Sebastian Vettel a pole star

FORMULA ONE world champion Sebastian Vettel took pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday on the final lap of qualifying, matching Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 poles in a season and putting him in prime position to equal the record for most wins.

The Red Bull driver clocked 1 minute, 38.481 seconds at the Yas Marina circuit, 0.14 seconds quicker than McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton who had led qualifying until that final lap.

Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button will start today’s race third alongside Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber on the second row.

Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa continued to struggle, and will start on the third row in fifth and sixth.

After Vettel finished his last lap, the team yelled over the radio “Brilliant, Mr Mansell” to which the 24-year-old German responded “Ich liebe dich” or “I love you”.

“I was very happy to get pole because it was difficult. We weren’t sure about it and surprised when we crossed the line,” Vettel said, adding that Mansell’s record wasn’t something the team had discussed. “He obviously took two races less to achieve the same but still it’s something special. Yeah, it’s a great feeling.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called Vettel’s matching Mansell’s pole record a “tremendous achievement”.

“An unbelievable final lap from Sebastian, to get the pole in what was a really exciting qualifying tonight,” Horner said.

Hamilton, who had driven flawlessly on Friday and avoided the penalties that had cost him in early races, appeared poised to take pole and was leading going into the third session of qualifying. But the 2008 world champion said he felt the car was “understeering” towards the end of qualifying session.

“I’m happy today to be in the front row and to not have any penalty is a blessing,” said Hamilton, who was penalised three grid places for ignoring yellow flags at the Indian Grand Prix and has sparred repeatedly with race stewards this season.

Initially, it didn’t appear like this would be Vettel’s weekend.

He started slow in the first practice on Friday and finished sixth. Then, he made a rare mistake on Turn 1 in the second practice, crashing out and finishing fourth.

“I wasn’t happy with the car and myself. I went off [the track] and had a mistake,” Vettel said of Friday’s practice sessions. The balance of the car wasn’t as good as it could be and I felt there was more in the car and we just had to get to it,” he said. “I felt much better this afternoon and was getting better later on in qualifying. In Q2, we were close. I felt that in Q3 if we got everything together, we would have a chance.”

The two-time champion Vettel has already won twice in Abu Dhabi, and another victory this weekend will leave him needing to win the final race of the season in Brazil to match his compatriot Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season.

Scotland’s Paul di Resta starts from tenth on the grid in his Force India car after opting not to set a time in the final qualifying stage.