F1 United States Grand Prix diary: Red Bull party pauses for Vettel’s qualifying effort

I tweeted earlier today that the Team Red Bull hospitality box was all party even in the face of competition but that totally changed on Saturday afternoon, during qualifying for Sunday’s United Sates Grand Prix.

And their two drivers gave them every reason to pay attention with Sebastian Vettel taking the pole position for the inaugural race at the Circuit of the Americas with teammate Mark Webber placing third. Vettel captured the top spot by one tenth of a second over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

It is the sixth pole position of the season for Vettel and is especially pleasing considering that his only championship rival, Fernando Alonso, qualified ninth. Vettel entered Austin with a 10 point championship lead and could mathematically clinch on Sunday.

Austin the penultimate race of the 2012 season.

As soon as qualifying ended, the cars were assembled at Parc fermé just above our location at Red Bull’s hospitality box, giving us a splendid view of the cars and its drivers. After a quick wave to the Red Bull crowd, Vettel and Webber, along with Hamilton shunted over to the legion of photographers to have their pictures taken.

This weekend is setting up perfectly from a Red Bull perspective and should Vettel win and/or capture the championship, I’ll have a front row seat for all the festivities.

Perhaps then, Team Red Bull and its guests will have a real reason to party

To keep up with my Formula 1 adventure, check back to SB Nation F1 for more United States Grand Prix diary entries and follow me on Twitter at @MattWeaverSBN