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Vettel claims pole in Valencia
Jun 27th
Sebastian Vettal claims pole in Valencia. (Photo:AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
Sebastian Vettel pipped Mark Webber in Valencia to claim pole in another all RedBull front row.
Leading up to the Gp at Valencia, RedBull said that they expected to struggle at the track. However closing out the front row of the grid seems to have put an end to that theory. They issue for RedBull however is whether they will have the race pace to claim victory on Sunday.
The team has used it’s F-Duct for the first time this season and it seam to be paying off on the straights. The RedBull appear to have a little bit more top speed due to the upgrade. This coul prove vital to staying ahead of McLaren who have very good top speed but lack the downforce the RedBUll have in the corners.
Lewis Hamilton was on a very quick lap in the dying stages of Q3, however due to a brake lockup into turn 12, he decided to abort his lap and would have to be content with 3rd place, although he looked set to top Mark’s if not Vettel’s time.
With RedBull and McLaren now locked in very tight fight for the championship, every half second counts and both team seem to be working hard on upgrades each GP. In the post race press conference Mark Webber said he was very happy that the team had locked out the front row and that they weren’t expecting to be as quick at Valencia. He said that if you had to pick a circuit to race your competitors, Valencia would not be it.
The big surprise of the day was that for the first time this year, neither Mercedes made it into the top 10. Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher will be starting from P12 and P15 on the grid respectively.
It appears that RedBull again have the pace to stick with McLaren. Lewis Hamilton noted that the team was not confident during practice, knowing that teams like RedBull had brought vital upgrades to this round and the fact that they were off the pace in Practice, he is delighted to be started from the second row and remains confident that they could claim victory on Sunday.
Robert Kubica had tremendous pace in the Renault throughout the sessions and would have expected to do very well in Q3, however in the end he finished 6th behind the two Ferrari’s of Alonso and Massa. Jensen button was a fair way off the pace of his team mate. He will start the race from P7, just ahead of the two Williams who are both in the top 10 for the first time this season. Williams no doubt are delighted with the pace this weeked and having Hulkenberg in P8 and Rubins in P9 on the grid will be a welcome boost for the team who so far has struggled for pace this season. Petrov rounds out the top 10 who was a fair way off the pace of his Renault Team mate.
The detaild times of Qualifying are below:
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:38.324 1:38.015 1:37.587
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:38.549 1:38.041 1:37.662
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.697 1:38.158 1:37.969
4. Alonso Ferrari 1:38.472 1:38.179 1:38.075
5. Massa Ferrari 1:38.657 1:38.046 1:38.127
6. Kubica Renault 1:38.132 1:38.062 1:38.137
7. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.360 1:38.399 1:38.210
8. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:38.843 1:38.523 1:38.428
9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.449 1:38.326 1:38.428
10. Petrov Renault 1:39.004 1:38.552 1:38.523
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.096 1:38.586
12. Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.752 1:38.627
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:39.021 1:38.851
14. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:38.969 1:38.884
15. Schumacher Mercedes 1:38.994 1:39.234
16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.003 1:39.264
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.128 1:39.458
18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.343
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.658
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.882
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:42.086
22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:42.140
23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:42.600
24. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:42.851
Three on the Trot for Webber in Turkey
May 29th
Mark Webber has bagged a qualifying hatrick by claiming pole postion for the Turkish Grand Prix.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing this weekend for the Aussie. On Friday an engine failure in practice was played down by the team but it did mean less time on track for Mark. The during 3rd practice on Saturday Mark had a issue with the throttle system on the RedBull which saw him crawl back to the pits under idle and not record a time.
Vettel was a step ahead of Mark, recording better times during Q1 and Q2 however Sebastian locked a front wheel in the dying stages of Q3 and lost time, as a result he lost time and only narrowly finished in p3 splitting both the Mclarens. Mark had an excellent final run in Q3, lighting up the middle sector purple. He managed to beat Lewis hamilton to pole by more then .1 of a second.
Fernando Alonso had a dreadful day, making a mistake in Q2 and unable to recover he was knocked out and will start tomorrows race from 12th position. It continues a string of bad luck for Fernando who was forced to start from pitlane in Monaco due to a heavy crash in practice. Filepe Massa however was able to get his Ferrari into the top ten and will start from 8th place for the race.
