Posts tagged Vettel
The day I met Seb
Feb 21st
Well no doubt most people have formed their own opinions on the 2012 cars. I hope you’ve read my blog post about re-launching my blog, in which case you’d know that the 2012 “ugly” noses have already grown on me and even before we head to Melbourne, they seem the norm to me and instead McLaren are the odd ones out, the “ugly duckling” if you like (without being ironic).
So anyway, with the Melbourne GP just around the corner and my F1 withdrawals getting worse by the day, I took some time out tonight to browse through some photos I took last year and I paused on my time spent in Singapore. Without a doubt, Singapore was the best GP i’ve ever been to (baring in mind I’m heading to my first ever British GP later this year). The highlight of the race weekend for me was meeting Vettel and Ricciardo, both of whom were very friendly and very down to earth kind of blokes. But hey lets face is, this blog post is nothing more then an excuse to post up pictures of that day 
Sebastian Vettel and me (my wife tells me I should have removed my ugly $2 servo sunnies for this shot):
Nbj (left) Sebastian Vettel (right)
Yeah, sad I know, but it’s not every day you get to place your hand on the shoulder of a two-time Formula1 world champion at the peak of his career. (I can hear my wife’s eyes rolling in her head right now)
Anyway, like I said in my earlier post, expect some (hopefully) interesting, insightful and amusing stuff from me this year. I’m excited 
Oh as a side note, here’s the video I filmed (dogey and shakey as it might be) from my seat at the start of the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix. What a great night!
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Re-launching the blog
Feb 21st
Well after an almost 2-year hiatus…well more then a hiatus I guess, more like completely MIA, I have decided to Re-Launch my blog.
For various reasons (which I wont go in to now) I was unable to devote the time this blog deserved, but ratehr then shut it down completely, I simply failed to write any new posts. Lets face it, there wasn’t anything too edgy or too interesting in this blog that you couldn’t get from Autosport or any of the mainstream media sites. With that in mind I decided it was time to start the blog up again, only this time write about what interested me, what I was passionate abut and what I felt was worthy of some kind of attention.
I won’t be commenting on every race and every session, but instead i’ll be blogging about quirky things in the world of Formula1. I might start writing about my adventures in the world of F1 and experiences I have had visiting various races around the world or people I’ve met in the process, both in person and online.
I have made a vow recently to attend a minimum of 2 Formula1 races every year. In 2011 I attended The Australian GP and the Singapore GP, this year i’ll be attending the Australian GP (again for obvious reasons) and the British GP. I’ve never been to Silverstone so I’m very much looking forward to it. In 2013 I’m very excited about attending the inagural Grand Prix of New York. For those of you who don’t know, New Jersey (just on the other side of the Hudson from lower Manhattan) will be hosting a street race with Manhattan as it’s backdrop, it should be an absolute blast!
So 2012 should be a great year for F1, we finally return to USA with the race in the Austin Tilkerdome… should be fun. The stepped nose duckbills we’ve sen this season have already grown on me, in fact so much so, that I now find the McLaren the ugliest car on the grid. Amazing how F1 can brainwash you sometimes.
So I met Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in Singapore last year. That was a buz, but more about that later, for now I’m just happy to be back and bloging, only this time with a differnece, I plan to bring my own unique angle, insight and opinion into my posts, i’m hoping you’ll find my new blog interesting. If you’re looking for a standard spiel post-race or post-quali news wrapup, then you’ve come to the wrong place, but i’m hoping you’ll find my posts interesting, insightful and entertaining. So hears to a great 2012!
Less then 30 days now till lights out in Melbourne, I can’t wait!
- Nathan
ps, i’ll post up the pics with me and Seb and Me and Dan later. That was a great day, one which i’ll never forget.
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
RedBull hope to be back on pace with new F-Duct
Jun 22nd
With McLaren now top of the driver and team standings, RedBull have to dig deep to find the pace this weekend in Spain. Valencia is a circuit that will suit the McLarens, with long straights and slow corners, the track will play into the hands of McLaren.
McLaren have been very busy in the leadup to recent races further developing their car and have constantly been bringing new ‘bits’ to the race. RedBull however have not done this for a couple of races now. Adrian Newey was not present at the Canadian GrandPrix, instead he opted to spend time at the factory perfecting the team’s new F-Duct system. RedBull planned on using the system earlier then now, but have decided they need more time in the factory perfecting it before fitting it to the RB6. Valencia will be the first race that the team uses their new F-Duct.
Whether or not the F-Duct will solve the lack of straight line speed the RB6 has is yet to be proved but with such a big upgrade, the RB6 is expected to be more on the pace this weekend then it has been in the last couple of races.
Sebastian Vettel seems confident that the F-Duct is a very important addition to the car for this weekends race. He briefly spoke to German sport publication, Bild about the upgrades.
“..with the F-duct system we are getting an important part on the car,” he said.
“Our technical chief Adrian Newey did not come to Canada in order to put the finishing touches on the new system at the factory,”
Christian Horner also added to Sebastians comments, stating: “The track [Valencia] has fast corners which should suit our car,” …” And if it [F-Duct] works, we will go even faster on the straights.”
