F1 Fanatic

Three of the Seven Fastest in FP1 fall in Q2
Three drivers who finished in the top seven places in FP1 fell out of Qualifying in Q2 for the Russian Grand Prix. Mathershaw, who was seventh in FP1 ended 14th while Cucamest failed to show Caterham’s pace in Qualifying, managing only 16th. The biggest shock though was William Ingram who topped FP1 as he was made to settle for 17th on the Russian Grid. Widger put in a strong performance for Spyker in 15th.

Full Q2 Results
11. d’Hazorme (Sauber)
12. Gilbert (Marussia)
13. Hofman (Infiniti)
14. Mathershaw (Ferrari)
15. Widger (Spyker)
16. Cucamest (Caterham)
17. Ingram (Williams)
18. Bakhtiari (Mallya)
19. Sunderland (Mercedes)

Morley Russian to Easy Pole
Nic Morley claimed pole position ahead of the Inaugural Russian Grand Prix, by a massive 8 tenths from Lotuses Juho Nykänen. Morley never looked challenged for the top spot throughout Q3 while Nykänen always looked set to join him on the front row. Kingshark headed the second row ahead of World Champion Bomeny and Peter Varga made it two McLaren’s in the top 5.

Full Q3 Results
1. Morley (McLaren)
2. Nykänen (Lotus)
3. Kingshark (Williams)
4. Bomeny (Ferrari)
5. Varga (McLaren)
6. Franklin (Lotus)
7. Needham (Caterham)
8. Robson (Red Bull)
9. Armos (Mercedes)
10. Chan (Sauber)

Race 1 Update
1. Nykänen (Lotus)
2. Morley (McLaren)
3. Kingshark (Williams)
4. Bomeny (Ferrari)
5. Varga (McLaren)
6. Franklin (Lotus)
7. Robson (Red Bull)
8. Armos (Mercedes)
9. Needham (Caterham)
10. Chan (Sauber)
11. d’Hazorme (Sauber)
12. Hofman (Infiniti)
13. Mathershaw (Ferrari)
14. Widger (Spyker)
15. Gilbert (Marussia)
16. Ingram (Williams)
17. Cucamest (Caterham)
18. Bakhtiari (Mallya)
19. Sunderland (Mercedes)
20. Graham (Red Bull)
21. Eberhart (Mallya)
22. Frog (Marussia)
23. Kirkham (Ford)
24. Peacock (Pagani)
25. Czaczyk (Infiniti)
26. Haddleton (Ford)
27. Downton (Pagani)
Ret. Butler (Spyker)

Lap 1 – Needham’s struggled to get away from the grid and has lost two places to Robson and Armos.

Lap 5 – Nykänen’s looked quicker than Morley since we started and eases past with the use of DRS.

Lap 9 – Gilbert tries to pass d’Hazorme for 11th but messes it up and takes a trip through the run-off! He’s lost 3 places now.

Lap 12 – Spyker’s poor Reliability strikes again.. Butler pulls over at the side of the road with… well, he’s lost his rear wing. Seeing on the replay, it’s just flown off, shocking!

Race Update 2
1. Nykänen (Lotus)
2. Franklin (Lotus)
3. Morley (McLaren)
4. Bomeny (Ferrari)
5. Kingshark (Williams)
6. Varga (McLaren)
7. Chan (Sauber)
8. Robson (Red Bull)
9. d’Hazorme (Caterham)
10. Armos (Mercedes)
11. Needham (Caterham)
12. Mathershaw (Ferrari)
13. Ingram (Williams)
14. Cucamest (Caterham)
15. Hofman (Infiniti)
16. Widger (Spyker)
17. Sunderland (Mercedes)
18. Bakhtiari (Mallya)
19. Gilbert (Marussia)
20. Graham (Red Bull)
21. Frog (Marussia)
22. Eberhart (Mallya)
23. Kirkham (Ford)
24. Czaczyk (Infiniti)
25. Peacock (Pagani)
26. Haddleton (Ford)
27. Downton (Pagani)

Lap 15 – Kingshark tries to pass Morley for second but they both go off the road! Bomeny obviously gets distracted as well as he outbrakes himself and Franklin passes the lot of them! Morley rejoins in 3rd ahead of Bomeny and Kingshark, who’s lost two places.

