Sebastian Vettel pulled out a great lap time to beat both the McLarens in one of the closest battles for pole all season.
In Q1, there were no troubles for the big teams. Hamilton set the fastest lap, but as usual, the attention was on the bottom of the grid. This weekend, it was the two Williams drivers who were in trouble. Barrichello was having problems with his car. The Williams had an oil leek issue which could not be repaired in time. This resulted in Rubens being the first to drop out in qualifying. He was soon joined by Trulli, Kovalainen, Glock, D'Ambrosio, Ricciardo & Liuzzi.
In Q2, the problems continued for Williams. Their pace wasn't brilliant, and the best Maldonado could do was 17th. After his 10-place, that would put the two Williams driver on the back row of the grid. A red flag did briefly appear during the session. Massa had cut a corner, and debris from a pole on one of the corners had found its way onto the racing line. The red flag was immediatly brought out, due to the possibility of a puncture or floor damage to a car. After a great rise in recent performances, Toro Rosso were not looking as competitive. They had the fastest car in a straight line, but that could not help them get though into Q3, as both cars dropped out. They were both beaten by Petrov & Perez. However, they were also beaten by both Force India cars, as Di Resta & Sutil made it into Q3. They joined Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull & McLaren in having their 2 drivers in the final stage of qualifying.
Q3 was one of the closest battles for pole this season, and for some time. It seemed that it would be a battle between Red Bull & McLaren, with Alonso possibly up there as well. After the front runners had set their first time, it was Hamilton who led from Vettel, Webber & Button. Lewis and Sebastian were seperated by the smallest of margins, while a mistake by Button on the final corner has cost him at least one position. With 1 minute left, all ten cars were out on the track. As the sector times came in, it was Button who was the fastest. He was setting the fastest sector times, and he looked like the favourite to take pole. He crossed the line to take first place. However, he was followed by Hamilton, who took pole by 0.009 seconds. But, McLarens joy was short lived, when Sebastian Vettel went across the line to seal another pole position.
Tomorrows Grid
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
2 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
3 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
4 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
5 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
6 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 6
7 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 7
8 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 10
9 - Adrian Sutil - Force India - 9
10 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 18
11 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 22
12 - Vitaly Petrov - Renault - 11
13 - Sebastian Buemi - Toro Rosso - 12
14 - Bruno Senna - Renault - 26
15 - Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - 13
16 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 15
17 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 25
18 - Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus - 19
19 - Jarno Trulli - Lotus - 17
20 - Timo Glock - Virgin - 20
21 - Daniel Ricciardo - HRT - 36
22 - Jerome D'Amborosio - Virgin - 29
23 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - HRT - 24
24 - Rubens Barrichello - Williams - 8
No comments:
Post a Comment