It’s important to note that while Valencia has some quick corners it also has some very slow sections of the track at the end of long straights, in essence it has some elements that favour both the McLarens and the RedBulls, but if the RB6 can slightly improve its car this weekend we may see the team again being ahead of McLaren.
We are now at the pointy end of the season, with a bunch of solid European rounds coming up it is vital that the RB6 bounces back now in order to stay in the hunt for the title.
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
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 |
Vettel wins in Malaysia while RedBull dominate with a 1-2 Finish
Apr 4th
Sebastian Vettel leading Mark Webber for the RedBull on-Two - Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel lead from turn 1 at Sepang and never looked back to claim his first win of the season and gave RedBull the 1-2 finish that they so desperately wanted and expected to get earlier then round 3 this year.
Mark Webber was on pole for the race, however he had wheel spin off the line and didn’t fight too hard to cover his line as Vettel passed him into the braking area. Mark had a beter run into turn 2 and fought back a little bit but in the end Vetel had the drive and maintained his lead. From then on it was pretty much a processional race with Vettel, Webber and Rosberg leading the pack for the rest of the afternoon.
“I had a good start and got the tow from Mark, I took the chance I had in Turn 1, said Vettel … We had a magnificent car and the key was to pace yourself. It’s a good result after two races where we didn’t finish where we want to be.”
The rain that was predicted for this race never eventuated. It was the first dry afternoon all weekend and it meant that the conditions for the drivers were extreemely difficult and hot. It also meant there were no safety car periods and teams such as McLaren and Ferrari who were hoping for changeable weather to make their way up the grid weren’t able to make the gains they possibly would have hoped had the rain fallen.
Nico Rosberg had a trouble free race and just had to follow the RedBull procession from start to finish. P3 for Rosberg never really seemed to be under any threat and all he had to do was to steer the car home to claim the final place on the podium.
Hamilton and Mass did a great job climbing up form the back of the grid to finish 6th and 7th and claim some needed points for the team. However it was both their team-mates who provided entertainment in the dying stages of the race.
Button was caught by Alonso at the end and there was a fierce battle for position. Alonso looked to take Button several times but in the end wasn’t able to make up the pace out of the corners due to a problem with the car on the downshift which set Alonso up badly for a quick exit. The final couple of laps however proved disaterous for Alonso as the Ferrari’s engine gave up and blew, forcing Alonso to retire from the race.
Jaime Alguersuari put in a superstar drive and scored points for finishing in ninth place. He had some great on-track battles with Hulkenberg and Petrov. Jamie showed that he has loads of potential and is able to perform very well under pressure.
Lotus are happy with one of their cars finishing the race. Jarno Trulli finished the race in last place for Lotus, but it was a good result for the team to finish the race in front of a home crowd. The result however was upstaged by Hispania Racing (HRT) who managed to get both their cars to the finish to claim 15th and 16th place just ahead of the Lotus.
Massa’s lead in the championship after round3 is just 2 points clear of Sebastian Vettel who is in equal 2nd place int he championship with Alonso, both drivers are on 37 points.
The final race classifications as well as championship standings are below:
Pos Driver Team Gap
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.8s
3. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.5s
4. Kubica Renault + 18.5s
5. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 21.0s
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 23.4s
7. Massa Ferrari + 27.0s
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 37.9s
9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m10.6s
10. Hulkenberg Williams + 1m13.3s
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m18.9s
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Alonso Ferrari + 2 laps
14. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
15. Chandhok Hispania-Cosworth + 3 laps
16. Senna Hispania-Cosworth + 4 laps
17. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 5 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 46 laps
Petrov Renault 32 laps
Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 12 laps
Schumacher Mercedes 9 laps
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 8 laps
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2 laps
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0 laps
World Championship standings, round 3:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Massa 39 1. Ferrari 76
2. Vettel 37 2. McLaren-Mercedes 66
3. Alonso 37 3. Red Bull-Renault 61
4. Button 35 4. Mercedes 44
5. Rosberg 35 5. Renault 20
6. Hamilton 31 6. Force India-Mercedes 18
7. Kubica 30 7. Williams-Cosworth 6
8. Webber 24 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2
9. Sutil 10
10. Schumacher 9
11. Liuzzi 8
12. Barrichello 5
13. Alguersuari 2
14. Hulkenberg 1
Vettel holds off Ferrari to take Pole.
Mar 14th
Sebastian Vettel has continued RedBull’s sucess from last season and proved the critics of the RB6 wrong by holding off Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa in the Ferrari’s to take Pole Position at Bahrian. Vettel in claiming poe for the season opener has put himself in good stead to claim the first race win of the season, however with two Ferrari’s behind him, it won’t be easy andthe race-pace of the RedBull and the teams race strategy will be vital on Sunday.
During the post race press conference, Vettel was asked if he was suprised that he was able to take pole for Bahrain. He said: “A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.”
