Vettel claims 3rd straight Indian GP pole

Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position at the Indian Grand Prix, shoring up the Red Bull driver's bid for an almost inevitable fourth straight Formula One title. 

Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. The German has won both previous Indian GP races, leading every lap.

He clocked 1 minute, 24.119 seconds to beat his nearest rival by 0.7 seconds.

Nico Rosberg will share the front of the grid after finishing second, with fellow Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton third and Red Bull's Mark Webber fourth.  

Red Bull can also make it the fourth straight double of drivers' and constructors' titles if Ferrari fails to outscore it by more than 19 points.

Felipe Massa starts from fifth, while Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso could only manage eighth.

Romain Grosjean, who was expected to challenge for the podium, was eliminated in the first round of qualifying after Lotus' gamble on sticking with medium tires backfired. The Frenchman will start from 17th on the grid.

Vettel and Webber chose differing tire strategies for qualifying, with Vettel electing to use the quicker but fragile soft compound for the third round and race start, and Webber preferring the medium compound.

Vettel has dominated since arriving in India, leading all three practice sessions.

Rosberg said Mercedes had pushed his car to its limits to make him as competitive as possible.

Hamilton, while happy with qualifying, was pessimistic of his chances of challenging the Red Bulls.

Force India failed to qualify in the top 10 for its home race, with Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil eliminated in the second round in 12 and 13th respectively.

The start of the morning third practice session was delayed by 20 minutes after organizers deemed the haze over the track would prevent the race's medical helicopter from flying.

Seasonal atmospheric conditions have produced dense morning mists at Greater Noida, with similar conditions forecast for Sunday. 


AP