Hamitlon was 2nd and Button 4th, making it an all RedBUll and Mclaren front two rows. Lewis Hamitlon said he believes they are in a good position tomorrow, claiming he felt the McLaren had very good race pace. Lewis noted it was a boot for the team and that he expects their pace to improve further when more ‘bits’ arrive for the car in the coming races. With Lewis Hamilton notoriously quick off the line it will be a made dash to turn1 with the Briton now doubt expecting he can beat Webber through the first turn.
Sebastian Vettel was upset about the front left wheel of his car. He said he locked the front wheel briefly under brakes, which usually wouldn’t be much of an issue, however the wheel for some reason stayed locked up and as a result he ran wide. Vettel spent some time inspecting the car as it was parked in parc’ ferme and was clearly not happy with his Q3 performance. He was quicker then Mark in the earlier session and no doubt was expecting to claim pole in Turkey, let alone be starting from the 2nd row.
The Big shock of the day was Michael Schumacher who bottom out int he high speed left hander and as a result lost control of his Mercedes. Schumacher had to park the car and is now left with enormous flatspots on his tyres. Michael will have to start the race on his damaged tyres, but since he recorded a time earlier in Q3 before his spin, he will start the race from 5th place just ahead of his team mate Nico.
The complete time sheet from all the sessions is below:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:27.500 1:26.818 1:26.295 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.667 1:27.013 1:26.433 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:27.067 1:26.729 1:26.760 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.555 1:27.277 1:26.781 5. Schumacher Mercedes 1:27.756 1:27.438 1:26.857 6. Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.649 1:27.141 1:26.952 7. Kubica Renault 1:27.766 1:27.426 1:27.039 8. Massa Ferrari 1:27.993 1:27.200 1:27.082 9. Petrov Renault 1:27.620 1:27.387 1:27.430 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.158 1:27.434 1:28.122 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:27.951 1:27.525 12. Alonso Ferrari 1:27.857 1:27.612 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.147 1:27.879 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.534 1:28.273 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.336 1:28.392 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.460 1:28.540 17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:28.227 1:28.841 18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:28.958 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.237 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.519 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.744 22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:31.266 23. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:31.989 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:32.060
Formula1 to Return to USA in 2012
May 26th
Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday announced via his official website that the USA will host a round of Formula1 again from 2012 in Austin, Texas.
An interesting detail to note straight away is that rather then using an existing race track or building a street circut, a permanent race track specifically designed for Formula1 and other potential support race will be built from scratch.
Tavo Hellmund, from Full Throttle Productions who are the promoters of the event said “For the first time in the history of Formula 1 in the United States, a world-class facility will be purpose-built to host the event”. The designer of the circuit is yet to be named, however suspicions obviously point to Hermann Tilke who has created the majority of the recent modern Formula1 circuits.
Mr Tavo said in his official statement ““We are extremely honored and proud to reach an agreement with the F1 Commercial Rights holder. We have been diligently working together for several years to bring this great event to Austin, the State of Texas, and back to the United States. All parties involved have a great amount of trust and confidence in each other and are committed to establishing the F1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas as a prestigious global event.”
The deal will see Austin host the GP through until atleast 2021, making the United states once again a permanent stop in the Formula1 calendar.
Mark Webber wins in Monaco
May 17th
Mark Webber after his greatest victory to date (Photo: AFP)
Mark Webber kept his cool in a thrilling race and became the first Aussie to win in Monaco since Sir Jack Brabham in 1959.
“Absolutely incredible, for sure this is the greatest day of my life today,” He said shortly after the race.
Mark had a good start and was the first man into turn1 and up the hill. From here he built up a very impressive lead until the first of what would be four safety cars periods where he lost all the ground and hard work he had put in building a buffer to his team mate.
Mark kept his cool through safety car period after safety car period and each time was able to get a good break and build up his lead again. Mark was able to stay out of trouble right up til the dying stages of the race when Trulli and Chandhook took each other out just meters infront of Marks car. This crash brought out the fourth and final safety car period of the race and Mark was faced with the potential of having to endure a last lap dash under green to the finish. The safety car however stayed out till the final lap and pulled into the pits as Mark cruised over the finish line.
Sebastian Vettel made a crutial move on Robert Kubica off the start to take 2nd place into turn 2. This move was the turning point of the race for both drivers and ultimately they remained in those positions across the line.
The win was a critical one for RedBull. The team is nowleading the constructors championship and Mark and Sebastian Vetel are now equal first on 78 points each in the drivers championship.
