Sebastian Vettel extended his domination of qualifying in 2011 in Istanbul.
He headed a Red Bull one-two in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg was best of the rest, sharing the second row of the grid with Lewis Hamilton.
Q1
Kamui Kobayashi’s qualifying session ended early as he stopped with a fuel pump problem before he could set a time.
The usual suspects filled the remaining six places in the ‘drop zone’ headed, as we have come to expect, by Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus.
Vitantonio Liuzzi put his HRT in front of Timo Glock’s Virgin and will start ahead of Jerome D’Ambrosio who has a grid penalty.
Both Ferrari drivers felt the need to do an extra lap even though their risk of elimination was slight. Felipe Massa used a set of soft tyres to set the fastest time of the session, 1’27.013.
The only other noteworthy event in the first part of qualifying was Lewis Hamilton being briefly held up by Michael Schumacher, though both made it into Q2.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1’28.780 |
19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1’29.673 |
20 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’30.445 |
21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1’30.692 |
22 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’30.813 |
23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’31.564 |
24 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | No time |
Q2
Mercedes and Vitaly Petrov stoof apart from their rivals by starting the session using hard tyres.
Vettel headed the times to begin with, setting a 1’25.610 on soft tyres, putting him four tenths ahead of Hamilton and Webber.
Schumacher put himself safely in the top ten and during his run a radio message telling him “magic paddle latched” was heard. Team mate Nico Rosberg went even quicker, taking second behind Vettel.
Both Renaults also made it in, a late improvement from Nick Heidfeld relegating Rubens Barrichello.
Paul di Resta limitedhimself to one run and qualified 13th behind his team mate.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’26.764 |
12 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’27.027 |
13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’27.124 |
14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1’27.236 |
15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.244 |
16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’27.255 |
17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’27.572 |
Q3
Six cars went out at the start of the session, led by Vettel. He beat Webber to the fastest time with a 1’25.049, four-tenths of a second faster than his team mate could manage.
Fernando Alonso split the McLarens to set fifth-fastest time, behind Hamilton and in front of Button.
The Red Bull drivers stayed in the pits while their rivals tried – and failed – to beat them.
Although Hamilton bettered his time, he couldn’t prevent Rosberg taking third place off him. But Schumacher in the other Mercedes could only manage eighth.
Both Ferrari drivers abandoned their final laps, including Felipe Massa, despite not having done a lap earlier in Q3, leaving him tenth.
Top ten in Q3
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’25.049 |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’25.454 |
3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’25.574 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’25.595 |
5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’25.851 |
6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’25.982 |
7 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’26.296 |
8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’26.646 |
9 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 1’26.659 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | No time |
2011 Turkish Grand Prix
butterdori (@butterdori)
7th May 2011, 13:15
When he got out of his car during Q3… that was just it. Class. Supreme confidence..
codesurge (@codesurge)
7th May 2011, 13:19
I could see Vettel getting away with it, but thought that Webber’s time was a little too close to the rest for comfort.
Nonetheless, extreme confidence for the RBR gang there!
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:25
I wonder if they gambled on Hamilton getting 2nd to bump him onto the clean side of the grid.
driftin
7th May 2011, 13:29
You mean third. Even numbers here are on the dirty side.
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:30
No I mean 2nd i.e. Webber would be 3rd, on the clean side. Bump “him” meaning Webber.
driftin
7th May 2011, 13:46
Then why are Hamilton (4th) and Button (6th) complaining about being on the dirty side?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
7th May 2011, 13:52
Because they qualified on the dirty side.
driftin
7th May 2011, 14:54
Oh sorry, I was confusing myself.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:32
What he meant to say was, that RB might have hoped webber would be pipped for second by Lewis, meaning Lewis starts on the dirty side in 2nd and Webber starts on the clean side in 3rd.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 16:39
More than confidence, this looked a little like Red Bull bullying the others.
kowalsky
7th May 2011, 13:38
supreme car advantage i would say.
