Indian Grand Prix: Sebastian in fine Vettel as he takes pole position

Sebastian Vettel took another step towards a hat-trick of World Drivers’ Championship by qualifying in pole position at the Indian GP.

The German posted the fastest lap of 1:25.283secs to take the lead at the Buddh International Circuit, and is at 2/5 to win the race.

Vettel is in such fine form that few would back against him coming into the home stretch of this year’s Formula One season.

His odds to win the 2012 world title have been slashed to just 1/5, with his only realistic challenger Fernando Alonso qualifying in 5th.

The Ferrari driver is just six points behind leader Vettel in the standings, but the two are miles apart on recent form, reflected in Alonso’s 10/3 price to win the title.

And Alonso is way out at 14/1 to produce a fightback of stunning proportions and take victory at the Indian GP.

More likely threats to Vettel’s chances of success in India come from his own team and Red Bull’s constructor rivals McLaren.

Australian Webber was just 0.044 seconds slower than Vettel in qualifying, and is priced at 6/1 to overtake his colleague before the race ends.

Last time out Red Bull produced a Vettel-Webber one-two in Korea, and a repeat performance should not be surprising here.

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will hope to have some say in the matter though, having finished 3rd and 4th in qualifying respectively.

Hamilton ended 0.261secs adrift of pole position, but should not be discounted at 7/1 to overhaul Vettel before the chequered flag.

Button may well be already looking towards next season and the prospect of a new partner, such has been the animosity developing between him and Hamilton this season.

Recently he was forced to explain to Hamilton that he was never following him on Twitter, after the 27-year-old embarrassingly accused him of unfollowing his account on the social networking site.

Hamilton of course apologised, but Button would be forgiven for questioning his colleague’s professionalism in the wake of the controversy.

Either way, both drivers are out of the championship stakes, and at 12/1 Button will have to offer some remarkable driving to match his diplomacy if he is to win the Indian GP from back down the grid.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.