A complete race wrap-up of Monaco will be online soon. In the meantime below is the final standings from the race:
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h50:00.000 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 0.448 3. Kubica Renault + 1.600 4. Massa Ferrari + 2.600 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 4.300 6. Schumacher Mercedes + 5.700 7. Alonso Ferrari + 6.300 8. Rosberg Mercedes + 6.600 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 6.900 10. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 7.300 11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 8.100 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 9.100 13. Petrov Renault + 4 laps retirements: Driver Team On lap Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 71 Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 71 Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 59 Senna HRT-Cosworth 59 Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 28 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 27 Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 26 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 23 De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 22 Button McLaren-Mercedes 3 Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1
Webber claims Pole in thrilling Monaco Qualifying
May 15th
Mark Webber after Monaco Qualifying (Photo: AFP/Pascal Guyout)
Mark Webber gave RedBull their 6th consecutive pole this season in arguably the most important race of the season. Mark was a bit behind the eight ball in Q1 and Q2, doing enough to stay ahead but it was Q3 where he came alive. After Robert Kubica put in a few astonishing laps taking provisional pole several times in a row it looked like Robert was set to give Renault their first pole of the season, however Mark out of no where smashed Roberts time by more then three tenths of a second. Mark was the only driver to break into the 1:13′s.
Vettel had a good late charge to take P3 ahead of Massa. The top3 finishers in qualifying were all on Renault engines. Sebastian Vettel made a remarks in post race press conference referring to critics of the renault engine this year who may now be atleast for this race be eating humble pie.
Fernando Alonso had a unfortunate crash in the final practice, damaging his car so badly that Ferrari will have to give him the spare car to drive in tomorrows race. Fernando will start from the pit lane but is still hopeful of a points finish.
The big disapointment of the day was Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button who finished 5th and 8th respectively. They are split by the Mercedes’ of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Nico has made up for the lack of pace he had over Michael in Spain and has been consistently quicker then his team mate over the weekend. Nico in the end just out-qualified Michael by less then 0.04 of a second.
Mark was trying to hide his enthusiasm as much as possible. He noted that it was a long hard race in Monaco and that they will have to navigate their way around many backmarkers on the tight Monaco streets. Mark said that he would use his experience to keep the car out of trouble tomorrow.
Full Qualifying results are below:
| Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:15.035 | 1:14.462 | 1:13.826 |
| 2 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:15.045 | 1:14.549 | 1:14.120 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:15.110 | 1:14.568 | 1:14.227 |
| 4 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:14.757 | 1:14.405 | 1:14.283 |
| 5 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.676 | 1:14.527 | 1:14.432 |
| 6 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:15.188 | 1:14.375 | 1:14.544 |
| 7 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:15.649 | 1:14.691 | 1:14.590 |
| 8 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.623 | 1?15.150 | 1:14.637 |
| 9 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:15.590 | 1:15.083 | 1:14.901 |
| 10 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:15.397 | 1:15.061 | 1:15.170 |
| 11 | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:16.030 | 1:15.317 | |
| 12 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:15.445 | 1:15.318 | |
| 13 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:15.961 | 1:15.413 | |
| 14 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:15.482 | 1:15.576 | |
| 15 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:15.908 | 1:15.692 | |
| 16 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:16.175 | 1:15.992 | |
| 17 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:16.021 | 1:16.176 | |
| 18 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:17.094 | ||
| 19 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:17.134 | ||
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:17.377 | ||
| 21 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:17.864 | ||
| 22 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:18.509 | ||
| 23 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1:19.559 | ||
| 24 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari |
Alonso top of both Thursday practice sessions
May 14th
Alonso in Monaco - Image © 2010 ZumaPress All rights reserved.
Fernando Alonso was in perfect for in Monaco and kept his Ferrari at the top of the time sheet through both practice sessions on Thursday.
The Ferrari looked great around the iconic streets circuit and seemed to have the edge over the RedBulls on the tight slow corners. RedBull may have been struggling with the super softs a little bit, granted not as much as they did last year on slow circuits, however the edge the team had in Spain last weekend doesn’t appear to be there on a street circuit like Monaco.
After finishing Practice1 out of the top 10 and spending a large amount of the practice time out of the car due to repair on a suspension issue, Nico Rosberg went out in Practice2 and put in some incredible laps, quickly smashing Michael’s time and pipping Sebestian Vettel to claim the second fastest time in the session.