SVettel
7th May 2011, 13:47
I remember either Brundle or Legard saying last year that a car like that didn’t coma around that often. pahaha!!
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:08
This year’s car is an evolution of last year’s.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
7th May 2011, 13:55
Mercedes also did only one run in Q3.
I’d say that’s a lot more bold then when a team with a 7 tenths laptime advantage does it.
RIISE (@riise)
7th May 2011, 16:10
That time he set was fantastic, it shows what the Red Bull can do with KERS working.
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:15
Ferrari improves but Mercedes improves further….
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 13:19
But in reality not as much as Keith writes. A typo there Keith, Alonso splits the McLarens in 5th place not in 4th.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th May 2011, 13:22
Corrected, thanks.
matt90
7th May 2011, 13:28
And Vettel’s time wasn’ 1’25.454
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:39
Guess Fernando likes being 5th. This is his consecutive 5th place on the grid this season.
Last season he was mostly 3rd ahead of the Mclarens. This year he is either behind 2 Mclarens or 1 Merc/Mclaren.
infy (@infy)
7th May 2011, 15:28
Fernando did well to get ahead of the much quicker McLaren. Damage limitation at its best.
Lets keep a keen eye on Massa. If Webber could get to 3rd from 18th, Massa might be able to get to about 3rd from 10th :P
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 16:41
If he does it again next race it will be the 5th consecutive time car number 5 has started 5th!
olliekart (@)
7th May 2011, 13:16
not surprised………… heck at least my prediction for time and driver was right
RIISE (@riise)
7th May 2011, 16:11
Haha yeah I reckon a lot of people will have got the timing right.
Pretty much a given for Vettel to get it as well.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
7th May 2011, 13:16
Great job from Nico, hope he has a great race tomorrow. Would love for him to win.
Vettel’s pole laps are just insane.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 13:22
Would be wonderfull if he is going to put pressure on the Bulls. It might just happen if Seb and Mark get tangled again.
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:32
He’s got a good starting position, so if Vettel gets bogged down again, it could become very interesting.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:33
I just hope Mercedes got the fuel calculation right this time round. Would be lovely if Rosberg could have a fighting chance of winning it tomorrow.
frood
7th May 2011, 14:46
vettel has destroyed webber this year in quali. i don’t fully understand why because last year they were the most closely matched teammates in qualifying (0.05 seconds average gap for the season in 2010).
TommyC
8th May 2011, 0:48
Yeh, it’s surprising that the gap has been so big between them in qualy this year. Perhaps kers packaging with webber being taller and heavier disrupts the balance? But that doesn’t account for the races when kers wasn’t on the car.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 16:41
Ryne (@ryne)
7th May 2011, 13:16
With the introduction of these Pirellis do we still need to have the top 10 drivers run with the tyres they qualified in? Just asking.
Dev
7th May 2011, 13:43
yes we do!!
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:09
No.
Valentino
7th May 2011, 13:18
Where can we see who was the closest when it comes to predicting the qualifying times?
Thank You,..
Zecks (@zecks)
7th May 2011, 13:31
No where. I put down 1:25.312 which isn’t far off
dynamite11 (@dynamite11)
7th May 2011, 14:31
i had a 1:25.005!!bt gotta say,really im tired o watchin qualy…next race in barcelona,i might miss qualy,so il call my brother up n ask”Who got 2nd,3rd…”
Zecks (@zecks)
7th May 2011, 15:06
Agreed but at least there are only 2 points for predicting pole correctly.
Hopefully it will rain at barcelona so we will get something other than a RB 1-2
dynamite11 (@dynamite11)
7th May 2011, 15:15
Sad that we have to rely on rain as to rid of ‘the finger’,lol
Valentino
7th May 2011, 17:52
I put 1:25.100,..pretty close,..
Keith can you put a quali prediction board, or something similar,..?
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:34
Guess Keith will show after the weekend when he analyses the prediction championship results.
