page_title: 2011 Indian Grand Prix
section_title: Qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Indian Grand Prix / Report / Qualifying
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Fernando Alonso Gp Inde 2011
context_page_description: The 2011 Indian Grand Prix, formally the 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, was a Formula One motor race that was held on 30 October 2011 at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was the seventeenth round of the 2011 Formula One season and the first Formula One Grand Prix to take place in South Asia and first to take place in India.
  The 60-lap race was won by Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, after leading every lap of the race from pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race to claim his first Grand Chelem. Jenson Button finished in second place for McLaren, and Fernando Alonso completed the podium for Ferrari, in third position.
context_section_description: Qualifying began with the observation that many of the drivers using the softer option tyres drove a slower flying lap to generate heat into the tyres, before starting a faster flying lap. Vitaly Petrov set the fastest time of the session, while Timo Glock was forced out early with a gearbox problem. Glock failed to set a time within 107% of Petrov, and therefore needed permission to enter the race. Permission was ultimately granted on the basis that Glock had set times through free practice that were well within 107% of the fastest times in those sessions. Jenson Button experienced early troubles when he reported that his car lacked rear grip, and he was sixteenth in the final few minutes of the session, just ahead of Michael Schumacher in seventeenth and Kamui Kobayashi in eighteenth. Both of them had demonstrated lap times faster than that of Button's, placing Button in danger of being eliminated. Button was forced to use a set of option tyres earlier than planned in order to advance to Q2, even though Kobayashi ultimately aborted his final flying lap, meaning Button would have been safe whether he had stayed in the pits or not. Michael Schumacher was impeded on his final lap through Turns 10 and 11 by Narain Karthikeyan, who later received a five-place penalty for the infringement. Kobayashi, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Daniel Ricciardo, Karthikeyan, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Timo Glock were all eliminated, although those positions were subject to change once grid penalties were applied.
  The second qualifying period was topped by Sebasitan Vettel, who remained the only driver of the weekend to break the 1:25.000 barrier. Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov set identical lap times to the thousandth of a second, with both drivers recording a lap time of 1:26.319, and finishing the session in tenth and eleventh place respectively. Alguersuari advanced to the third and final qualifying period by virtue of having set his lap time before Petrov. Petrov finished the session eleventh, which became sixteenth when his penalty from the Korean Grand Prix was applied. Michael Schumacher qualified twelfth after complaining of a vibration in the rear of the car, ahead of Paul di Resta, Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna, Rubens Barrichello, Petrov and Sergio Pérez in seventeenth. Pérez was later moved back to twentieth place, having earned a three-place penalty for ignoring yellow flags in practice, and started the race behind teammate Kobayashi and the Team Lotus cars of Kovalainen and Trulli.
  The third and final session saw the top four drivers separated by just one tenth of a second. Vettel set the early pace, ahead of Hamilton, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. Having used a set of soft tyres early, Jenson Button elected to do just one flying lap at the end of the session, finishing fifth after Felipe Massa crashed out in front of him and forcing Button to slow down. Massa hit the high kerb on the inside of Turn 8, breaking his suspension and sending him into the wall, damaging his front wing. There was some contention as to whether Button's lap time was legal, as he had set his fastest (and only) lap time while yellow flags were displayed for Massa's crash. Button maintained that he had slowed down as soon as he saw the accident, but that he was following too closely to Massa at the time of the accident to have seen the yellow flags; by the time the marshalls had reacted, Button had already passed the marshall station. The stewards took no action against him. Massa's accident also disrupted the final laps of Webber, Hamilton and Alonso, giving Sebastian Vettel his thirteenth pole position of the season. Hamilton finished second, which became fifth once his penalty was applied. Webber qualified third ahead of Alonso and Button, with Massa sixth and Nico Rosberg seventh, the final driver to have set a lap time. Adrian Sutil would start the race in eighth place, having taken to the circuit to record sector times, but without actually completing a lap. Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were ninth and tenth, making the race the firs
caption: Fernando Alonso qualified in third position.
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