SINGAPORE: Sebastian Vettel remained wary of his closest rival Fernando Alonso yesterday even after he strengthened his grip on the championship with pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Vettel was inspired around the 23-corner Marina Bay street circuit, while Ferrari’s Alonso could only wind up seventh, putting him on the fourth row of the grid for today’s race.
But Vettel, bidding to extend his 53-point advantage with seven races to go, refused to count out the dogged Alonso who has won two world titles and twice took the German to the last day of the season.
“I think the Ferrari was struggling the last couple of events in qualifying but they have very, very good race pace,” Vettel said.
“I think the last couple of races Fernando has finished on the podium, and I’m sure they will come back.”
Vettel holds all the aces in Singapore, after winning the last two editions of Formula One’s only night race along with three of the last four grands prix this season.
He remains capable of wrapping up the championship as early as next month, and joining legends Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as only the third man to win four world titles in a row.
But despite his current dominance, the 26-year-old German refused to get ahead of himself before today’s race.
“Obviously it’s no harm for us today... but I’m confident Fernando will do everything he can tomorrow to fight back.”
Meanwhile, Vettel put pole position on the line with a bold and risky gamble that paid off.
The championship leader had stormed to the fastest time ever seen in Singapore and retreated to the garage content that his one minute 42.841 second lap would be enough to hold off his rivals.
It turned out closer than he had imagined, with fellow-German Nico Rosberg ending the session just 0.091 seconds slower for Mercedes to line up alongside on the front row of the grid.
“I knew we had a cushion which is why we decided not to run again but the thing you don’t know is how much the track improves and I’m sure there was a little bit of track ramping up,” Vettel told reporters after his fifth pole of the season.
“We thought it was good enough... but probably a bit close.”
Vettel now looks set fair to record a hat-trick of victories in Singapore and extend his 53-point lead over nearest rival Alonso.
“Rocky (race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin) asked me if I was happy not to run again and stay in the garage and I said ‘yes I’m happy’. He asked before how much I could improve if I go again and I told him probably there was a tenth maybe two,” added Vettel.
“So I thought there was a tenth in me... it was very close and it was not the best feeling when you stand there and watch.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it was a huge relief to see off the late challenge from Mercedes after Vettel appeared so dominant.
“We were happy after the first run but then Rosberg started going very quick,” he said.
He added: “We asked him (Vettel) if he thought he could go any quicker, he said a tenth. So we thought hopefully that should be enough and in the end it was pretty tight.” REUTERS
