained an advantage.
A statement issued by the stewards said: “Having heard from the driver and team manager, and having noted that Car 1 started what was its fastest qualifying lap with 17 seconds to spare prior to the chequered flag, the stewards determined that no advantage was gained when car 1 left the track.
“Accordingly no breach of Article 20.13 occurred on this occasion and the stewards decide to take no further action.”
The stewards added that specific instructions will be issued to the drivers by race director Charlie Whiting about the use of the Turn 4 exit road ahead of Sunday’s race.
The decision to not penalise Vettel means that he will keep his second place on the grid, and leave Jenson Button relieved – as the McLaren driver wanted to keep his slot on the clean side of the grid in third place.
“I am pretty happy being P3,” said Button. “I can’t be P1 as Lewis has done a better job than me and he is P1, so being P3 is probably the second best place. I hope they don’t give him a penalty. A reprimand maybe…”
Source: Autosport.com
After taking his first pole position of the season, you would expect Lewis Hamilton to be relieved and happy with his qualifying result. But his mood was low key and even his McLaren team boss has played down the issue. Autosport.com has the story.
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has played down Lewis Hamilton’s low key mood after securing pole position for the Korean Grand Prix – insisting it is not mandatory for drivers to celebrate in wild style like Sebastian Vettel does.
Hamilton and his McLaren team ended Red Bull Racing’s lock-out of pole positions this season with a strong performance in Korea – delivering the 2008 world champion’s first top grid slot since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix.
And although the performance was greeted with joy at McLaren, Hamilton surprised observers by appearing quite calm about the achievement – and needing to explain to the media that he was actually happy inside.
“It is not obligatory to whoop!” explained Whitmarsh. “The fact is that we all have different styles and different views. We all enjoyed the moment but at the same time we are focused on the fact that we have a race that we think we can win tomorrow, and we are looking and concentrating on that.”
Hamilton said that he only found out he had got pole position a few corners after his qualifying lap, once main rival Vettel had crossed the line.
And, although there was no joyous outpouring of emotion in the car or in the pits afterwards, Hamilton said he was delighted with the performance.
“I wasn’t on the radio. It felt great in the car. I didn’t know whether I had got pole position until I got to Turn 3 or Turn 4, so it was good to hear. I had not heard that for a long time so it was a comforting feeling.”
He added: “It is a great feeling when you come across the line knowing you have done a lap and eventually when you have your engineer come across and say you do or you don’t have it.
“It is very rare that I have my engineer tell me that I am on pole so I wasn’t sure what his words were leading to. But eventually he got to it that I was doing a good job. And I could hear it was satisfying, as I could hear the guys in the background cheering.”
When asked about his focused mood, and whether any element of his approach to the weekend had changed on the back of recent struggles, Hamilton said: “No. I am the same as always. I am happy. I have a great position for tomorrow.
“It is nice to have a full qualifying session and to be able to get us on the front two rows. It was a great qualifying session for us. I’ve not changed anything; I don’t plan to change anything. It is still the same as it has been.”
Whitmarsh added that one of the best elements of Hamilton taking pole was that he did not have to make a move for the radio button to turn off Vettel’s normal post-chequered flag celebrations.
“Pole position is lovely to get but we are here to try and win the race, and I think that is more important to us,” he said.
“I have to confess we do listen to some of the other drivers and, on the monitor, I have a driver button. Afterwards, when they have gone on pole, I have to turn it off immediately so I don’t have to hear Sebastian whooping it up in the car. Today I wasn’t feverishly looking for that button to turn it off, so that felt good!”
Jerome D’Ambrosio admitted he was mystified by his lack of pace during qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix.
The Virgin driver finished in 22nd position nearly 1.5 seconds off the pace of team-mate Timo Glock as he struggled with a lack of grip.
D’Ambrosio said he could not understand the reason for his car’s poor speed.
“At the moment none of us really understand. The pace is not there, but it’s not like one sector or like I’m losing somewhere. It’s everywhere,” D’Ambrosio told AUTOSPORT.
“I think we have to get down to the bottom of this looking at the data, trying to understand. There’s a feeling that there is something going massively wrong. My feeling is a lack of grip everywhere and that’s it.
“But I don’t want to go crazy on this. I think I just continue to do my job as best as I as can tomorrow and then we’ll see. I’m sure we can improve and get to the bottom of it. Bad days happen and the most important thing is to understand where it’s coming from.”
He added: “The car balance was not the best I’ve had but not to explain 1.4 seconds. So it’s very difficult to understand. This is the thing I can’t explain at the moment. There are a couple of things we are looking at the moment and hopefully we can sort them out.”
The Belgian said he will still give his all to try to have a good race on Sunday.
“Tomorrow I’ll drive my heart out. It’s a race and I’m a racing driver. Tomorrow is a new day and I will do everything I can to have a good race like in Suzuka, Singapore and Spa. That’s my goal. To get in the car and drive my heart out.”
Source: Autosport.com