Webber Wins Pole for Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Webber Wins Pole for Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing celebrates after finishing first during qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on November 2, 2013 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
Chris Jasurek
11/2/2013
Updated:
11/2/2013

Mark Webber won his 13th career pole at Abu Dhabi Saturday, beating out his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel by .118 seconds with a lap of 1.39.957. Webber was the only driver to crack 1:39.

Webber, who at 35 has decided to call an end to his F1 career to head to sports cars, must know that this might be the last time he beats Vettel—surely one of the sweeter moments of the end of the season, which has been filled with flaming wrecks and retirements for the Australian driver.

“I knew I had to work on certain sections of the track. Sebastian had already been doing a good job there already so I had to try to match him there and keep the areas where I was still doing a pretty good job,” Webber told formula1.com.

“Overall happy with the pole. It was a good lap obviously on a track which in the past hasn’t been super-invigorating for me in terms of layout, let’s say, but we certainly enjoyed the quali today and really looking forward to the race tomorrow because we’ve got a good car for the race in these conditions.”

Mercedes owns the second row, with Nico Rosberg qualifying third and Lewis Hamilton fourth. Hamilton spun on his final lap, spoiling his chance to capture the pole. It is the first time in his career Hamilton has not started the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the front row. “Something failed in the rear end,” he told NBCSN after the session.

““Fourth place feels pretty good this evening considering the time was set on my first Q3 lap. Unfortunately on my second lap it looks like something gave way at the back of the car as I got on the power at the chicane and it just snapped out, which forced me into a spin.

“It was a great lap and might just have been enough to get us onto the front row as I was fourth-tenths up on my first effort but these things happen.”

“The car felt really strong today so we'll hope for a good start and then challenge to make up some positions in the race tomorrow. The good thing is that we are ahead of Ferrari and that’s where we need to stay. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hope we can get a good result.”

Kimi Räikkönen of Lotus qualified fifth, but his car susatained damage hopping curbs so that its floor did not pass post-race tech inspection. Räikkönen will have to start fromthe back of the grid.

 Nico Hulkenberg continued his string of impressive performances in second tier-Sauber by qualifying sixth. He will start fifth because or Räikkönen’s penalty.

The shock of the session was that Fernando Alonso failed to make it into the final qualifying session, the first time all year the Ferrari driver has not been in the hunt for the pole.

Alonso bobbled on a fast lap with less than a minute left in Q2, and didn’t have time to cool his tires properly for another fast run. He will start 11th. This is a huge break for McLaren which is fighting hard against Ferrari for second in the constructor’s championship.

The Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes the green flag at 8 a.m. Eastern time. The race will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Nertwork.