Pole position for Vettel
October 5, 2013Red Bull driver Vettel set a time of one minute, 37.202 seconds on the Yeongam circuit on Saturday, two tenths of a second better than Lewis Hamilton of Britain, who will line up beside the German on Sunday.
Vettel's Red Bull team-mate and bitter rival, the Australian driver Mark Webber, was third fastest in qualifying, but will start from 13th position due to a 10-grid-place penalty opposed following the last Formula One race in Singapore.
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was fourth-fastest on the South Korean course, ahead of German Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. They, along with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who finished sixth, will each move up a place in the grid due to Webber's penalty.
On Sunday, Vettel, the defending drivers'champion, will be looking to pad his 60-point lead over second place Alonso in the standings. Hamilton, the third-best driver this year, trails by a further 36 points.
pfd/tj (dpa, Reuters, AP)