Reuters: Sports News: Hamilton storms to Abu Dhabi pole

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Hamilton storms to Abu Dhabi pole Nov 3rd 2012, 17:15 1 of 3. McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after taking pole position in the qualifying session of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit on Yas Island November 3, 2012. Hamilton will start Sunday's Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on pole position with Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber also on the front row. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel will start third for Red Bull while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the German's closest title rival who has a 13 point gap with three races remaining, will line up seventh. Credit: Reuters/Suhaib Salem By Alan Baldwin ABU DHABI | Sat Nov 3, 2012 1:15pm EDT ABU DHABI (Reuters) - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton denied Red Bull a fourth successive pole position on Saturday with a sizzling Abu Dhabi qualifying lap that pushed Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel off the front row. Hamilton, the 2008 champion, will have Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber alongside him for Sunday's start instead of the German, who had been on the front in all three races to date at Yas Marina. Vettel qualified third under the floodlights but with a question mark over his placing after the team and their Renault technicians ordered him to stop immediately on track as he headed back to the pits after the checkered flag. Red Bull were summoned to stewards to explain why the car had not driven back to the pits under its own power, a failing that could send the German to the back of the grid if it is due to having an insufficient amount of fuel on board. There was still no decision three hours after qualifying had ended. Hamilton was sent to the back of the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix in May for insufficient fuel after he stopped on track after securing pole position in Barcelona. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Vettel's closest title rival who has a 13-point gap to close on the 25-year-old with three rounds remaining, would line up a distant seventh for the day-to-night race as matters stand. Champions Red Bull had locked out the front row of the last three races. "It's the first time for a long time to be ahead of the Bulls and starting at the front," said Briton Hamilton, who was last on pole in Singapore last month but has always started on the front row in the Emirate. "It's going to be tough in the race and I hope we are strong enough to fight them once again. The car's felt beautiful all weekend," he added after his 25th career pole and sixth of the season. SOME PROBLEM Vettel, who had brake problems that sidelined him for most of final practice in the afternoon, had played down the qualifying problem. "I don't know why I had to stop. I was asked to stop. Probably some problem. But it shouldn't be something major," the German, chasing his fifth win in a row and looking good for a third successive title, told reporters. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said immediately after qualifying that it was "a request that came from the engine ranks, but at the moment I have no idea why". Vettel also brushed the guardrail in the first part of qualifying, sending out sparks, but appeared to escape without damage. He and Hamilton are the only drivers to have ever won at the harborside track. Webber, who is effectively out of the championship, inevitably faced questions about so-called 'team orders' in favor of his team mate with Red Bull also able to win the constructors' championship on Sunday. Alonso, whose car has shown better pace on Sundays than Saturdays in recent races, said he had done the best he could in the circumstances. "We were not competitive today. I'm happy with my performance. We struck the maximum," the Spaniard said. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado qualified a strong fourth for Williams with Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, third in the championship with Lotus, lining up fifth and alongside McLaren's Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher, who has not scored a point for four races and is retiring at the end of the season when Hamilton takes his seat, qualified 14th for Mercedes while team mate Nico Rosberg starts eighth. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Mark Meadows) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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