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Formula I-Spain.

wombat666

Administrator
Quite an interesting qualifying session!
Ironic that the team who set pole and won the 2012 race has fallen so far down the ladder!!!!!!
Retirement beckons 'Sir Frank'.
Obvious question for race day, can 'Mercedes' keep their tyres in race winning condition?


:kilroy:

Snipped from the F1 site:

The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton claimed a commanding one-two on the grid for tomorrow’s Formula 1 Gran Premio de España 2013 after a dramatic Q3 qualifying session in Barcelona on Saturday.

The Silver Arrows pairing showed speed throughout qualifying as Hamilton had set the pace in Q1 from Rosberg. In 14th and 15th places the McLarens were perilously close to missing the Q2 cut, but the first man to do that was Valtteri Bottas, with 1m 23.260s for Williams. Team mate and last year’s winner Pastor Maldonado had no fairy story this time as he was 18th on 1m 23.318s.

Behind them, Giedo van der Garde snatched back the honours for Caterham at the last moment with 1m 24.661s, just after Jules Bianchi (1m 24.713s) and Max Chilton (1m 24.996s) had put Marussia ahead. Charles Pic was the final runner in the second Caterham, on 1m 25.070s.

As Hamilton again set the pace in Q2, the session brought embarrassment for his former team mate Jenson Button. The McLaren man wound up only 14th on 1m 22.355s, moments after team mate Sergio Perez had brought joy to the team with an excellent lap of 1m 21.790s which put him seventh.

The Toro Rossos just missed the Q3 cut, with Daniel Ricciardo finally acing Jean-Eric Vergne by the smallest margin, 1m 22.127s to 1m 22.166s. Adrian Sutil also missed out, after lapping his Force India in 1m 22.346s for 13th ahead of Button. Behind the Englishman, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez lined up their Saubers 15th and 16th on 1m 22.389s and 1m 22.793s respectively.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa ended Q2 under investigation having allegedly impeded Red Bull's Mark Webber during the session.

Finally, Q3 saw Rosberg set the pace on his first run with 1m 20.824s. He, the two Ferrari drivers, and the two Lotus drivers were the only ones to do two runs.

On his only run, Sebastian Vettel moved into P2 with 1m 21.054s, before Rosberg improved his time with 1m 20.718s and then Hamilton’s sole run saw him post 1m 20.972s to wrap up the front row in front of the onlooking Daimler boss Dr Zetsche.

Kimi Raikkonen held on to fourth for Lotus with 1m 21.177s, leaving the third row to the Ferraris. Local hero Fernando Alonso was fifth on 1m 21.218s, with Massa right on his tail with 1m 21.219s. Behind them, Romain Grosjean lost time with a big slide and was thus left seventh on 1m 21.308s ahead of Webber’s Red Bull on 1m 21.570s.

Perez was ninth for McLaren on 1m 22.069s as Paul di Resta secured 10th for Force India on 1m 22.233s.
 
Mercedes still seem to be a 'one lap wonder' , and Barcelona isn't a good place for the tires, especially the front left one. I expect Vettel and Raikkonen to be up front at the end of the race tomorrow.

PosNoDriverTeamQ1Q2Q3Laps
19Nico RosbergMercedes1:21.913 1:21.776 1:20.71812
210Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:21.728 1:21.001 1:20.97212
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull Racing-Renault1:22.158 1:21.602 1:21.05412
47Kimi RäikkönenLotus-Renault1:22.210 1:21.676 1:21.17717
53Fernando AlonsoFerrari1:22.264 1:21.646 1:21.21812
64Felipe MassaFerrari1:22.492 1:21.978 1:21.21912
78Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1:22.613 1:21.998 1:21.30816
82Mark WebberRed Bull Racing-Renault1:22.342 1:21.718 1:21.57012
96Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes1:23.116 1:21.790 1:22.06913
1014Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1:22.663 1:22.019 1:22.23317
1119Daniel RicciardoSTR-Ferrari1:22.905 1:22.12714
1218Jean-Eric VergneSTR-Ferrari1:22.775 1:22.16612
1315Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1:22.952 1:22.34612
145Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1:23.166 1:22.3559
1511Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1:23.058 1:22.38913
1612Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1:23.218 1:22.79315
1717Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1:23.2609
1816Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1:23.3189
1921Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1:24.6616
2022Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1:24.7136
2123Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1:24.9966
2220Charles PicCaterham-Renault1:25.0706
Q1 107% Time1:27.448

<tbody>
</tbody>
 
BTW Really excited about fellow Dutchman Robin Frijns winning the first GP2 race of this weekend, and only his third GP2 race ever!

Frijns started motor racing only in 2009, finishing third in the Formula BMW series, and he won the Formula Renault 2.0 series in 2011 and the World series by Renault in 2012, both in his first season. For this year he is the test and spare driver for Sauber. He missed the first GP2 race weekend but found a seat for Bahrein and now Spain. Great job!
 
I think having Lewis as a teammate has elevated Nico's game. But I like both drivers so I'm a happy camper! :mixedsmi:
 
There is a serious flaw in the tyre situation that is starting to annoy followers of F.I and even the commentators, a couple of tyre stops in a race is fair enough, four or five is just ridiculous!
I'll leave it at that rather than throw in a spoiler for anyone who hasn't viewed the race yet.
:kilroy:
 
There is a serious flaw in the tyre situation that is starting to annoy followers of F.I and even the commentators, a couple of tyre stops in a race is fair enough, four or five is just ridiculous!
I'll leave it at that rather than throw in a spoiler for anyone who hasn't viewed the race yet.
:kilroy:

Here's what Jacques Villeneuve had to say: :mixedsmi:

"At this rate, F1 is going to become a pit-stop contest with a few race laps thrown in,"
 
There is a serious flaw in the tyre situation that is starting to annoy followers of F.I and even the commentators, a couple of tyre stops in a race is fair enough, four or five is just ridiculous!
I'll leave it at that rather than throw in a spoiler for anyone who hasn't viewed the race yet.
:kilroy:

Some Twitter comments:

John Russell: "#f1 tyres, fiasco. We don't make 1500m runners do a lap in wellies before changing into flip flips then trainers" Johnny Horden: "It's actually criminal that natural racing is so compromised by tyre strategy! what's the point!?"


What is F1 coming to? 2.4-litre normally aspirated V8s this year, 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines with extensive energy recovery next, what the following year? Wind up motors that you must pit to have the "key" inserted and rewound? Roller skates bolted to the frame instead of tires? A JOKE now!
 
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