Well as a qualifying sessions go that was very much routine, but for those folks sitting on the pit wall it was a very strategic event because of those tyres again, because there is a massive difference between the two compounds in terms of lap time. But today's session means that the last minute protest against the race for the whole tax issue of India not recognising F1 as a sport and classing it as an entertainment event instead. On the basis of today I'm not sure anyone who isn't Vettel will be seeing any entertainment in what has taken place in the early hours of the morning - once more unleashing another helping of domination breaking the lap record in the process...
As for India itself - it seems... less fun than I remembered than it was - it's just tarmac everywhere off the track and for some bemusing reason it seemed the drivers had carte blanche to drive all over on the exit. It was getting silly, the exit of the long bowl turn had become completely ignored and the exit of the second chicane was almost moved into the Bangladesh it was so wide. One thing that I did notice was that those wider braking zones into the key hairpins looks really weird from the aerial footage - because the white lines marking the edge of the track are not parallel, and the radius of the corner is well off-centre, something that'll those with OCD mental. The sort of thing you'd notice when the timesheets are a foregone conclusion.
Qualifying
Q1 - The session was started by Gutierrez in the Sauber setting a base lap time, meanwhile Vettel was just wandering about the paddock - and probably still came close to taking the lead in the process. Instead it was Rosberg that managed to out-pace the Sauber in the earliest phases of the session. Everyone was setting the opening times on the medium tyre rather then resorting to the softer alternative. For a brief moment of time Sergio Perez put a McLaren at the front of the field, something that hadn't happened all season, but is was only for a brief moment as Gutierrez found some more speed and went fastest ahead of the Mexican.
It was time for the softer tyres and the main protagonists to stop loitering around in their garages and actually attempt to complete a lap - although Vettel didn't see the need to use the better compound... Because after Alonso went fastest Vettel came within 0.009s of the Ferrari on tyres which are a second slower. At this point everyone else may as well have gone home. So the attention falls on the lower section of the grid, to the relegation zone, naturally the slower teams took the bottom four places but there were some interesting names close to going out. Massa was the first to find himself in the bottom six, but easily escaped as did Hamilton and then Bottas. This pushed Grosjean out of Q1, because the team wanted to complete the session only using the medium tyres... something that in reality only Vettel can get away with. While all this was going on, Jenson Button finished Q1 with the fastest time, so McLaren get something to be almost pleased about this year.
Q2 - Everyone was on the same page for the second session and it was soft tyres all round - and the Ferraris set the initial times mere fractions of a second apart. Then a new team assumed the position of the front row - as Mercedes went first and second with Rosberg setting the new pace. Continuing a strange resurgence in pace Button and his McLaren split the two Mercedes to go second... But there was a slight problem Red Bull decided it was time for the soft tyres -which is always a bad sign for the rest of the grid. To which Webber set a time faster than last years pole time - which Vettel systematically knocked a further half a second off that time to take a very commanding lead.
So because the top of the timings was settled once again the remainder of the session was more interested in the goings on towards the bottom of the top ten - where Sauber, Force India and Toro Rosso were trying not to be relegated. At the moment Force India were through into the top ten with Di Resta - albeit very temporarily - because Nico Hulkenberg jumpted up to 6th dropping the Force India out. So there was a group Force India's and Toro Rossos sitting just outside the qualification time while both McLarens made it through.
Q3 - The final session brought back the question of strategy because whichever tyres were used to set the fastest lap the driver had to then start the race on. So the question became, do you suffer a little in qualifying with a slower tyre but have the benefit of a longer opening stint in the race. It seemed nobody really knew what to do - so the teams split the strategies, put one car on the softs and one on the mediums and see what happens. Ferrari sent Alonso out on the medium tyre and he set a respectable time on the compound. But then there was Vettel... who's idea was it go give him the fastest tyre.... as a result the German bloke found a ridiculous 1.7s smashing the lap record and to take another utterly dominant pole position...
Despite the fact that the session was still going it was very much over for the pole, Webber defeated the other softer tyre runners while using the medium... Red Bull were completely on form. But there was enough of a gap in between the two cars for someone to drop Webber down a couple of places. Raikkonen tried first but could only manage 3rd, between Webber and Alonso. Massa was only able to repeat the acheivement - it seemed the Red Bulls were untouchable. Then there was the Mercedes' both equipped with the soft tyres for their second runs - Hamilton managed to make it onto the front row, still weeks of time behind Vettel. Not to be outdone - Rosberg replaced Hamilton as the lead Mercedes on the front row. Further back Hulkenberg put his Sauber once more in front of Alonso... to which I assume he is most pleased. While McLaren rounded out the top ten, but starting on the better race tyres...
The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners
Today's session may not have been particularly exciting or particularly unpredictable, and there was certainly no competition for the pole position... again. But points need to be awarded as follows:
- 10pts - Jenson Button - A McLaren wins a session - Q1 might be inconsequenctial to the big teams but a win is a win nonetheless
- 8pts - Mark Webber - 4th on a tyre which is supposed to be a second slower
- 6pts - Sebastien Vettel - A new lap record, held pole by 1.7s for a while... utter dominance..again
- 5pts - Felipe Massa - Out-qualifies Alonso again... even if it was on the soft tyres
- 4pts - Esteban Gutierrez - For the biggest wheelie over the turn 6 chicane kerbing.
- 3pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Back in the top ten again, ahead of Alonso
- 2pts - Valtteri Bottas - Making it out of Q1 when Maldonado failed
- 1pt - Nico Rosberg - Again disproving the idea that Hamilton is faster
The Penalties Championship
Only one event required penalising so far, and that goes to Williams, fined 60,000 euros once more for failing to attach a wheel to Pastor Maldonado's car - the wheel nut fell off the car and miraculously the actual wheel stayed on. But a second successive infringement saw yet another penalty
Looking to Tomorrow
The Indian GP over the past couple of occasions has not been filled with excitement or a feast of action and dynamism - considering a certain German bloke has a 100% pole to victory record on the sub-continent. This weekend does not look likely to be any different - the Red Bull is unnaturally quick and will not be defeated. Therefore the championship will be won tomorrow and that will be that. But there are other things to look out for - Grosjean for example - an excitable and occasionally erratic Frenchman has a lot of work to do tomorrow, and a lot of cars to pass to make it into the points. There are Saubers, McLarens and Force Indias in the middle of the field fighting over constructors points standings. This will be a fierce battle for Romain to try and pass through - which may prove problematic as the Lotus was one of the slowest cars in a straight line on the speed traps.
Here's hoping that in what might be the final visit to India we give this vibrant nation something that is worth putting down in the tax books as entertainment.
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