Mustalainen (@mustalainen)
7th May 2011, 19:34
I would have been pretty close if I had not mistakenly put 01:35.056 instead of 01:25.056, damn :(
driftin
7th May 2011, 13:18
Go Nico! That being said I think Vettel will win easily although I do hope the McLarens, Ferraris and Mercs will have some good battles.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:10
I thought you could edit your predictions.
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:19
The guy who holds the record for most poles is having shocking qualifying this season.
Will Massa start on the Hards tomorrow?
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:25
Probably Yes. And would switch to softs just before other guys go into pit
(If Ferrai can anticipate through Radio Transmissioin about others)
Todfod (@todfod)
7th May 2011, 13:26
I think he should be proud of himself… at least he made it to Q3 this time. Expeting him to match the likes of Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso is asking for a little too much
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:35
Exaclty, definitely an improvement there!
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:11
The championship runner up has qualified 5th at his best.
jps
7th May 2011, 13:20
With these tyre strategies it makes qualifying so much more boring now… everyone doing one runs… yawn.
driftin
7th May 2011, 13:23
I agree but the races more than make up for it, at least so far.
Mads
7th May 2011, 13:45
everyone?…. Red Bull was the only ones doing one runs in Q3, as far as i noticed. Both the Ferrari’s, Merc’s, McLaren’s made two runs in Q3.
Mads
7th May 2011, 13:47
Second thought, do you mean one runs in the sense that they only get one shot on each tyre?
driftin
7th May 2011, 13:47
No they didn’t, Massa didn’t make any runs in Q3.
Mads
7th May 2011, 14:00
ah true, i didn’t even notice that.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
7th May 2011, 14:00
Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Heidfeld, Schumacher all did only one run.
Massa did none.
Only Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Petrov did 2 runs.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 16:43
Massa did 0…
RIISE (@riise)
7th May 2011, 16:14
It didn’t have the intensity of China but i’ll take it. The race will be awesome though.
BS (@bs)
7th May 2011, 13:21
Anybody else felt like it was going to be a mistake for Lewis to waste a set of tyres as soon as he got out?
Vettel is just too quick a qualifier, truly epic run. For as far as footage of it was shown it appears to be his most agressive so far.
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:26
Look at his gap to Rosberg. You don’t want to start on the dirty side.
BS (@bs)
7th May 2011, 13:38
I know the difference is marginal and there was always a chance he’d drop back a place, but now all of those in front have a set of fresh options available.
Lewis tends to shine in the race. Considering China, I was a bit surprised they didn’t opt to save a set.
TomD11 (@tomd11)
7th May 2011, 13:46
Well when the BBC interviewed him after quali, he said that there wasn’t that much advantage to be gained from saving a set. It seems that unless you flat-spot them, you’re not affected that much.
BS (@bs)
7th May 2011, 14:09
I just read that as well. He dd indeed do his overtakes on the used set of softs and the hards.
We’ll see how it all pans out tomorrow. Can;t wait how all these improved cars perform in race conditions.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:13
After all it’s just one lap.
F1Lover
7th May 2011, 15:09
I did…was disappointed to see Hamilton go out for a second run. I knew He was just gonna waste the tyres.
Steph (@)
7th May 2011, 13:23
Congrats to Seb who put in an incredible performance after all of his troubles this weekend (same with Alonso to a lesser extent) but his success unfortunately only highlights his team mate’s failure for me. Mark was pretty much handed pole it seemed as Seb sat out practice but once again Vettel just dominated him. I hope Mark can pull something back like Rubens did in 09 but right now it seems like there’s a gargantuan gap between the pair. Mark’s not just being beaten by Seb but he failed to deliver at all in China qualifying and I know he’s had car troubles but he really has to step up.
Massa saw an open goal and decided to run into the post this weekend. He’s had some good momentum, was close to Alonso in quali last time out and this is a track he knows so well so he had a great chance to put in an impressive performance but for some crazy reason decided to throw away his tyres.
