The first qualifying session in Europe has been completed and the the first support races of the season are underway but Eurosport won't be showing them till tomorrow morning - or much later when I'll be watching Doctor Who. So the idea of a GP2 mini-feature has been rather scrubbed perhaps till the final report or a separate posting considering I'll be waffling on for a while about the race to start off with, so the support package may be a different segment.
But all that aside today was a day for qualifying and to prove that all the updates designed over the three week break were worthwhile. But with first practice compromised by the rain and Vettel binning his car into the barrier bringing out the red flags, the lowered amount of relevant track time will have hampered preparations for the session. However despite the weekend's complications so far things played out roughly as expected.
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| Source www.F1fanatic.co.uk |
The raft of updates has brought some changes to the complexion of the grid, even with most teams making modifications and developments the order has encountered some re-formatting. At the very front of the field things have remained the same with the two Red Bull cars making the front row theirs - with Vettel still in another dimension in terms of pace - albeit a tightening dimension over Webber and the rest of the field.
Here is where the similarities end - at least at this side of the grid. Mercedes have made a significant improvement and moved up several places from their earlier form. They've moved from battling to be the fourth best team with Renault, to jumping ahead of them and Ferrari and competing with McLaren - at least in Rosberg's hands. The second Mercedes driver - the previously rather successful Michael Schumacher had taken over the position of grumpy face from Hamilton who after winning in China has been a little less grumpy.
On the other end of the spectrum Renault have been losing ground since China and now have fallen into 5th place on the fringes of the midfield where things too have been shaken up. Williams have made a recovery from the very poor early season results with Rubens coming within a few tenths of making the top ten. Even the off pace Maldonado was only 0.5s further back.
Sauber and Torro Rosso have been the big losers after the spring break - shifting from being fighting for points to falling easily in Q2 and with the field being so tight in the middle then a loss of a couple of tenths makes a huge difference. Force India have pretty much stayed where they were in terms of relative pace but have ended up with different rivals this weekend in terms of the recovering Williams team.
At the back end of the grid change was afoot too, HRT managed to pull themselves off the final row the grid - with Liuzzi managing to pass Glock in qualifying pace but whether that transfers into race speed is another matter. Lotus were making more strides coming ever closer to the tail of the estabilshed teams only 0.7 seconds off Alguersuari in the Torro Rosso. So we could be seeing one of the newer cars in the second qualifying segment.
Qualifying
The time had come for the drivers to escape their monstrous motorhomes in the paddock of excess - a long way from the tents and awnings you get in many other racing series across the planet, including some major championships. The lights had changed to green and the first car to take to the Turkish circuit was the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi - but things were not going entirely to plan. As the Japanese driver crowned the brown on the exit of turn 11 his fuel pump failed cutting flow to the engine and killing the power. He crawled down to the pit lane entry putting an end to Kamui's qualifying efforts and securing a back row grid slot.
The rest of the opening segment was initially dominated by Red Bull, who opted to only use the harder tyres and with one Sauber out the remaining drop zone places would almost certainly be occupied by the six new cars from last season. Lotus tried their best to upset the form by holding station in the top 16 with Kovalainen, but late times from Di Resta and Renault saving their runs to the end of the session relegated them. For some reason towards the end of the segment Massa felt the need to go out on the softer tyres despite seeming safe at the time and produced a time to top the first session
And then there was 16 heading into Q2, as in the first part the main teams decided to run a few laps as possible to save tyres and set them up for the race tomorrow. Red Bull remained the fastest cars and planted both entries at the front with Vettel being the top runner. Mercedes were beginning to show their form with Rosberg splitting the Red Bull pairing and Michael not too far behind at this stage after a call from the pits regarding a 'Magic Panel'. Renault were still playing the waiting game - hanging on until the last possible moment, while the top ten was temporarily occupied by a Williams with Rubens Barrichello at the wheel.
Buemi was flirting with the fringes of the relegation zone before Force India shuffled both drivers ahead of the Torro Rosso, and was later usurped by the second Williams of Maldonado. Pastor has had another interesting weekend shredding another front wing in practice and trying to drift round turn 8, but adding a top ten to that list was not on the menu. After finally deciding to leave the pit lane Renault decided it was time to take part in the session and book their places in the next session. Both Petrov and Heidfeld stuck a new set of soft tyres on and rose to the challenge. Vitaly was first to complete a lap and knocked Di Resta out, Nick was a few seconds down the road and narrowly managed to secure the final place dropping Rubens into relegation.
For the first time this year, the entire top ten was filled by both cars from the top five teams without any interlopers from the mid-pack. But the grid wasn't going to be set in two-by-two fashion outside the front row, the Red Bulls were among the first group to head to the track. Vettel opened his Q1 account with a 1:25.05 with Webber half a second back, following these times Red Bull decided that was enough and headed back to the garage. Everyone else threw all they could at the blue cars but to no avail - Hamilton lead the early charge but was pipped by Rosberg to 3rd.
Alonso was the lead Ferrari and managed to separate the McLaren pairing less than a tenth ahead of Button but a long way behind Vettel out front. The second of the red machines didn't make an appearance in the final session choosing to conserve tyres perhaps in an effort to 'do a Webber' and make a massive gain on a tyre advantage. The Renaults looked set for the bottom two places in the final session but were joined by a uncommonly slow Michael Schumacher who was not matching the potential of the Mercedes as demonstrated by Rosberg. This lack of pace showed through in his disposition post session - as he claimed the title of grumpy face for the weekend. Red Bull were able to sit back while all this unfolded claiming a front row lockout with Vettel three tenths of Montoya's lap record.
The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners
So after the first qualifying session in Europe completed and here are the bonus points awarded
- Vitantonio Liuzzi - For getting an HRT car, which didn't even qualify in Australia, ahead of another team car on pace
- Kovalainen - For being closer to entering Q2 than before and comprehensively beating teammate Trulli
- Rosberg - Great qualifying result and giving Michael a thorough beating
- Magic Paddle - A paddle of unknown mystical powers which gifted Schumacher 4th in Q2
- Red Bull - For being able to chill in the garage after only one run knowing they'd claimed the front row.
Well the race itself with the new tyre as demonstrated in China is very much an unknown quantity - I expect the Red Bulls to lead of the start and build a gap over the rest of the pack. Rosberg whilst having strong qualifying pace could fall victim to the McLarens in the early stages with Alonso in the mix.
It is further into the race when strategy starts to raise it's head do things become interesting, with Massa being out of sequence with a reasonably quick car - with the right tyre strategy could make significant inroads into the major points positions. Another car to make a special look out for is Kamui Kobayashi who will be starting from 23rd with lots of fresh tyres - combined with strong passing initiative Kamui could prove even more entertaining to watch - with points a possibility.
The likes of Renault, Williams and Force India could end up in the points as they are in the same group of cars on the grid and when tyre degredation and strategy overpowers raw carspeed then expect several cars and strategies to come together at the end of the race and things will get very interesting. The same could be said of the cars at the front of the field where alternate routes to the flag for Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren could cause problems for Red Bull - especially if their KERS fails again.
Overall tomorrows Turkish Grand Prix will be very exciting - mixing the strategy of China with a more entertaining and challenging track. With attendance figures dwindling in Istanbul and threat of removal from future calenders could the 2011 race be Turkey's swansong and bow out with a spectacular event.
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