Formula 1 Saturday Roundup.

There was no matching Sebastian Vettel yesterday in Practice as the Red Bull looked simply brilliant around this Buddh International Circuit. But today the focus switches to Qualifying and who can grab that all important pole position. The final practice session however would give us more of a clue as to who was on top form.

Final Practice.

The final practice session of the weekend was delayed by 20 minutes due to poor visibility. The city smog was hanging around in the air meaning the Medical Helicopter could not be deployed should it be required. Once conditions improved, the session got underway. It was a reduced session just 40 minutes meaning that there was plenty of cars out on track. Circuit conditions were still a little slippery as Max Chilton found out as he went into a spin in the Marussia. Romain Grosjean also got out of shape and blocking Lewis Hamilton who was on a fast lap at the time. Once the Red Bull’s came out with low fuel and soft tyres, they were untouchable and their domination continued. Fernando Alonso must have been encouraged by the pace of his Ferrari as he managed to secure third on the time sheets. Nico Hulkenberg showed his great driving skills once more and Romain Grosjean proved the Lotus had good pace. Ahead of Qualifying however it was Red Bull one and two in the final practice session.

So the scene was set for the days main event.

Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix Qualifying.

As qualifying got underway there was an impressive showings early on from Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez. The first session as busy towards the end as young Mexican set a great lap time, really throwing a spanner in the works. Those towards the drop off point included Hamilton, Grosjean and Massa. Hamilton and Massa on the soft tyres went for another run and improved, Grosjean however looked to pull off a trick by staying on hard tyres, and not going for a faster time. It worked before for the Frenchman, but Lotus admitted they made the wrong call, Grosjean was out in Q1.

The second session saw strong starts from Ferrari and Mercedes, and their good performances continued throughout the early stages. There was also a good improvement from McLaren who really seem to be on form this weekend, it has to be said, it’s about time too. But order was resumed as soon as Vettel and Webber appeared on track. They were using all the road and more to once again dominate the session.

The final session was all about strategy for the race and what tyres to start on. There was an interesting mix with Mark Webber qualifying on the mediums, those ahead are on soft tyres so the race is going to be highly interesting tomorrow. McLaren also chose the medium compounds. But in terms of grid position, yes you guessed it, Vettel took on pole position by a blistering 1.7 seconds. There really is no stopping the young German this weekend.

It was a fascinating qualifying session in India today, this is how the grid looks ahead of tomorrows race.

1 S Vettel Red Bull
2 N Rosberg Mercedes
3 L HamiltonMercedes
4 M Webber Red Bull
5 F Massa Ferrari
6 K Raikkonen Lotus
7 N Hulkenberg Sauber
8 F Alonso Ferrari
9 S Perez McLaren
10 J Button McLaren
11 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso
12 P DiResta Force India
13 A Sutil Force India
14 J Vergne Toro Rosso
15 V Bottas Williams
16 E Gutierrez Sauber
17 R Grosjean Lotus
18 P Maldonado Williams
19 J Bianchi Marussia
20 G v.d Garde Caterham
21 C Pic Caterham
22 M Chilton Marussia

Tom Wilkinson’s Qualifying Analysis

I found it fascinating looking at the time sheets this afternoon, many drivers which I thought would do good this weekend simply haven’t delivered. Look at Alonso for example, his teammate starts 5th and he starts 8th, and he’s the only man remaining who can challenge Vettel in the Championship. Ferrari have a well balanced looking car this weekend, but I expected more from Fernando. Also Rosberg ahead of Hamilton, Perez ahead of Button, I expected those names to be the other way around. Kimi Raikkonen has improved on his earlier performances during this weekend, but Grosjean was unlucky not to make Q2. However one of my Twitter followers pointed out to me that he was driving too aggressively, looking again I had to agree, just perhaps overdriving the Lotus. Bottas showed good form once again, I really hope we can see him remain in F1 next season, a great driver and lovely all round guy to talk to in paddock. Gutierrez showed good form in Q1, but couldn’t make any improvement afterwards. A word on Jules Bianchi, qualifying not for the first time this season ahead of both Caterham’s and his own teammate. Another impressive outing for the young Frenchman. And finally I couldn’t end without it, an outstanding show from Sebastian Vettel, his 43rd pole position in Formula 1. I have no doubts that tomorrow he will become a World Champion for the fourth time in succession.

Thats it from me today, but be sure to stay here at Driving For Pleasure tomorrow for race with our extensive coverage. Follow us on Twitter for Live updates TomWilkinsonF1 and Drivin4Pleasure.