Hamilton on pole for Abu Dhabi's debut

Published: 9:07AM Sunday November 01, 2009

Source: Reuters

At a glance...

Hamilton hands McLaren first Abu Dhabi pole

Red Bull drivers second and third

New champion Button qualifies fifth

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Hamilton on pole for Abu Dhabi's debut (Source: Reuters)

Source: ReutersLewis Hamilton driving at dusk in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton placed his McLaren on pole position for the floodlit first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to leave new champion Jenson Button and other rivals reeling in his wake.

Formula One's outgoing world champion grabbed the 17th pole of his 52-race career to knock Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel into second place at the glittering new Yas Marina circuit that hosts Monday's season-ender.

Briton Hamilton was nearly 0.7 seconds quicker than Vettel in final qualifying and, despite his car being 4.5kg lighter on fuel than the German, should run away with the sport's first day-to-night race.

Fellow Briton Button, who clinched the title in Brazil with a race to spare, will line up fifth after complaining of juddering when he hit the brakes in the final session.

"The car's been probably the best it has been all year," Hamilton told a news conference.

"It seems to really feel quite comfortable on this circuit," added the 24-year-old winner of two races after a slow start to the season.

"What they've done here is just incredible and it's just a real pleasure to drive here."

While both titles have been decided already in favour of Button and Brawn GP, McLaren are only a point ahead of Ferrari in third place in the constructors' standings with significant prize money at stake.

KERS advantage

Hamilton can count on the KERS energy recovery system he said offered an advantage of three to four tenths of a second a lap at such a circuit and that the Red Bulls and Brawns lack.

"I think both of us were a little surprised by the gap," said Vettel, whose Australian team mate Mark Webber qualified in third place.

"Lewis has been strong all weekend ... it just seems our KERS button which we have on the steering wheel is not working," he joked, knowing the team have not had the system installed all year.

"Dancing for rain will be pretty useless here," added the 22-year-old German.

Webber said: "The grid this afternoon is the story of the second part of the championship".

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, fighting Vettel for second place overall, starts fourth for Brawn.

Neither Ferrari made it to the final session of qualifying, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen pegged back in 11th place on the starting grid for his last race with the Italian team.

Italian stand-in Giancarlo Fisichella, with injured Brazilian Felipe Massa looking on, qualified last for what is likely to be his final Formula One appearance before he becomes Ferrari's test driver.

"I was only a tenth slower than Kimi up until the last sector but then there was a lot of understeer and the car wouldn't work so unfortunately I didn't get through," the Roman told the BBC.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso, who replaces Raikkonen at Ferrari, also had a demoralising afternoon and qualified 16th although he will move up a place because McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen will get a five place penalty.

Kovalainen, who had been quickest in Saturday's free practice, qualified 13th but will pay the price for a change of gearbox.

Qualifying times:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren-Mercedes 1m 40.948s

2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault 1:41.615

3. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:41.726

4. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn - Mercedes 1:41.786

5. Jenson Button (Britain) Brawn - Mercedes 1:41.892

6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:41.897

7. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:41.992

8. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:42.343

9. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1:42.583

10. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:42.713