Congrats to Rosberg too for another great performance.
Todfod (@todfod)
7th May 2011, 13:30
LOL. Gotta agree. Alonso suffered a ridiculous amount a issues this weekend, and for him to get his act together and beat Massa on his favourite track, is commendable.
Seb, Nico and Fernando were the best performers of the day in my opinion.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
7th May 2011, 13:37
Massa’s engine change would have had more impact on the times than any of Alonso’s problems though.
Steph (@)
7th May 2011, 19:09
I’m not so sure look at Bahrain 2010 Ferrari switched engines and then went on to 1-2 that race. Also, we’ll never actually know because Felipe never set a competitive lap time in q3.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
8th May 2011, 11:40
Yes, but that was a fresh engine, whereas this one’s done at least 2 races.
According to the Ferrari website, Massa started a lap, and it was deemed not fast enough. Apparently he made a mistake at Turn 9 based on his comments.
David BR
7th May 2011, 13:43
Todfod: two words, ‘start’ and ‘race’! Let’s see if Massa’s soooo bad after those two.
Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn)
7th May 2011, 13:46
Shout out to Liuzzi as well, he did a great job.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:37
Thats true, really upped his game this time.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 16:45
Finally his performances are congratulated!
RIISE (@riise)
7th May 2011, 20:30
Agree about Liuzzi, fantastic.
Todfod (@todfod)
7th May 2011, 15:27
Not sayin Massa is soooo bad
You have a good point there. Fernando does have the ability to get stuck behind his slower teammate no matter how many grid positions ahead he is. I hope Alonso doesn’t botch his start again tomorrow.. sooner or later he has to start getting the starts right.
Steph (@)
7th May 2011, 19:07
Alonso’s good qualifying performances will keep counting for nothing if he doesn’t fix his starts. They’re really the main reason Felipe has had two good showings in comparison although Massa’s pace does seem to have improved from last year.
@Dan you’re right I forgot! Liuzzi really shined today. Congrats to to Jerome for beating Glock too.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:15
Alonso lost many places in the last 3 races, to end up at least behind his team mate, who then controlled his advantage.
RIISE (@riise)
7th May 2011, 20:32
The advantage Alonso has now is can attack from the outside meaning he will have a faster exit out of Turn 1. I wouldn’t put it past him taking Lewis at the start.
olliekart (@)
7th May 2011, 13:24
agree with you there BS, the only thing he gained was time not position and lost a set of tyres
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:28
May be he wanted to be ahead of atleast Rosberg in 3rd position and not 4th .
Mark Webber’s performance was shocking. I think he is becoming Massa of 2010, just cant compete with team mate.
RSWF1
7th May 2011, 13:48
ffs… Webber has jsut come off what most people on this very website have described as the drive of the season and you’re already laying the boot in… ffs… he was 3 tenths down on one lap, one lap… tommorow he will be 2nd on the grid, but no his performance was ‘shocking’
Dave Blanc
7th May 2011, 14:35
Well it was. Webber looks shocking this season. Put a monkey in a racing suit and they could have driven through the field like Webber did in China. Seriously, it’s getting embarrassing for Webber now – his team mate missed the whole of Friday practice for goodness sake!
TommyC
8th May 2011, 0:56
i think you’ll find ’embarrassing’ is Yuji Ide at the start of 2006. Webber just put the car on the front row. I don’t don’t think anyone at RBR would be dissappointed or ’embarrassed’ by that. Sure, the gap between he and Vettel is probably larger than Webber would like, but far from ’embarrassing’.
Cranio
7th May 2011, 16:12
I think same with Rosberg/Schumacher and Hamilton/Button in this grid.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:16
It still was his best 2011 performance.
Icthyes
7th May 2011, 13:26
Interesting: Lewis says his extra set in China wasn’t that important.
Kodongo
7th May 2011, 13:36
He used up his ‘extra’ set of new tyres behind Massa on the second stint, so I imagine that to be quite true.