Sebastian Vettel clearly had the pace on Thursday, finishing 2nd in Practice1 and 3rd in Practice2, there is every chacne Vettel could find more Pace on Saturday and is obviously a favourite along side Alonso to take Pole. Mark however did not have the same kind of pace his team mate had. Mark looked good in Practice one finishing the session in 4th place, Robert Kubica just splitting the two RedBulls. However in the second practice session he finished 10th just behind Buttons Mclaren.
The McLarens looked pretty low key and also seemed to lack a bit of pace around Monaco. Hamilton and Button came P7 and P8 in practice1 and continued their casual form in the 2nd practice session to record the 7th and 9th fastest times.
Friday is a rest day in Monaco and the circuit will be open again to public traffic.
There is rain predicted for Quali on Saturday and for the race. It appears to be a Vettel-Alonso fight for pole, however we will know more ofter the Final practice session on Saturday just ahead of quali.
below are the times for both Thursday sessions:
Practice1:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:15.927 31 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.000 + 0.073 26 3. Kubica Renault 1:16.016 + 0.089 28 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.382 + 0.455 24 5. Massa Ferrari 1:16.517 + 0.590 29 6. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.589 + 0.662 21 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.647 + 0.720 32 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.692 + 0.765 29 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.805 + 0.878 23 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.857 + 0.930 30 11. Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.149 + 1.222 14 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.331 + 1.404 28 13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.704 + 1.777 26 14. Petrov Renault 1:17.718 + 1.791 38 15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.991 + 2.064 36 16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:18.397 + 2.470 39 17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.434 + 2.507 37 18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.547 + 2.620 32 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.527 + 3.600 23 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.606 + 3.679 31 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.902 + 3.975 30 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:20.566 + 4.639 18 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:21.688 + 5.761 27 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:21.853 + 5.926 6
Practice 2:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:14.904 36 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.013 + 0.109 39 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:15.099 + 0.195 47 4. Massa Ferrari 1:15.120 + 0.216 44 5. Schumacher Mercedes 1:15.143 + 0.239 38 6. Kubica Renault 1:15.192 + 0.288 38 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.249 + 0.345 32 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:15.460 + 0.556 42 9. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.619 + 0.715 37 10. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:15.620 + 0.716 28 11. Petrov Renault 1:15.746 + 0.842 44 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.276 + 1.372 46 13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.348 + 1.444 48 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:16.522 + 1.618 37 15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:16.528 + 1.624 42 16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.599 + 1.695 36 17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.818 + 1.914 45 18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.023 + 2.119 28 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.184 + 3.280 47 20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.478 + 3.574 38 21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.667 + 3.763 13 22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.721 + 3.817 41 23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:20.313 + 5.409 35 24. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:22.148 + 7.244 11 All Timing Unofficial
New curbs for Monaco
May 13th
New raised yellow curbing similliar to the raised curbing now seen at other tracks, like Monza has now been installed near the swimming pool in Monaco. The raised yellow curbing will cause issues for many drivers used to running their wheels over the inside of the ripple strips. There is no way an F1 car will clear the new raised curbing.
On a track that’s already very tight and slow, additional raised curbing will only force many drivers to slow down more in order to avoid damaging their car.
With practice now only around 9-10 hours away it won’t be long before we see how the drivers react to this new feature at the swimming pool.
Webber wins Spanish GP
May 10th
Mark Webber on the podium in Spain. Photo: AFP
Mark Webber won his first F1 race of the season in Spain. Mark lead a brilliant race from Start to finish. Right from the start Mark came under threat from his team mate on one side and Lewis Hamilton on the other side. Mark managed to hold both off to exit turn1 ahead.
For the first part of the race it looked to be a bit of a procession with the order of the top5 grid positions not changing for several laps. The turning point of the race happened when a slow pit stop for Vettel cost him vital time to Hamilton and he exited the pits into the path of the McLaren driver and a backmarker. Vettel was pushed wide at turn1 and lost position as a result, putting Hamilton into P2.
“We knew it was along run to the 1st croner here” said Webber “..it was very tight into turn 1 but then just settled down into a rythm”.
Alonso put in a very solid drive but in the end hand 2nd place handed to him on the final lap when a front left puncture forced lewis hamilton into the tyre barriers and out of the race. Alonso was extatic in front of his home crowd who were all on their feet cheering him on as he crossed the line to claim second.
Lewis Hamiltons crash was also good news for Sebastian Vetel who caught a lucky break to nurse his car home and claim the final spot on the podium.
Vettel was not happy post race “A lot of things went wrong today.” he said. “we had to wait in the pit box for the Ferrari to drive past so we lost a lot of ground then a possition.”
