It appears I have returned to this corner of the world, having spend the previous week in the heart of Transylvania, Romania in the city of Cluj-Napoca. It is for that reason that there was no post on Thursday night, that and the fact that I was pretending to know how to be a sociable human being at the frighteningly posh 'Sun Garden Resort' - which is certainly not the conventional setting for a peasant like myself. That said the venture as a whole was rather interesting meeting folk from across the globe, including Turkey, Japan, Germany, China and of course Romania. It does make you wonder why people in this country can't be as civilised or friendly as those at the event and the city as a whole.
But first order of business upon landing on home turf, that is here in the North, not the pesky south which the plane landed, is taking care of working through the footage of qualifying. In many respects it was going to be a bit of a formality at the front of the grid given the characteristics of the circuit and a certain engine manufacturer. In fact it threatened to be quite an awkward session from multiple perspectives throughout the grid.
Qualifying
Behind the scenes and across the TV it appears that the whole world was far more concerned with how life was in the Mercedes team and who hates who... and how angry Toto Wolf was that fortnight ago. Mostly because it was funny. So as the session got started, the two Caterhams and Marussias had the track to themselves for a little while, practising sharing the slipstream effect on the long straights at Monza. Out of the quartet it was Kobayashi that eked out a small advantage, wouldn't it be awkward if it was the Japanese driver whose seat was for sale for the highest bidders instead of Ericsson...
Eventually Mercedes went to the front of the field with their inevitable speed advantage, Rosberg was initially in first place before Hamilton took over. All without running into each other which is a little dull and unfortunate, maybe that can all be corrected tomorrow. It seemed as if Mercedes were going to have some company at the sharp end of the grid because Felipe Massa in the Williams closed to within half a tenth of Rosbergs second place time. Massa improved to go anomalously fastest, before Hamilton retook the position. As the session continued several teams moved onto the softer tyre, Toro Rosso made significant gains - firstly by Vergne... Wouldn't it be awkward if the Frenchman was to be fired at the end of the season. The awkwardness continued when Kobayashi not only smashed Ericsson's best efforts but usurped both Marussia drivers... oh dear. Meanwhile Lotus' struggles continues and neither car made it into Q2
Q2
In this second section, Hulkenberg set the initial pace, but the German's qualifying difficulties continued as the Force India dropped down the time-sheet. Again Mercedes lead the pack, and again it was Rosberg who delivered first, followed by Bottas in the Williams. Hamilton responded with the fastest lap of the weekend to take the lead of the session. While Felipe Massa joined Valtteri in a seemingly futile pursuit of the Mercedes team - but at least they were giving it a go unlike the rest.
But the real battle in this session belonged at the opposite end of the top ten when the field streamed out on their final run. This caused a problem for a certain Mr Kimi Raikkonen who started his final campaign a lap earlier and encountered everyone on their out-lap. Starting with Daniil Kvyat on the main straight distracting the Finn, forcing Kimi to go in a little too deep in the Rettafilio - followed by making a slight mess of the Variante De La Roggia putting a rear wheel into the gravel on the exit (one of the few corners that still has gravel now). Kimi made a similar hash of his final lap and didn't make it into the top ten...in a Ferrari... in front of the Tifosi... in Italy... well oops. Sergio Perez on the other hand was defying team expectations, and dragged the Force India into Q3.
Q3
On the track with the highest average speed and terminal velocities in excess of 215mph - there was no urgency to use the additional two minutes available in Q3. The success story of Q2 - Sergio Perez - was the first to take to the track, only to see his initial lap time obliterated by Nico Rosberg's all conquering Mercedes. Bottas was only a few tenths shy of Nico's top time at the start of the session, but then there was the problem of Lewis Hamilton who appeared to be tearing up the space-time continuum in his crusade for pole position. The end of this lap resulted in the Briton carving a mighty four tenths out of Nico's best effort, in a titanic struggle that has often been decided by hundredths this gap was gargantuan.
With a seemingly unbeatable target posted on the board it looked like it was game over in the battle for pole position - Rosberg tried to cut the lead down but only manged to trim a few tenths off the deficit. Williams locked out the second row with Bottas in front, while Magnussen and Button set almost identical times on their final runs to lock out the third row. Then there was Vettel, the leading purpetrator of misusing the new blasphemous tarmac on the exit of the Parabolica could only manage 8th, behind the only Ferrari inside the top ten.
The Bonus Points Championship
Even when this was a reasonably straight forward session, in which Mercedes powered cars take up the top six places on the grid - and only one Mercedes car outside the top ten, there are points on offer.
- 10pts - Sergio Perez - The Force India setup doesn't make qualifying easy yet the Mexican made it out of Q2
- 8pts - Kevin Magnussen - One of McLaren's more successful Saturdays and the Dane takes lead honours
- 6pts - Lewis Hamilton - That was a mega lap to take the top spot, and even his slower lap would put him on the front row
- 5pts - Jenson Button - As a driver who might by fighting for a contract for 2015, a respectable run today can't hurt
- 4pts - Kamui Kobayashi - One race after being dumped from the team for money, making an impressive return an justifying his place on the grid
- 3pts - Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes' closest competition on a track where Ricciardo can't capitalise
- 2pts - Felipe Massa - Lead the Williams charge up until the all important final session.
- 1pt - Jules Bianchi - For saving an epic slide through the Ascari chicane in front of Romain Grosjean
The Penalty Points Championship
After being on 'holiday' for a while I didn't think I'd be issuing penalty points upon returning but here are a couple
- Sebastian Vettel - Stop trying to cheat the system, yes the Parabolica has been modified but you can stick to the track you know.
- Monza - Why did you take the gravel away....why... damn you, damn you
Looking to Tomorrow (well later on today now as it is past midnight)
Turn one should be fun - the two Mercedes drivers ploughing down to a very narrow chicane potentially side by side - another collision between the two would be hilarious. The force of the repercussions could tear a hole in the universe - mainly from Toto Wolf's angry face, which is a very severe angry face. On top of that we have Williams lurking just in case it all goes completely wrong, with McLaren on the row behind them.
Looking further back we have Daniil Kvyat in a car which could challenge for a top ten spot qualifying down in 21st place after taking a 10 place grid penalty for an engine change. A fate many of the Renault powered teams and potentially Sauber as well will come across when their allocations of power unit components run out. Monza can be chaotic with plenty of overtaking - or it could be dull and tiresome - here's hoping for the former. Bring it on.
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