David BR
7th May 2011, 13:38
Was that a post-qualifying comment? If so, sounds like trying to limit the psychological fall-out of seeing Vettel get out of the car after his first run, job done.
How many hundreths did McLaren say they were off Red Bull? Lol. Still at least it seems that the Red Bull KERS isn’t fully fixed yet, a little bit of hope for McLaren and Rosberg.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
7th May 2011, 13:55
About 50, which is what we saw today.
David BR
7th May 2011, 14:01
Oops I meant tenths. You’re right Icthyes, I’d remembered two to three tenths, not five – over hopeful!
rfs
7th May 2011, 13:30
Have Red Bull fixed their KERS issues? If so I think Seb will win easily tomorrow.
JohnTheMan96
7th May 2011, 13:34
I hope Rosberg eats the RBR’s at the start ;). Webber will have his KERS crap as usual.
David BR
7th May 2011, 13:40
Over-heating issues suggest not. I don’t think they’ll ever really fix it, it seems they’re just after a stable compromise.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:38
During FP3 they were still having overheating trouble, so I guess its just about the same as it was in China where they had to shut it down during the part of race.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:18
Vettel and Rosberg are on the clean side, Vettel has started well in Australia without KERS and badly in China with it.
carlos
7th May 2011, 13:31
Tires added to the race and took away from qualifying. I am not too familiar with all these new rules about tires, so i do not understand why Massa did not even try for a better position. Is the car itself that bad?
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:36
No, car wasnt that bad as Fernando showed. Actually these Pirelli tyres give their best performance on the first run and Massa has used one set of tyre in Q1. He was short of set of soft tyres and wanted to save it for the race. Thats why he did not take part in Q3.
carlos
7th May 2011, 13:41
very well.Thanks.
David BR
7th May 2011, 13:58
I agree about the tyres and qualifying losing its spark. But maybe FIA could think about changing the rules for qualifying quite radically, it’s fallen into a bit of a predictable pattern anyhow (aside from the scenario of everyone competing for an hour, then Germany wins, I mean!) The lull in Q3 between first and second runs is a bit anti-climatic. Maybe cut the time so the drivers only have time to swap tyres and out again?
BasCB (@bascb)
7th May 2011, 16:40
Please no!
Qualifying has been changed so often already. The current format is just about right.
The trouble is rather with 1. tyre allocation limiting sets of tyres and 2. the top ten starting on the tyres they qualify with.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:19
Massa’s lap would have made him start 10th, which he did but saving those tyres.
butterdori (@butterdori)
7th May 2011, 13:33
On the other hand, Mercedes is not giving up the fourth place on the constructors’ to Renault without a fight.
JohnTheMan96
7th May 2011, 20:06
Third place seems Mercedes vs Ferrari tbh.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:20
Renault have not had so great performances in the last races.
radu52 (@)
7th May 2011, 13:40
guys, massa may well get a podium place tomorrow …. that’s what webber did in china, started on the hard tyre only to use softs for the rest of the race ….. so massa is doing the same and we should see some interesting moves
Gill
7th May 2011, 13:42
Webber had all set of soft tyres unused. He was 17th. Massa is 10th. He used 1 set in Q1 and other in Q2. So tyre wise, he is not in a very good condition.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
7th May 2011, 14:03
The sets he used in Q1 and/or Q2 could have been used sets.
Gill
7th May 2011, 14:06
My point is that Webber did not use Soft tyres during China quali.
RFB
7th May 2011, 16:05
Drivers usually don’t have used set available at the beginning of qualifying. He used a new set of options at the end of Q1, reused the same at the beginning of Q2, and another new set at the end of Q2.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:22
Yes, right.
VXR
7th May 2011, 19:35
From the beginning of qualifying (Q1) you have three sets of new hard tyres and three sets of new soft tyres. It’s the same for everyone. Use them wisely.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
7th May 2011, 13:46
Further to what Gill said, Massa and Ferrari don’t have the low fuel pace to charge through the field in the final stint.
