Fernando Alonso: – 4th: “It was important to get onto the front two rows, as it’s easier to fight for a good result from here. I don’t think there’s much of a difference between the two vertical lines of the grid because the ideal line on the start-finish straight goes down the middle, so both sides are quite dirty. In fact the dirt off the racing line could be a problem for overtaking with whoever initiates the move having to give it everything without hesitating. So far, this weekend has gone as expected and now we will try and do a good job tomorrow. It would be very nice to bring home one of the trophies that will be handed out to those who make it to the podium on Formula 1′s debut in India. I came very close to the front row, which is a bit of a surprise. In recent qualifying sessions, we have not managed to get as close as this to our main rivals and already yesterday we looked reasonably competitive. Usually, on Sunday our performance level is better but that does not automatically mean that we will be fighting for the win. There are too many unknowns, even more than usual and then, we have seen how things can change from one track to another. In Suzuka, we came within a whisker of the win and in Singapore we were not competitive. We will be doing our best, that’s for sure.”

Felipe Massa – 6th: “What happened on my last timed lap was a real shame. Today, we had the potential to secure a good placing, as Fernando demonstrated and as can also be seen from the fact my sixth best time was set with a rather slow third sector. I came into Turn 8 and went over the kerb and the front right suspension gave way in the impact with the raised orange part, which in my opinion is too high at this point. It’s a very fast corner, taken at around 215 km/h and it could be arranged differently. These are details that need improving for next year. I repeat, I am disappointed, because the car has been going well all weekend long. Now I find myself with one less set of Softs and with a broken front wing. It was the new one, which we had here for the first time and it delivered a bit extra in terms of performance. Tomorrow, overtaking will be difficult because of the dirt on track, but I think we will still see a lot.”

Stefano Domenicali: “First of all, I wish to congratulate the organisers of this Grand Prix. Bringing Formula 1 to India is a great achievement and they and Bernie Ecclestone deserve the credit for it. This country is growing rapidly, even if there are sharp contrasts, but never before have we seen our sport welcomed with such enthusiasm and interest from the general public. As for qualifying, I have to say our car’s overall performance was good: being less than a tenth off the front row – Vettel was once again untouchable – means that we are not looking too bad at this track. We are obviously disappointed for Felipe, who has been very quick all weekend: accidents like this can happen, but the important thing is that the driver is fine. Usually, our race pace is better than our outright performance in qualifying: let’s hope that is also the case tomorrow and we can leave India with a good result under our belt.”

Pat Fry: “I don’t know if our mechanics will take home happy memories of this race, because we’ve definitely given them a lot to do over the past two days. Yesterday, there was an unexpected engine change on Fernando’s car and today we have to repair Felipe’s car. As for the performance we saw in qualifying, the verdict is reasonably positive. The 150º Italia proved to be very competitive in the first two sectors of the track and given its characteristics, the performance in the second is encouraging. However, we struggled a bit more in the last one, especially when compared to Vettel’s Red Bull. The new front wing allows more room to manoeuvre when it comes to aerodynamic balance, which is always positive. The Soft tyres seem to be at their best on the second timed lap and degradation appears to be lower than expected and similar to what we saw in Korea, where the track was equally smooth. We need to find the best strategy and, in Felipe’s case, minimise the loss of one set of Softs which were damaged in the accident.”

Sebastian Vettel – 1st: “It was an interesting qualifying session; a new circuit and a new challenge – obviously I’m very happy to be on the front row. I don’t know if being on the left or the right side of the track (we are on the left), is really an advantage or not; there’s not one side that seems to be the clean side, as we tend to run down the middle. It was a good battle and after the first run it was very close, so I knew I had to do a little bit better on the second. We decided to only do one timed lap each time, it was still a bit slippery, but overall I’m very happy. Tomorrow it going to be a long race, we start starting the best possible position, so we’ll see what happens.”

