The one disadvantage of the American time zones is the fact that the process of making my contribution to the internet is pushed further back into the shadowy realm of the evening. So as darkness envelops this corner of the world, Austin remains embroiled in the deepening economic crisis infecting the lower half of the grid. Tensions are raising driving a wedge between the two halves of that grid - the top five teams at the front end of the grid have all the power over the budget and over the technical/sporting regulations. Naturally everyone else has a right to be displeased with this state of affairs. The odd ball in the middle is Toro Rosso - not involved in the special club at the front - but pulled along on Red Bull's coat tails and their sponsorship package places them in an unique position. Force India, Sauber and Lotus are the trio of teams most at risk at the moment - and they are becoming increasing vocal about matters. Sky paid a visit to Bob Fearnley from Force India and he pointed out that those three teams have had discussions this weekend. The exact content of that meeting remains a closely guarded secret - but one major rumour has surfaced, the threat of those teams staging a boycott of the race on Sunday. This would leave us with 12 cars starting the race - twice as many as we had in another US GP when compromises were refused and stubbornness prevailed. That incident of course being the farcical race of 2005 when all cars with Michellin tyres couldn't race due to tyre failures on the banking. The only positive from that race was a double points scoring event for Minardi...
As for the actual session today - it fell the same way as so many others have before it, but the proceedings had to be reconfigured slightly to account for the unfortunate circumstances for Caterham and Marussia. Four cars were to be eliminated in both Q1 and Q3 - to leave Q3 as a top ten shoot-out. A running theory was that with Vettel effectively dropping out Q1 would be quite the formality with Sauber and Lotus filling the relegation places... Well that theory didn't quite materialise, and from those teams threatening a walkout - I suspect there will be at least one wanting to see the race through to the bitter end.
Qualifying
With the atmosphere remaining as oppressive as it has been since the conclusion of the ill-fated Japanese GP, qualifying received a little less attention then usual. Of course this new cloud of anger and disillusion is a consequence of the situation facing the two teams that haven't made it to Austin. Q1 especially seemed fairly muted - only three cars were at risk of being relegated, the fourth relegation spot pre-booked by Sebastian Vettel for his complete power unit change. In fact component wear and tear is starting to take effect elsewhere throughout the field - Kvyat needed a new engine, Button needed a new gearbox. Vergne also needed an engine change, but had a spare from earlier in the year so avoided a grid penalty. The temporary loss of Caterham and Marussia hurts Daniil - because it becomes difficult to apply all of the 10 penalty places he has been served, so that penalty carries over to Brazil next time.
Q1 got started with the Force India and Toro Rosso drivers setting the benchmark times - of course that didn't last too long... As soon as the Mercedes team left the garage the top spot was gift wrapped and delivered to the German outfit. It was an ongoing battle between the two - and Hamilton was finding it a lot more difficult locking up and flat-spotting his tyres at the two heaviest braking zones. Vettel did leave the pits to complete a token lap - just to complete a time within the 107% rule. It is possible to race without competing in qualifying but that is the stewards discretion. As the session drew one Sebastian's time dropped him into the relegation zone alongside Gutierrez and the two Lotus drivers. But one of those Lotus cars had other ideas, normally we'd rely on Grosjean for controlled speed - but this time it was Pastor Maldonado and he had found some anomalous pace. On the softer tyres the conventionally erratic Venezuelan jumped up to an entirely surprising fourth place. Another oddity was Adrian Sutil in 7th for Sauber...so much for those cars falling by the wayside.
At the very end of the session Grosjean attempted to match the pace of his team-mate but ran off the track in turn 12. The team informed him that he was a county mile away from making it into Q2, positive thinking eh... At the very front of the grid Hamilton decided to do a lap on the soft tyres for no apparent reason... but he ended the session 1s clear of the rest, I suppose that'll look good out of context on a stand alone timesheet.
Q2
The second part of qualifying took a little while to get started, but when it did the opening times were a little quicker than in Q1, this time initiated by Valteri Bottas. Yet again Mercedes turned up and took the top spot from their contenders - but this time Nico Rosberg claimed the bragging rights in the intra-team battle. Hamilton was warned on the radio, that he might be using the current tyre set for the race and not to damage them. Lewis suitably responded to that by repeating his multiple lock-ups and picking up a wheel vibration. The rest of the field headed by Fernando Alonso was close to a second further adrift. For the vast majority of the session the whole thing started to stagnate, everyone sort of settled into their positions. Even the relegation positions seemed locked in, but things came closer to their conclusion the rate of track evolution improved.