He should be able to make progress in the race with the right strategy, but chances are Ferrari will make some more strategy errors.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:23
Ferrari surely will make strategic errors, and Massa/Ferrari doesn’t have the pace to improve during the race.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 3:02
Massa made a mistake by using a soft in Q1 for no reason,that makes him having only 2 fresh set of soft (if I am correct). Will be a exciting race for him.
kowalsky
7th May 2011, 13:45
with this level of dominance vettel is the sure world champion. In another era, the error he made in p1, could have sidelined him for a few races, and open up the fight, but with this level of safety, the title is his.
Let’s not forget that for a similar accident lauda in 1976 was fighting for his life.
I imagine it is a good thing, but the challenge is much less than before, “that’s for sure”.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:26
Vettel is champion for Red Bull’s performance but for at least 50% for his talent. On equal cars he’d still be on pole but fight equally with Alonso and Hamilton. Like Schumacher in 2002 & 2004 his only rival is his team mate but like in those two years driver number 2 isn’t good enough.
David BR
7th May 2011, 13:50
Vettel’s utter dominance of Webber is embarrassing. How can he be so far ahead?? Whatever driver was against him would have a hard time beating him for pole, I imagine, but the gap is now there at every circuit with no sign of a response from Webber. Come on Mark!
Cornflakes
7th May 2011, 14:24
I can’t help but feel that Webber has hung up his title hopes now. He’s considering retirement, which alone is enough to suggest an uncertain racer. And with his title hopes dashed last year I feel he’s ‘doing a massa’ (after 2008)and conceeding the fact that he won’t be champion.
VXR
7th May 2011, 14:54
It’s a bit early for that!
Lets’s see what happens in the bit where you actually score points.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:28
Massa in 2009 was not bad at all, closely matching a slightly resurgeant Raikkonen and improving along his F60.
harshatiyya (@harshatiyya)
7th May 2011, 14:58
guys i have a doubt. kobayashi didnt set a lap time and what about 107% rule// is it applicable to him ?? anyway he is starting at 23rd grid position.. :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th May 2011, 15:06
He will get a dispensation, I have no doubt.
Ral (@)
7th May 2011, 15:27
It’s a good point though. What are the rules that apply in this case?
Save for dispensation, would the 107% rule normally preclude him from racing, or would they go by the other car’s pace to see what his likely time would have been +-a certain percentage?
thatscienceguy
7th May 2011, 16:11
the stewards look at practice times, see that Kobayashi is competitive when his car is moving uner its own power, and allow him to start the race.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
7th May 2011, 16:41
Don’t worry about it. Everyone knows having him on track is good for the sport.
Until he overtakes you.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 3:14
It won’t be fun if we don’t have him on track.Who will cook the Turkey then?
SupaSix-1
7th May 2011, 15:35
Once again Mclaren messed up Lewis.
Lewis said after q3 that he didnt want to go out on a 2nd run in order to save a set of options – but mclaren once again overuled him and sent him out.
Mclaren are messing up Lewis’ strategies again and its getting very frustrating.
The redbulls and rosberg all have a spare set of options so I dont see mclaren challenging the front 3 unless they have incidents or reliability issues. Button again is still coming out with the same tired excuses. He liked the balanced after practices but amazingly…the balance is a problem in quali. Seems like button is not good at setting up balances of his own car – he just seems like a driver who needs everything handed on plate.
VXR
7th May 2011, 16:12
Ayrton Senna would have said: “I am not doing another run” End of story.
If I were going to bring a driver into a team that could get a car to handle well and go very quickly without having to rely on having to hustle it untidily through corners, then Button would be the man for the job.
BBT
7th May 2011, 19:18
I’ve got to agree with you there VXR.