Mark Webber – 3rd: “This new venue has been a good challenge for us. It was tricky to work out the right strategy for qualifying. The tyres weren’t easy for one timed lap, so we had to work out how to do the right strategy – lots of teams tried different styles to get the best lap time out of the car. The first sector was tricky to get right on one timed lap. I could have done better in the first sector on my first lap in Q3; I couldn’t complete my second, as there were yellow flags after Massa’s incident. Overall it’s a good job for the team, we’ve come to a new venue, prepared well and we’ve laid a good foundation for a very good race tomorrow.”

Christian Horner: “A great qualifying for the team to have established our 16th pole and a new record for the most poles secured by a team within a season. Also to have achieved a front row lock out after Lewis’ penalty of yesterday has put us in the best position to start tomorrow’s race. The dilemma was whether to do one or two laps, but in the end Sebastian managed to make two laps which were effectively good enough for pole. Mark running two laps on his first set of tyres in Q3 was the right strategy, so first and second on the grid is a great place to be starting the inaugural Indian Grand Prix at a circuit that has been a real challenge for the drivers and is a really exciting venue.”

(Renault) Cyril Dumont: “A wonderful pole position again for Sebastian at this first Indian Grand Prix; I’m pleased for him. I think we had the pace today to lock out the front row – but anyway, we will start first and second on the grid tomorrow. That’s the best place to start the race – we’ve clearly got the pace on low and high fuel, so it could be interesting tomorrow.”

A notably downbeat Lewis Hamilton on Saturday broke Red Bull’s grip on pole position in 2011.
“I’m sure this will cheer Lewis up,” his boss Martin Whitmarsh told BBC1 television.

But the 2008 world champion was not celebrating his rare defeat of F1′s new double title winner Sebastian Vettel, even causing the official press conference moderator to ask him: “Are you ok?”

A few minutes earlier, Hamilton had refused to respond to his engineer after being told of his pole, and in parc ferme climbed from his McLaren without a cheer, brushing a cameraman with his shoulder as he trudged past.

The 26-year-old is unquestionably struggling amid his dip of form in 2011, but his teammate Jenson Button noted after qualifying: “Lewis has been pretty great all weekend.”

Perhaps he suspects Red Bull are playing the long game, with Vettel securing a front row position whilst conserving “all our prime (soft) tyres” for a race expected to witness extreme degradation.

“I think we are in a good position. Tyre wear will be crucial,” said the German, who told his engineer he is looking forward to the “better tyres” on Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel was unbeatable on Saturday, his McLaren rivals admitted.
The Italian grand prix weekend looked set to be closely fought between Red Bull and the famous British team, but Vettel duly scored pole position by an easy half-tenth margin.

“Sebastian was mega quick today. That was untouchable,” said fellow front-row sitter Lewis Hamilton.

His McLaren teammate Jenson Button, third, agreed: “We were never going to challenge Seb.”

Red Bull entered the Monza weekend bouyed by good pace on the high speed Spa layout, but still wondering if the Renault engine would be good enough for the long straights.

“We did not think we would be on pole by such a big margin at a track that for the last two years did not suit us,” admitted Vettel.

Team boss Christian Horner, speaking to BBC One television, agreed: “It’s a massive margin, and was completely unexpected.”

Fighting on the edge for winning the pole position at Brno Automotodrom Returning from the (short) summer break, the main players in the top class were found encased in comparison to a handful of milliseconds: 113 to be exact, enough to Dani Pedrosa to mock agitated in a final session, the reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo. At the first pole position of the season (strange to say for a single lap specialist like him well in his career achieved 36 pole, just half in the top class), Pedrosa has stopped the clock sull’1’56 “591 without the stress’ unapproachable step-by-race shown yesterday.

The three-time world champion, already victorious in Brno 125cc (2003) and 250 (2005) with three podium finishes to the Masaryk Circuit in five editions of the Grand Prix of Republic of MotoGP, the reference is still in prospect for tomorrow’s race ( off as usual at 14:00) which will start in the front row alongside, as well as Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, also from the third to 0 “269 trying to fix those problems yesterday rediscounted riding his factory Honda RC212V.

