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YEONGAM, South Jeollar Province— McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton continued his dominance at the Korean Grand Prix by knocking Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel off pole position on Saturday.
The 2008 champions claimed top spot on the grid with a supreme run of 1 minute 35.820 seconds, 0.222 seconds ahead of reigning world champion Vettel.
Jenson Button finished third for McLaren ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber. And two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, were fifth and sixth respectively.
After taking his first pole for 16 months since Canada in 2010, Hamilton said that he felt great to be back on pole.
Hamilton was second to Ferrai’s Alonso last year at the inaugural Korean Grand Prix, and he had a rather disappointing season so far.
But the British driver said he believes he can win the Sunday’s race.
“I’ve had some difficult races in the past, but I hope I can redeem myself tomorrow,” he added.
Red Bull, which had taken pole in all 15 races this season, could have broken the record for successive pole positions, had Vettel or Webber been on pole.
But Vettel, who clinched his second world title last week, suggested that it was a part of the team’s qualifying strategy.
On Saturday, Red Bull used the same set of super-soft tires for both the first two periods of qualifying session, saving the harder tires for Sunday.
“We saved all our prime tyres which will be crucial for tomorrow," the 24-year-old Vettel said.
Meanwhile on Saturday, former world champion Michael Schumacher, tied to redeem himself in the middle section of qualifying, but the 42-year-old failed to make into a top-10 place and finished 12th for Mercedes.
By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)
<한글기사>
루이스 해밀턴(영국·맥라렌)이 국제자동차 경 주대회 포뮬러 원(F1) 코리아 그랑프리 예선 1위를 차지했다.
해밀턴은 15일 전남 영암의 코리아 인터내셔널 서킷에서 열린 3차 예선에서 5.615㎞의 서킷 한 바퀴를 1분35초820에 달려 가장 좋은 기록을 냈다.
이로써 해밀턴은 16일 같은 장소에서 열리는 결선 레이스에서 맨 앞에서 출발하 게 돼 이번 대회 우승에 한 발짝 가까이 다가갔다.
예선은 1,2,3차로 나뉘어 열리며 20분간 열리는 1차 예선에서 24명의 선수 가운 데 한 바퀴를 돈 기록이 좋은 17명이 2차 예선에 진출한다.
2차 예선은 15분간 같은 방식으로 진행되며 상위 10명이 10분간 펼쳐지는 최종 3차 예선에 나갈 자격을 얻는다.
올해 종합 우승을 확정한 제바스티안 페텔(독일·레드불)은 1분36초042로 2위에 해당하는 성적을 냈다.
해밀턴의 팀 동료 젠슨 버튼(영국)이 1분36초126을 기록해 16일 결선에서 앞에 서 세 번째 출발 포지션을 차지했다.
미하엘 슈마허(독일·메르세데스)는 2차 예선 17명 가운데 12위에 그치며 3차 예선 진출이 좌절돼 결선 레이스에서 좋은 성적을 기대하기 어렵게 됐다.
