Red Bull’s Vettel Claims Pole Position for European Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel claimed his third pole position of the Formula One season by topping qualifying for tomorrow’s European Grand Prix.

Vettel, the two-time defending world champion, beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by 0.324 seconds in Valencia, Spain. It’s the 33rd career pole for the 24-year-old German, who’s won the race from the front the past two years.

Pastor Maldonado of Williams was third, followed by Lotus teammates Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Force India’s Paul di Resta round out the top-10 quialifiers.

Hamilton leads the season standings by two points over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who will start 11th, with Vettel a point further back. A different driver has won the each of the first seven races this season for the only time in the 62-year history of Formula One.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bob Bensch at bbensch@bloomberg.net