With the trio used to monopolize the front row and podium finishes this season, there is little room for Ben Spies, fourth and not the best physical condition, but still ahead of Marco Simoncelli (5 °) and Valentino Rossi , who with a real “twist” at the end managed to get on the second row with the sixth fastest time by filing the gap to 7 tithing, best qualifying this season and his adventure with Ducati. There is no room for any kind of illusions, because the situation remains problematic to the red boxes: no way, but they show some small signs of recovery over a single lap at least as evidenced by the 9 th lap Nicky Hayden , over the weekend forced to navigate in the rear with the “old” GP11 (the “Step 1″ will try it until Monday in the post-race test day).

Among the disappointed of these tests include Andrea Dovizioso, 7 °, as Loris Capirossi that goes beyond the 16 th performance in front of Karel Abraham, who fell at the end of the session, in two separate occasions inadvertently emulated even by Randy De Puniet and Cal Crutchlow. Saturday to forget for Suzuki with Alvaro Bautista Friday 14 ° after a convincing KO following the flight this morning instead of John Hopkins : a broken finger on his right hand, farewell weekend action with a view to avoid compromising the title race in the British Superbike.

MotoGP World Championship 2011
Brno Qualifying Standings

01 – Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 1’56 .591
02 – Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0113
03 – Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 0269 +
04 – Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 0587 +
05 – Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – 0760 +
06 – Valentino Rossi – Team Ducati – Ducati Desmosedici GP11.1 – + 0776
07 – Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 0851 +
08 – Colin Edwards – Tech 3 Yamaha Monster – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1085
09 – Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – 1130 +
10 – Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1193
11 – Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1206
12 – Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – 1654 +
13 – Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – 1682 +
14 – Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki – Suzuki GSV-R – 1683 +
15 – Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – 2298 +
16 – Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – 2347 +
17 – Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – 2355 +

Michael Schumacher on Friday paid tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentine legend whose record of five world championships he matched and then broke earlier this decade. Friday, the scene of practice for this weekend’s European grand prix, was the 100th anniversary of the late and great Fangio’s birth. Speaking at Valencia, seven time world champion Schumacher recalled the early 90s, when he actually met Fangio at a DTM race a few years before he died. “I was struck by how youthful he still looked, even though he was already into his eighties,” the 42-year-old told Germany’s motorsport-magazin.com. “From his physical coordination and the alertness of his eyes, you could see what a great racing driver he must have been.” Of Fangio’s 51 grands prix, Fangio started from the front row on 48 occasions and won 24 times. He died aged 84 in 1995.

For the second consecutive day, Lewis Hamilton completed his on-track activities in Abu Dhabi with a summons to the stewards.

On Friday, the McLaren driver was formally reprimanded for aggressively cutting across the bow of Bruno Senna’s HRT and into the pitlane after an on-track incident.

And with only a slim chance of winning the 2010 title if he wins Sunday’s season finale, the Briton found himself again in trouble after qualifying on the front row.

On Saturday, the incident under investigation by FIA officials involves Felipe Massa, and a near coming-together during their out-laps in Q2.

Hamilton appeared to get in the Ferrari’s way before almost driving into Massa and hitting a corner bollard marker in the process.

The 25-year-old said on the radio that it had been Massa’s fault, to which the Brazilian replied that Hamilton must be “crazy”.

Hamilton had said on Friday that he will be driving even more aggressively than usual this weekend.

“It’s do or die,” he said. “I have to take more risks and be more aggressive than I have all year to get what I want.

“I’d give everything I possess to win this championship — all the strength, determination and will in my heart.”

On the track where he began winning the World Superbike Superpole victory in Race 2, Ben Spies was also the protagonist of the official MotoGP qualifying at Phillip Island. Third time for a front row a little surprise, made-race condition in the future so as to render official Yamaha rider very confident and satisfied with this result. For tomorrow there will be an opportunity if the target is the podium, but with only two races to win the title of best rookie season of 2010.

