Once again the conspiracy theorist floodgates are flung wide open and the interesting interpretations of today's developments come pouring through. Exactly the same sort of theories and stories that started to be suggested when everyone assumed that Webber was being specifically hampered at Red Bull so that Vettel could be the dominant force within the team. Whoever or whatever is at fault here, all that really matters is that the events of this afternoon has left us with another promising grid on a track that is exceptionally difficult to make progress on. To add to that a side serving of complacency has doubled up the intensity of comeback driving we've been been treated to in the past couple of races.
Qualifying also contained what I assume will be the sum total of rainfall we'll experience all weekend. One damp corner equalled one car buried in the fence - so by that logic a single track-wide sprinkle of rain would take out 14 cars and maybe, just maybe Caterham might score their first point. But as per usual the entire of Eastern Europe could be under the grasp of monsoons and the tiny patch of land on which the track is held will be bathed in resplendent sunshine. Even though some rain would make things very interesting.
Qualifying
Normally we'd spend a couple of paragraphs discussing lap times and relative pace, because in the end that is what qualifying is all about - but it appeared that technical gremlins would be the order of the day. All started off with Pastor Maldonado pulling the Lotus off to the side of the track - of course given how poorly things have gone for them it wasn't too much of a surprise. As Pastor's car was wheeled away, we cut immediately to the second retirement of the session - this one belonging to a far bigger scalp in more dramatic fashion. Lewis Hamilton - fresh from setting fastest times in the practice sessions was dragging a flaming Mercedes back into the pit lane in search of a fire marshal. The blaze was quickly contained but for the second time in two races Lewis was out of Q1 through mechanical difficulties and will start from the back row of the grid - or the pit-lane depending on the damage.
With two cars out already it seem that the battle for relegation was a moot point after Grosjean demoted Kobayashi into the bottom six places. With the huge difference in tyre performance between the prime and option compounds mid-field teams were able to compete at the top of the time-sheets. Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso went fastest ahead of Rosberg - the Mercedes driver on the slower compound. Red Bull and Williams were also counting on the prime tyres being quick enough to avoid relegation without using up any of the softer sets available. For the the most part this seemed like a safe plan, after all it required a Caterham or Marussia to beat one of the bigger teams. Even Ferrari thought they were safe with Raikkonen sitting in the final qualification spot. Surely Kimi would be safe... right. Not if Jules Bianchi had anything to do with it the Frenchman somehow found enough speed in the Marussia to be faster than a Ferrari - albeit on slower tyres - and moving through into Q2.
Q2
The second part of qualifying got underway with an average lap by the Force India of Sergio Perez as Mercedes powered cars took to the track first. Williams assumed control firstly with Massa and defiantly by Valterri Bottas knocking tenths off Felipe's time. But as per usual it was the factory team that asserted their dominance - even if there was only one car remaining from that garage. As Rosberg took the lead, Red Bull proved that they were much closer then they have been in recent races. We also saw Vettel being able to compete on similar terms with his team-mate, after all this is going to be one of the few tracks where power can be caught by cornering prowess.
A small lull in activity as the grid regrouped after their opening runs, but with four minutes remaining the entire field - well those who hadn't been relegated already - took to the track. Apparently Hamilton had left the circuit and we can only assume Raikkonen would have been frequenting Ferrari's ice cream fridge. Felipe Massa was able to pull away from the relegation zone and more into line with the times Bottas was managing. This final run also saw Jenson Button jump up into 8th place. Daniil Kvyat was on course to knock Hulkenberg out of Q2 but three corners from home the Russian put a wheel on the grass and span the car. The remainder of the session was covered by waved yellows, although Kvyat's death stare would have been enough to prevent drivers speeding past while marshals moved his car.
