Hamilton takes pole at Korean Grand Prix

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. 

Lewis Hamilton in action at the Korean Grand Prix on Saturday. Yonhap News

“I'm very happy. I'm very proud of what the team has achieved over the last two races,” Hamilton said.

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)