“I am very happy to be back in the front row, although I am a little surprised, “said Ben Spies. “My race pace at the beginning of session made me happy, although every time I tried to go faster in the latter part of the track appeared to me a few drops of rain on the visor of my helmet. Each time was like this: warm up the tires, but when I arrived at the first corner to start a fast lap I realized that there was no possibility of a clean lap.

Of course I did not want to take big risks knowing they are already close to the front row, but eventually I managed to get the third best time, in fact, was obtained in race trim. I am confident because overall it was a good session, so if we can put everything together, we can point to a good result, perhaps to fight for the podium.

Here, the bike is really good, I have a good pace, I just try to render the best the whole package in anticipation of the last laps of the race. The goal for tomorrow is to make sure in advance the title of Rookie of the Year, was another box ticked in this successful season, “said Spies that just before Simoncelli stars to reach this goal.

For just 16 thousandths Marco Simoncelli was close today, the first row in the grid of the MotoGP at Phillip Island. A qualification encouraging for the Gresini team rider who has always gone well in Australia, winning the last two editions of the GP reserved for 250cc, showing fast even with the Honda RC212V MotoGP.

“I’m really happy because it has a few Grand Prix were following the second row and today I did for a while and even I could conquer the first! I am happy although I must admit that Spies in front of me, perhaps, is slightly faster. In any case, that’s fine so we did a good improvement from this morning and now we have to think about the race.

In conclusion Marco Simoncelli speaks of the wind and a tornado … or Casey Stoner, who has seen him turn a close today in official qualifying.

“Unfortunately the wind was quite annoying and I was in trouble especially when I was in my lap in front of Stoner and I honestly could not understand how she could go so hard. “

After the battle with his teammate and rival views Lorenzo in Motegi, Valentino Rossi seems to have recovered the enamel and the motivation to do well. His is the best time at the end of the first free practice session on the track at Sepang, with the pilot of Tavullia that marked a best lap of 2’02 .724.

Signals from the shoulder seem more positive, so that the “Doctor” will focus on tomorrow to find a rhythm important race, and try to get an important front row in the grid. The feeling with the bike is excellent, and this is a sign that the difference at this moment is making the nine-time world champion.

“It ‘s been another good start for us here,”says Valentino Rossi. “We found a good set-up right now. I feel really comfortable on my bike, and until now, the shoulder seems fine.

The track is quite dirty, but will improve and I really like racing at this track, is one of my favorites and are always happy to get on here. We are confident that we can improve tomorrow and be in good shape that allows us to obtain the first row tomorrow afternoon. “

Fresh renewal (biennial) with Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo took fourth time in official qualifying Grand Prix of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi and, for the first time this season, will start from the second row. The (almost) the 2010 World Champion has run into some more problems than expected in its turn from “pole”, however after having shown an enviable step over the free practice sessions.

“I am a little disappointed because this was not the result I expected, “said Jorge Lorenzo. “I would really like to get the front row in Japan in Yamaha’s home race, just after signing with them for another two years. Fortunately, the skills and appearance are just more important is that we are ready for the race, our pace was competitive and there are only two small issues still to be placed on my M1. “

Compared to yesterday Jorge Lorenzo has decided to use our engine as well as Valentino Rossi, with a view to obtaining positive impressions of a race which, according to the forecast, it should be wet from the rain.

“It is better, especially in higher gears, it’s definitely an advantage for us. In any case, scatter for the first time this year from the second row, but they are near the control and try to make the best possible start. Unfortunately the weather forecast is not the best, I hope the good weather, but must also be prepared for rain, “said the Fiat Yamaha rider.

A tough day for Casey Stoner, with the team totally dedicated to arrange a Ducati Desmosedici not as competitive as two weeks ago to Motorland Aragon. Working with three different set-up was eventually found a good compromise that allowed the Australian to win the first row of the grid, but away from it can be completely satisfied and confident for the race …

“We started yesterday by a set-up similar to that of Aragon Motorland, but we had problems on and off the bike surge in output, “says Casey Stoner. “At this point we decided to change the weight distribution to find more stability, but at the same time there was no traction.