Lap 18 – A mistake from Needham loses him another two places, it’s not going well for him so far.

Lap 21 – We’ve missed it but Ingram is up to 13th now, all over the back of Mathershaw’s Ferrari.

Lap 22 – Ooooo, Gravel kicked up! It’s Gilbert’s Marussia. He manages to rejoin, albeit having lost 3 places.

Race Update 3
1. Nykänen (Lotus)
2. Franklin (Lotus)
3. Bomeny (Ferrari)
4. Morley (McLaren)
5. Kingshark (Williams)
6. Varga (McLaren)
7. d’Hazorme (Sauber)
8. Armos (Mercedes)
9. Chan (Sauber)
10. Mathershaw (Ferrari)
11. Robson (Red Bull)
12. Needham (Caterham)
13. Ingram (Williams)
14. Sunderland (Mercedes)
15. Hofman (Infiniti)
16. Cucamest (Caterham)
17. Gilbert (Marussia)
18. Bakhtiari (Mallya)
19. Graham (Red Bull)
20. Eberhart (Mallya)
21. Czaczyk (Infiniti)
22. Kirkham (Ford)
23. Haddleton (Ford)
24. Downton (Pagani)
Ret. Widger (Spyker)
Ret. Frog (Marussia)
Ret. Peacock (Pagani)

Lap 25 – Bomeny in the Ferrari all over the back of Morley’s McLaren, oh… and he’s through, that was easy.

Lap 29 – Oh, Robson putting in some really slow times for Red Bull, some three seconds off the pace of the guys around him, and he’s dropped three places already. Meanwhile going the other way Mathershaw has just got into the top 10.

Lap 36 – Oh, another rear wing lying on the track, and it’s Orange… no, it can’t be… It is! Another retirement for Widger… this is shocking. Oh and so is this! Frog is caught out by the debris and a horrible accident there! Safety Car is called.

Lap 37 – Another retirement as a results of that crash. Peacock into the pits with sever puncture damage.

Out of the points now, oh what has happened to the mighty bulls? :(

Race Result
1. Franklin (Lotus)
2. Nykänen (Lotus)
3. Morley (McLaren)
4. Bomeny (Ferrari)
5. Kingshark (Williams)
6. Mathershaw (Ferrari)
7. d’Hazorme (Sauber)
8. Varga (McLaren)
9. Armos (Mercedes)
10. Robson (Red Bull)
11. Needham (Caterham)
12. Sunderland (Mercedes)
13. Hofman (Infiniti)
14. Ingram (Williams)
15. Cucamest (Caterham)
16. Bakhtiari (Mallya)
17. Gilbert (Marussia)
18. Graham (Red Bull)
19. Eberhart (Mallya)
20. Czaczyk (Infiniti)
21. Kirkham (Ford)
22. Haddleton (Ford)
23. Downton (Pagani)
Ret. Chan (Sauber)

Lap 41 Chan joins the list of retirements as he follows the Safety Car into the pits and parks it in the garage.

Lap 44 The Safety Car really helped Franklin. He’s right on the back of Nykänen now, and with DRS, he’s through! Into the lead!

Lap 45 – Mathershaw on a charge. He’s up to 8th behind Varga!

Lap 46 – and now he’s ahead of Varga, and all over d’Hazorme!

Lap 47 – and now he’s into 6th with fastest lap! This man is flying.. technically, he could still win!

Lap 52 – 1 lap to go and Graham makes up another place! That’s a massive… 2… in 52 laps. If he threw his gloves after Qualifying 20th yesterday, finishing 18th in the race today will result in someone getting a helmet in their face…

Lap 53 – Jamie Franklin takes his first win, and podium of the season as he leads a Lotus 1-2! Morley crosses the line in third, now where did that happen? Where’s Bomeny. Oh, he crosses in fourth with dirty tyres, and a replay shows a mistake at the final corner. That must hurt.