Q3
The final phase of qualifying was greeted by footage of spectators putting on waterproof macs and putting up umbrellas - even if it didn't appear to be raining. To make matters worse for the teams, atmospheric radar telemetry had failed - so we saw teams on the pit-lane sticking the hands out from under roof of the gantry. Amusingly on the Red Bull bay all of the senior staff were waving their arms about - weather detection by committee. But everyone had to stream out onto the track in case the the rain swept in and ruined the session. As it turned out it was only raining, ever so slightly in turn one - if the track was in the pre-2003 configuration it probably would have stayed dry. No-one anticipated the contrast of the dry and damper road over the distance of one straight, Rosberg hit the wet first and ran wide and off the track. As the cameras panned to track Nico rejoining the track there was the sound of a dull thud in the background... see what you get to hear with these quieter engines. It was Kevin Magnussen who followed suit and wasn't as fortunate, locking up on the wet surface and ending up on the grass. You don't slow down particularly well on the grass and he piled into the tyre wall bringing out the Red Flag.
During the interruption in which the McLaren was removed and the tyre bundles replaced the track had dried again. So record that one lap for posterity as it will probably be the last rain we'll see despite the number of threats of storms tomorrow. Even here at blog HQ rain seems to be borderline extinct in the face of relentless heat. Back to the action and people were tentative on their opening laps - Rosberg set a relatively slow time for the Mercedes driver. His time was promptly beaten by a whole raft of contenders including Bottas, Ricciardo and Alonso. Then Vettel emerged from a season of obscurity and delivered a massive lap - 0.8s faster than anyone else. Does this mean a non-Mercedes powered car could steal a pole position... Well no... once again Mercedes proved there was even more pace in the car that they hadn't shown thus far when Nico Rosberg dissected Vettel's time to the tune of almost half a second. So once more Mercedes were on pole - but Vettel appeared to be back on form on the front row.
The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners
Like so many times this season a likely suspect on pole belies an interesting session with many strong performance languishing under the radar. So here are the points from qualifying today.
- 10pts - Jules Bianchi - Kimi Raikkonen defeated by a Marussia piloted by the very driver tipped to replace him in time.
- 8pts - Sebastian Vettel - Some of that past form appears to have returned once again... but the domination is a distant memory
- 6pts - Valtteri Bottas - Once again the Finn defies expectation, the Willams shouldn't be this quick here, but somehow it is
- 5pts - Fernando Alonso - When Ferrari dropped the ball with Kimi, Fernando is left carrying the baton again all the way to fifth place
- 4pts - Nico Rosberg - Couldn't afford to relax today and did well to overcome the resurgent form of the other German Bloke - and kept it out of the wall in the damp turn one.
- 3pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Made it through into Q1 despite technical problems in FP3 and the Force India not being as strong in Hungary
- 2pts - Jean-Eric Vergne - Topped Q1 and made it through to Q3 completely under the radar and anonymously. Much in the same way that Jaime Alguersuari used to be... and look what happened there....
- 1pts - Adrian Sutil - Has to have a point simply as a result of being used as a derogatory yardstick by Grosjean as the Frenchman despondently called out 'So we didn't even beat Sutil' on the radio
Looking Forward to Tomorrow
Well as had been said before, and will be said again if this corner of the internet is still around next season, the Hungarian GP is perennially one of the dullest and uneventful events all season long. In the past only a wave of rainfall has prevented that fateful prediction - and on both occasions granted Jenson Button the victory. So if that logic carries forward in the event of any degree of precipitation then Jenson would need to claim McLaren's first victory in quite a long time... Sounds unlikely in this day and age with at least one of the Mercedes cars up the front end.
However even if it stays dry, which it probably will, there are some points to look out for tomorrow afternoon - firstly Lewis Hamilton starting from the back is a fascinating prospect. In Germany that was an easier task on a track based on overtaking, here (or there I being here and not there) in Hungary overtaking is exceptionally difficult - even in the fastest car on the grid. How the Mercedes carves through the field on this track could reverse the thought of another uninspiring race. On top of that we have Raikkonen back there as well, so Rosberg might run away with this but just like in Hockenheim the attention will be drawn further back. Hungary has a reputation to disobey tomorrow.
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