Vettel’s day went from bad to worse with less then 15 laps remaining int he race he lost his breaks and was forced to pit. His brake problem only got worse and in the end he was not braking at all, instead he was using the aero of the car and downshifting to slow him. He was very lucky to even finish the race and the fact he was able to come away with a podium place was an astonishing effort.
Rubins however had the un-sung drive of the day by making up 9 spot. Rubins started the race down in 18th place after a dismal qualifying, however he fought hard to finish the race in an impressive 9th place.
Back markers proved to be an issue in this race with several incidents involving lap traffic threatened the positions of some lead drivers.
Mark Webber now enters the title race and gave RedBull the Vital points boost it needs in the constructors race.
The full race results are below:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1h35:44.101 |
| 2. | Alonso | Ferrari | + 24.065 |
| 3. | Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | + 51.338 |
| 4. | Schumacher | Mercedes | + 1:02.195 |
| 5. | Button | McLaren-Mercedes | + 1:03.728 |
| 6. | Massa | Ferrari | + 1:05.767 |
| 7. | Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | + 1:12.941 |
| 8. | Kubica | Renault | + 1:13.677 |
| 9. | Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 10. | Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 11. | Petrov | Renault | + 1 lap |
| 12. | Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 13. | Rosberg | Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 14. | Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | + 2 laps |
| 15. | Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | + 2 laps |
| 16. | Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | + 2 laps |
| 17. | Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 18. | Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 19. | Di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | + 4 laps |
| DNF | Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 43 |
| DNF | Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 28 |
| DNF | De la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 19 |
| DNF | Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1 |
| DNF | Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1 |
Both RedBulls on front row for Spanish GP
May 9th
Webber claims his second pole of this season
Mark webber got one-up on team mate Vettel during Qualifying by pipping his German teammate to pole by two tenths of a second, Mark was the only man in qualifying to break into the 1’19′s when he set an incredible 1:19.995.
RedBull dominated final practice three on Saturday as well as all 3 periods of Qualifying, finishing 1-2 in every session.
Q1 saw the usual suspects securing the bottom 6 places, however the Lotus’s were showing very impressive pace, Trulli was only 1.5 seconds behind the Williams of Rubins Barichello who according to the team was caught in lap traffic. As a result he was unable to record a quick lap which saw him finish in 18th place and unable to proceed to Q2.
Michaeal Schumacher has had his most positive weekend of the season so far. His car has a new setup that he helped the team develop . The new car suits Michaels driving style very well and he has been faster then Rosberg all weekend. Michael put in some very impressive quali times and was consistently in the top 5 runners. In the end he was edged out of the top 5 qualifiers by Jensen Button. However, starting alongside the reigning world champion on the 3rd row of the grid put Schumacher in a great position to bag a bunch of points tomorrow.
Massa has been a lot slower then his team-mate this weekend. Massa qualified in 9th place just ahead of Kobayashi who put in a brilliant drive in the Sauber to claim the tenth spot. Kobayashi put in a brilliant drive in the dying seconds of Q3 and managed to push the Force india of Adrian Sutil just out of the top 10.
Hometown hero Fernando Alonso has been performing well infront of his fans this weekend. Alonso drove a brilliant lap which drove a thorn between the McLarens of Hamilton and Button. Alosno recorded a 1:20.937 which put him on the second row of the grid next to Lewis Hamilton. Alonso is in a very good position to claim a podium tomorrow infront of his home crowd if he can keep ahead of the McLarens.
The day however belonged to Mark Webber who recorded his second pole of the season and is in a very good position to claim his first win of the season. If Mark can remain ahead of his team mate through the first corner, there is every chance he will remain in front. However Vettel is on a points charge and knows if he wants a crack at the championship he needs to bag every point possible. Lew Hamilton is also a good starter and if Mark doesn’t get away well tomorrow he might very well have Hamilton and Vettel ahead of him before turn1.
