Surprisingly the rain has stayed away from the circuit and today's qualifying remained dry with threatening clouds hovering rather ominously over the Nordscleife which lies just above the pit straight. However down on the GP streke it was an unusually orderly and controlled - almost everyone managed to avoid running off the course through out all of the sections.
The roll-back of exhaust blown diffuser advantage versus excessive fuel burning saga - thing, has seen some major changes in fortune across the field be has made remarkably little difference up front with Red Bull not being able to claim a sizeable advantage. The bigger changes have come at the other side of the top ten and beyond - with Renault Squadron and Mercedes becoming a lot more competitive. One advantage of going back to the Valencia specification of regulations is that - at least in the qualifying show there were a lot less people whining about them. Focussing more on the team orders in Silverstone from Christian Horner in the Red Bull camp.
Then the time to put all that aside came to fruition so set up the grid for the 2011 German GP here - or there rather at the Nurburgring Jr track.
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| Sourced from F1Fanatic.co.uk |
Qualifying
Looking into Q1 there were lots of thoughts floating about regarding the tyres which come in a developed stage to Germany, with greater durability. The hard tyre allegedly capable of completing 100 Laps, and we could see more drivers entering the one-stop club in normal circumstances to join One-Stop Perez. I know some people managed it in Monaco but things happened which allowed a free tyre change without a pitstop. This did result in a bigger difference between the two compounds meaning less drivers would be safe only running the primes in Q1.
Those lights at the end of the pit lane turned into the usual green and it was the two Virgin Racing entries followed by Liuzzi in the HRT car. But it wasn't long before the track started to get a lot busier - with the division one entries all wearing the harder of the two compound tyres. Hamilton took the provisional lead of the session before Ferrari driver Alonso decided to take that place away from him with Red Bull not showing their pace quite yet but running fast enough not to be under threat of relegation.
Things were much closer on the edge of the drop-zone with several drivers taking turns in joining the six newer cars in the ejection positions. The likes of Jaime El Incognito and Paul Di Resta were the first suspects in the zone. With more teams throwing soft tyres at their cars as they were slipping further towards exiting qualifying - Rosberg was a surprise name to see at this end of the time-sheets but the soft tyres worked and he was propelled much further up the grid. This moved Kobayashi out of the running and as he was in the pit lane at the time that wasn't going to change. An interesting scenario considering the Sauber is faster than 18th position, I think it's a strategy call by Kamui looking at the championship and some serious bonus points tomorrow on a charge through the field.
Then it was time for Q2 and some race snacks in lieu of any breakfast at the time. One-Stop Perez and Massa the fastest car in Q1 on a call to use a fresh set of soft compound rubber. Felipe was the initial pace setter but was quickly beaten by team mate Alonso giving the Brazilian a .4s trimming. Hamilton and Vettel set faster times and went to the top of the timing screen. But this was Q2 so the interest was focussed further down the order with the battle to secure entry into the top ten and the final session.
Initially things were looking good for Di Resta and Maldonado who were holding position inside the progression zone. All division one cars were safe with 6 tenths separating them from Rosberg in 7th and the others close behind. The Renault Squadron mobilised it's forces and both Squadron Leader Heidfeld and Wingman Petrov advanced their positions with the Wingman taking point - beating Schumacher down into 9th, and ejecting Paul and Pastor. At this stage the top five teams controlled the top five rows in the form seen before the exhaust confusion, but it wasn't to remain that way. Home race power was gathering behind Adrian Sutil as he made a late charge at the end of the session, launching the Force India into the top ten and into Q3. Those relegated were Squadron Leader Heidfeld knocked out by Sutil, along with both Willams and STR cars, One-stop perez and Paul Di Resta.
Then it was time for the final session - 10 minutes to decide the rest of the grid. As seems to be the pattern this year the first batch of cars to leave pit lane was the division one cars lead by Alonso and Hamilton - but joined by Wingman Petrov. Fernando set the benchmark in the high 1:30's only to find Lewis trimming a tenth off that time to claim pole position. Hamilton's 1:30.766 remained on the top for a while until the Red Bull team took to the track with their full exhaust blown diffuser in effect - Webber's first lap was devastatingly fast blowing Hamilton and Alonso into mediocrity.