When the track conditions improved I was driving better, but unfortunately the time is not coming down. Together with the team we have returned to previous solutions by bringing more weight on the rear axle: the bike still lift when accelerating, but at least we have improved a bit.

The times were down and when we put the soft we hit the first row, then this must be met even if tomorrow we must try to change something on the bike, “said the 2007 World Champion.

At one point, Valentino Rossi in qualifying at Motegi official found himself in pole position, shaded only by 54 thousandths poor in favor of Andrea Dovizioso. Disappointed? Quite the opposite: back on the front row is good news for Valentino, as well as the gradual improvement in physical form only so much to talk about it later after the tests on Saturday at Twin Ring Motegi …

” It‘s really a good feeling to be back here in the front row after such a long time, last time was in Le Mans!“says Valentino Rossi. “Here we were able to improve on every aspect, changes to the set-up allowed me to better guide the M1, but also the new engine allows us to be faster on the straight and the hard compound Bridgestone tires work better than the Motorland Aragon. “

Inevitably, Valentino Rossi has spoken of his physical condition, with the shoulder here, surprisingly, is much less bad than expected with a logical explanation.

“As I said yesterday, I expected to suffer more with his shoulder, but I actually feel pretty good: this is not holding back bent, so I do not feel too much pain. I am very happy. Starting from the front row will be very important for today, hope for good weather and see what we can do, “concluded the nine-time champion.

With only four races to run after Sunday’s Singapore grand prix, Red Bull appears no closer to making championship leader Mark Webber its number 1 bet for the world championship.

The Australian, 24 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel, has struggled relative to his front row-sitting teammate in Singapore, qualifying three paces behind the sister RB6.

“We have two drivers competing for the world championship and we will continue supporting them until for one of them it is not mathematically and practically possible for them to win the championship,” team boss Christian Horner said in Singapore.

But Webber, 34, answered “yes” after a long pause when asked by British television BBC if he would accept preferred status for the balance of the season.

“For me it’s an unique opportunity that I might never get again,” he also said in an interview with Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

“But I can’t yet say ‘Hey Seb, let me have this opportunity because you might have the chance for another ten years or more’,” added Webber.

At the same time, he concedes that – despite some earlier ructions within the Austrian camp – Red Bull would be happy if he wins the title.

“It was rumoured that Helmut (Marko) would prefer Vettel, because they might have a closer relationship.  But he would be very happy if I won the world championship today,” the Australian insisted.

“If we did it, everyone would have a headache from the party, no matter which of us is champion.  The team situation is completely neutral,” added Webber.

He also played down rumours he is disaffected at Red Bull, revealing that when he decides to stop driving, he will probably continue to work with the energy drinks company.

“What Red Bull did when I broke my leg was impressive and I’ll never forget it,” he said.

“They backed me when I was totally in the shit.  Yes, maybe we can continue to do something together,” added Webber, who is under contract only until the end of 2011.

He wanted the front row but the fourth time in qualifying Alcaniz is not a result to be discarded for the race tomorrow to Nicky Hayden. Quick all weekend with his Ducati Desmosedici, Ducati rider feels confident and ready to achieve a positive result for the whole team.

“Overall I can say that was a good day, “says Hayden. “We had two dry practice sessions where we managed to improve the bike. Points to the first row, but we are still far away, we must be satisfied because the team is working very well so that me and Casey are in the first four. ”

Before thinking about the race the 2006 World Champion has shown a little background on preparing for this Grand Prix of Aragon.

“With the simulator we have in Ducati reference was provided lap of 1’49″ and a pole was 1’48 “9: unbelievable, it means that the company is working very well by each of the tasks to perfection! Tomorrow I hope to repay them with a good result we want at this time. “