The critics have sighted that during testing, the RedBull had the pace, however not in lone race stint and race style simulations, that title seemed to belong to the Ferrari’s and the McLarens. RedBull have always been critisised for reliablity and in-particular a weak Renaul engine which is down on Power compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes engines. This point proved itself in Bahrain when Button’s McLaren was 9km/h quicker then Vettel through the speed trap.
Alonso appeared to have pace early on and looked set to take P2, however in the dying seconds of quali, team-mate Filipe Massa, on his first Quali since returning to the sport, pipped him off by less then .2 of a second.
Rosberg should be happy with his effort in beating 7-time world champion team mate Michael in order to take 5th spot on the grid, just ahead of the other RedBull of Webber in P6.
As expecting the two HRT’s of Senna and Chandhook finished 2nd last and last palce respectively. Chandhook was more then 10 seconds slower the Vettels pole time, no doubt there will be chaos during the race, with such a massive time difference just over a single lap in quali, it won’t be long befroe the HRT’s start to become lapped.
BAHRAIN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101
2. Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217
5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284
7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672
9. Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857
14. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265
16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270
17. Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.071
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904
Barcelona wraps up with McLaren, Ferrari & Red Bull all contenders
Mar 1st
Another dry day in Barcelona on Sunday marked the final day official pre-season testing in Barcelona and it was a day full of the top teams all trading top times whilst drivers worked on final setup of the cars.
All the times were very close, with the top 8 times all being within less then 1 second of each other. Massa, Hamilton and Webber traded top time throu-out the day, with the fastest man in the end being Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren with a 1:20.472. Hamilton spent a lot of time behind the wheel, notching up over 130 laps. Mark Webber was second fastest and did less then half the laps of Hamilton. He showed that RedBull has a very fast car this year when he recored a 1:20.496.
Massa was 3rd quickest just infront of Force India’s Adrian Suttil. Red Bull were the only team who had both their drivers for this year in the top 5. Sebastian Vettel was 5th quickest with a 1:20.667. Sebastian managed to do around 10 more laps in the car then Mark Webber managed. Sebastian’s fellow countryman and seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher recorded 1:20.745 in the MercedesGP car to claim the 6th fastest time of the day.
Most teams were doing race distance simulations through the day and spending a lot of time measuring tyre wear.
RedBull allowed webber and Vettel to share the drives during the day due to both drivers having less time behind the wheel throughout testing, so they didn’t complete the same race distance simulations some othe teams did. None the less both of their drivers were on the pace placing in the top five.
With McLaren, RedBull, Ferrari and Mercedes all within a second of each other and holding out the top 5 spots on the timesheets. It appears the predictions that the title race this year could be a tight 4-way battle between said teams could prove to be true.
Massa emerged posative and said “We wanted a competitive car and I think we’ve achieved our goal. It’s difficult to say who worked best. Today the time sheet says Hamilton, but we’re all very close together, it’s just tenths of a second.” He did however mention that whilst they were very strong, he felt at this point they weren’t the strongest and needed to improve, but was very happy to be in the group of front runners.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher said “The four testing days here in Barcelona have helped us to make significant progress with the MGP W01 and I am feeling quite confident for the start of the season. It is always difficult to read too much into testing but knowing our programme, it is fair to say that the times did not always reflect the true picture. We have worked through many set-up and development evaluations this week and gained valuable information to study before Bahrain. We are heading the first race with a good feeling and we know that we will have our upgrades there. But most of all we know that our prospects for even the first races are looking very reasonable now.”
So at the end of the day, what do the times really mean? Well it is hard to judge, but the pace of the Ferrari’s, the McLarens, the RedBull’s and even Mercedes has been consitent thorugh-out the pre-season testing.
Massas is less then confident that his team will be the team to beat going into this season, however they have done more race-distance simulation and varying fuel load runs and varying tyre choice stints then other teams and they are still at the pointy end of the timesheets. Their car has also been very strong without many technical problems. They seem to have the pace and it appears that Ferrari are going to be one of the fastest teams in 2010, that cobined with obvioius reliability means the team should be a very strong title contender.
RedBull have had the apce, but not the ditance, meaning they have spent the least amount of time on the track compared to the otehr front runners. Engine reliability is also an issue for the team. They have the apce but could be let down by reliability.
McLaren were quickest over testing and have two very strong drivers. That combined with the reliability they have shown could mean that they are the team to rain on Ferrari’s parade and could also snatch the title this year.
Mercedes are also up their rounding out the top 4 teams. They have shown good strong pace at times, then also shown their pace can be a bit inconsitent. The team won last years championship and may not have done enough development on their 2010 package to fight with McLaren and Ferrari.
Time will tell however, with just 11 days left now till the first Friday practice in Bahrain, the teams have no more time for on-track testing. Will the practice sheets in Bahrain be reflective of Barcelona? most likely, yes.
A summary of the quickest laps from the final day in Barcelona are as follows:
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1:20.472 134
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:20.496 61
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:20.539 114
4. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:20.611 100
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:20.667 76
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:20.745 123
7. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:20.870 84
8. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber 1:20.911 67
9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:22.135 88
10. Robert Kubica Renault 1:23.175 107
11. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:25.251 65
12. Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing 1:26.160 49
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