While the main contenders returned to the pits before run two the second batch of cars set their times - going anomalously slower than in Q2 droping them to the bottom of the top 10, sutil ahead of Petrov and Schumacher. Button retained his mythical status and was off the screen for pretty much all of the session - only spotting his coasting car after abandoning his second run - and ended up 7th.
The second phase of the session was underway in the quest for pole position. Alonso went first and went three tenths faster but not enough to beat Webber for the lead. The Australian also managed to find some more time and extend the advantage over the field, on an impressive 1:30.0 - leading the charge against the fastest of the Red Bull entries was Hamilton. The british driver came very close to usurping Webber from pole position producing an almost super-human effort to force more pace out of the McLaren 0.055s shy of the Australian. Vettel was having an off-weekend only managing third 0.1s behind - it just sums up his dominance when 3rd position is a bad day and the lowest starting position of the season with both Ferraris starting right behind him. Mythical Button stayed 6th ahead of Rosberg, Sutil, Petrov and Schumacher.
The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners
As the season reaches the half-way point things have settled more into a rhythm and performances have stagnated a little each team and car performing roughly how you'd expect - give or take a couple of positions or tenths on track. However that said there are competitors that have made some stand out performances and reasons to earn some points - so here are the five winners from today.
- Mark Webber - A major comeback from the team orders issue last race and outpacing everyone
- Lewis Hamilton - For being able to make the McLaren go that quick without hitting anyone for once
- Adrian Sutil - For making the top ten when Mercedes and Renault Squadron at full strength
- Vitaly Petrov - For leading the Renault Squadron return to action with the rolled back regulations
- Heikki Kovelainen - A sympathy point for being the only car to go off course, sure Schumacher cut the chicane but Heikki investigated a lot of T1's run-off space
The Penalties Championship
A grid drop penalty was applied to Liuzzi for changing the gearbox during the weekend and will drop 5 places from 23rd to 24th. I suppose he should start behind the Safety and Medical cars in 26th - or 27th if Doctor's Cayenne is on the grid too. But 24th it is making it the first time Ricciardo has spent in a place that isn't last.
Looking to Tomorrow
There is one very important variable that is planned to make things interesting, very interesting indeed, and that would be the changeable Eiffel weather. As the rain will be looking to score more bonus points as it is tied with Sebastian Buemi in 20th place at the moment, even the weather is seeking to climb up the table. If or when the rain arrives then there is no guessing what will happen - the mid-field could merge into the points as the pace is levelled out, or they could all crash into each other.
Red Bull should be safe whatever happens, given the fundamental downforce of the car which will work in the wet and dry as seen in Canada. Some extra moisture might bring button and Schumacher into play given their specialities and could hurt Ferrari more than the other lead cars. Should it remain dry then we are in for a titanic battle at the front of the field as McLaren always have better race than qualifying pace which will make them even closer to Red Bull and a chance for the win.
With the increased durability of the tyres this weekend there will be some more strategic options on the table with a few more drivers likely to try a single stop strategy given the success Perez has had becoming synonymous with the technique. A plan that would fall apart should the sky open up and release some water, a mid race downpour would catch some people off guard and really shake things up. There are so many permutations for the outcome of this race and so many different plausible outcomes when rain gets involved. Though a Lotus 1-2 may be a little outside those possible - but with Kamui in 18th the back of the grid will undoubtedly be entertaining as well.
While I have another outside broadcast scheduled for the race tomorrow, from further up the hill, as I did for Silverstone. But John you already got a bonus point last time - you probably won't get another one unless nothing happens on track - which I hope doesn't happen. So whose ever sofa you are on for this race, fuel up on some tea because if the rains fall you could be there for a little longer than normal, because the German GP of 2011 is set up perfectly for an outstanding race.
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