The complete qualifying results are below:
| Pos. | # | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1?21.412 | 1?20.655 | 1?19.995 |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1?21.680 | 1?20.772 | 1?20.101 |
| 3 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1?21.723 | 1?21.415 | 1?20.829 |
| 4 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1?21.957 | 1?21.549 | 1?20.937 |
| 5 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1?21.915 | 1?21.168 | 1?20.991 |
| 6 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1?22.528 | 1?21.557 | 1?21.294 |
| 7 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1?22.488 | 1?21.599 | 1?21.353 |
| 8 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1?22.419 | 1?21.867 | 1?21.408 |
| 9 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1?22.564 | 1?21.841 | 1?21.585 |
| 10 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1?22.577 | 1?21.725 | 1?21.984 |
| 11 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1?22.628 | 1?21.985 | |
| 12 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1?22.211 | 1?22.026 | |
| 13 | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1?22.857 | 1?22.131 | |
| 14 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1?22.976 | 1?22.139 | |
| 15 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1?22.699 | 1?22.191 | |
| 16 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1?22.593 | 1?22.207 | |
| 17 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1?23.084 | 1?22.854 | |
| 18 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1?23.125 | ||
| 19 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1?24.674 | ||
| 20 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1?24.748 | ||
| 21 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1?25.475 | ||
| 22 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1?25.556 | ||
| 23 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1?26.750 | ||
| 24 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1?27.122 |
Button wins Chinese GP in a thrilling McLaren 1-2
Apr 18th
Jensen enjoying his 2nd win of the season. Photo: EPA
Jensen button won a thrilling Chinese Gran Prix and Hamilton provided McLaren with their first 1-2 finish of the season.
The Drama started early when Alonso jumped the start and was later penalised. It wasn’t long before the rain hit and most of the top teams were quick to react by opting to switch to intermediate tyres. This soon proved to be the wrong decision
For Jensen it is his second win of the season and smart strategy in changeable weather conditions again proved to be the key to winning. Button chosing his tyres wisely, opted to stay out on slicks in light rain. It was the right choice, the rain was only short lived for the time being and all those teams who dashed in for inters were quickly forced to pit again to put slicks back on the cars.
This decission was the turning point of the race for many drivers. It was what handed Button the advantage and it was also a decission to change to inters which ruled out the chance of RedBull claiming a podium position. Jensen’s smooth driving style again became crutial in the later stages of the race where he was forced to look after the intermediate tyres to maintain his lead over Hamilton. It was a classy drive and a smart drive from Button.
Nico Rosberg ran wide on slicks later in the race which gifted P1 to Jensen. Had it not been for this incident there was every chanee Nico could have scored his first GrandPrix victory and the first for the ‘modern’ Mercedes team. Nico Rosberg then lost P2 to hamilton in the pit stop, having a slow in lap combined with Lewis doing a few well timed quick laps, the German was relegated to 3rd.
Sebastian and Mark made their way up from P9 and P10 in the later stages of the race, however Vettel was unable to pass Kubica to claim 5th position due to his tyre wear. Tyres were even more of an issue for Mark who lost a place to Petrov in the dying stages due to there being no tread left at all on the intermediate tyres. Mark had to settle for 8th position.
With Jensen now top of the table and Nico Rosberg 2nd in the standings it has thrown the championship predictions out the window. Not many bookmakers predicted the table to look the way it is currently.
“This win is very special” said Button at the post race press conference. Button ‘s win also hands McLaren the lead in the constructors championship and with 11 points now separating him from his team-mate, it has been a very important morale boost for Jensen who many felt would be racing in the shadow of Hamilton at McLaren.
The race Steward had a busy day with several incidents needing investigation. The first obviously was a drive-through for Fernando jumping the start, however it was a scrap between Hamilton and Vettel on the entry then also the exit to the pits which raised most eyebrows. Lewis Hamilton was released from his box, however wheel spin saw him exit into the path of Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers were side by side down the pitlane with Hamilton even running over other teams air gun hoses before finally darting in behind Vettel as they exited the pits.
Further controversy happened in the late stages of the race when Button bunched the pack up eady for a post-safety car restart which nearly caused a mass pile up, forces some driver to take avoiding action onto the grass. The cars were forced to slow so much that no doubt some driver had to engage their clutch. The restart went all bad for Webber who was forced off by Hamilton who ran wide defending his position with Vettel. Under new regulations you can pass on the restart from pitlane entry.
If Bernie wanted to make Formula1 more exciting, then he has succeded by charming the rain gods on a Sunday. Changeable weather conditions during the race proving to be the missing ingredient in the sport.
The final race standings from China are below:
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h44:42.163 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1.530 3. Rosberg Mercedes + 9.484 4. Alonso Ferrari + 11.869 5. Kubica Renault + 22.213 6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 33.310 7. Petrov Renault + 47.600 8. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 52.172 9. Massa Ferrari + 57.796 10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:01.749 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.874 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:03.665 13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.416 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 16. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