First time for everything ;-)
DaveW
7th May 2011, 20:32
On Hamilton, no he did not have to get into the car for a second run. But if he didn’t you would have been on here slating him for being a prima donna, or something else, correct?
As far as Button, yes, I suppose one definition of “very quickly” is half a second slower than one’s teammate.
VXR
7th May 2011, 20:56
No. That is not correct. What is also not correct is someone else saying that Hamilton’s team has once again ruined his race strategy. Perhaps it is now also true that McLaren have the 3rd fastest car?
Maybe Button ought to stop sharing his setup data with them? It’s well known that McLaren initially take Button’s settings as a baseline.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 3:17
I wasn’t sure that letting Lewis do another lap on soft was a good option when many teams & drivers have save one.
ZF1 (@zf1)
7th May 2011, 15:42
Michael was faster in Practice 3 that in his final lap in Q3, I wonder what happened there..
BBT
7th May 2011, 19:18
OLD age.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
7th May 2011, 16:38
Honourable mentions must go to Webber, Petrov and Rosberg for me. I really hope things start to look up for Mercedes.
A good qualifying session I thought, a nice mix at the top. Gutted for Kobayashi but at least we get to watch him move up the field…and he knows it judging by what he said to the BBC! Tomorrow could be a really memorable race for him.
I didn’t notice Liuzzi put it in front of Glock, not bad!
sid_prasher (@)
7th May 2011, 17:21
So are the RB the only team that have a set of unused softs?
marcus
7th May 2011, 17:32
No, Rosberg & Schumi both have a set, and possibly Heidfeld (I think).
Cwikla1995
7th May 2011, 17:41
I think Felipe Massa is the best. Ferrari favors Alonso. This is not good!!!
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:30
Totally agree.
Paulipedia
7th May 2011, 17:53
So far this year where you qualify has had little to do with where you finish so not as important anymore. Most of the top cars have been running similar race pace. Lets hope it continues tomorrow
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:31
Apart from two wins by two poles for Vettel and a second place from pole by him.
dlaird (@)
7th May 2011, 17:57
Wow. I wonder how many contract offers Adrian Newey will be getting. The RB7 is so dominant. Just wish Mclaren would have gotten it together today. Button was not happy with the car. Hamilton had a bad Q3. Not a good day to be a Mclaren fan.
VXR
7th May 2011, 18:14
Only in as much as perhaps he and Button shouldn’t have done a second run.
Rosberg was just quicker in a slower car, and used one set of tyres to achieve that.
Still, everything to play for in the race.
BBT
7th May 2011, 19:21
Rosberg really was the only ray of light in a dull qualifying. The worst qualifying I can remember.
Hopefully the race will be better and Rosberg can mix it with the RBRs.
Also interesting to see Alonso with the Mclarens.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 3:25
Quali wasn’t fun this time as it was on the other 3 times.
SabatFormulaOne (@sabatformulaone)
7th May 2011, 20:25
Why Kobayashi can start the race tomorrow ?
Bleu (@bleu)
7th May 2011, 20:32
The rules state that stewards may allow driver outside 107% to race.
Fixy (@)
7th May 2011, 20:33
Because he is able of getting in the 107%, only a failure prevented him from competing, and in Free Practice he has done laps within this margin.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
7th May 2011, 23:31
The 107% rule was re-introduced to try and counteract the front runners catching the back markers thus causing a pile a pile up with the front few drivers. Kobayashi won’t give them that problem.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 2:55
He have done some good lap in the practice which have prove the Steward that his car is capable of competing within the 1075 rule in the qualifying.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
8th May 2011, 2:52
Will Kobayashi start the race? I hope so he does as we know that Sauber have a car that can run within 107%.
I didn’t understand the reason for Massa using the soft tyre in Q3,it was a waste.Good session for Mercedes seems like they have moved a lot forward then their rivals but Red Bull,but very dissapointed by Schumacher’s lap,what happened to him not sure whether he made a mistake or did he ran on hard tyre?Will be a exciting race in front.