Several cars suddenly found a bunch of pace, none of which really threatened Mercedes team at the very front. Massa and Bottas made the first move locking out the preliminary second row. Rosberg also took it upon himself to replicate Hamilton's move in Q1 and completed an additional lap when there was really no need to do so. But aside from being pointless, this lap threw down a marker in preparation for Q3 - because it obliterated anything that Hamilton had put together. In the battle to avoid relegation there were two unusual contenders making the biggest chase for a top ten spot. Pastor Maldonado was on the very fringe of getting through but a couple of mistakes got in the way of that, falling short of stealing 10th from another surprise performer. Adrian Sutil was in the final promotional place, the first time in 2014 that a Sauber had made it into Q3 and the first time where points look possible.
Q3
Nico Rosberg had claimed the upper hand following his performance in Q2 and delivered an opening lap almost identical to the one he smashed Hamilton with in the previous phase of qualifying. Having seen the feat performed once, Lewis might have been prepared for it and had some form of response... and he did give it a good go, but fell a couple of tenths short of Nico's effort. Ricciardo had set the initial time but was promptly swamped by the rest of the contenders and after the first runs the grid was starting to line up in team formation. Mercedes followed by Williams then McLaren and Alonso. Only Raikkonen and Sutil were behind Ricciardo after the fist run - and Adrian hadn't set a time yet.
Time for the final runs of the session and it was clear that unlike in Russia the front row was going to be controlled by the Mercedes team - Williams were just too far away. It was theorised by the commentary team that Rosberg might have hit the limit of pace in his car and it was down to Lewis to catch up. Nico ultimately disposed of that theory by finding another couple of tenths on what seemed to be the ultimate lap - and even that involved a little understeer in the final part of the sector one slalom. Lewis simply couldn't cope with his pace and couldn't even improve on his previous time. In the US pole belonged to Nico. Williams retained control over the second row - but Ricciardo and Alonso jumped ahead of the McLaren pairing. Sutil lined up in 10th place, unable to pass any of the other top ten contenders, but this is still a momentous result for this years Sauber car.
The Bonus Points Championship
With a few cars missing from this weekend's race the potential pool of drivers to hand the points to is a little smaller. In fact on Sunday more than half of the grid will score - which does sort of diminish the value of each point - it is almost as mad as having a double points event... but that would never happen... right...
- 10pts - Adrian Sutil - The first time a Sauber has ended up in the top ten all season, so well done.
- 8pts - Pastor Maldonado - Almost the best showing from Lotus since Spain all those races ago, and this time the mad Venezuelan scored the result.
- 6pts - Nico Rosberg - When the German seemed beaten he rolled out of the garage today and gave the championship leader a good kicking
- 5pts - Valtteri Bottas - Once again the Finn is the nearest challenger to the Mercedes team
- 4pts - Felipe Massa - Joining up with Bottas in presenting a unified challenge to the two cars out front.
- 3pts - Fenando Alonso - Again putting the Ferrari ahead of where it probably should be... adding fuel to the theory that the 2015 seems slower only because Alonso isn't in it...
- 2pts - Daniel Ricciardo - The first non-Mercedes car on the grid once again, especially with Vettel well out of the picture.
- 1pts - Bob Fearnley - Nice to see someone in the sport not obeying the PR party line and giving the sport some stick for the situation it has forged.
I could consider dishing out penalty points for the state of disarray that has unfolded rapidly over the past month of so. But the layers of bureaucracy and deceit are so thick and contorted that finding someone definitive to point the finger at... aside from Bernie... is very difficult. And if I handed points to Bernie I reckon he'd be knocking on the door with a team of angry lawyers trying to bribe the point away.... on second thoughts...
Looking to Tomorrow
Even with several cars missing from the grid, it does look like tomorrow might be very interesting - considering one of the faster cars happens to be starting from the pit-lane. Sebastian Vettel will naturally be a point of interest as he attempts to recover lost places. But the big focal point will be the battle for the lead... provided we actually get one that lasts longer than the first corner as it was in Russia. Far too many races have fallen far short of their grand expectations - battles that never happened, chicanes cut and brakes locked, all chances missed. But with the championship on the line - desperation might kick in and perhaps Spa 2.0... In a season that has fallen apart at the scenes, terrible events in Japan, non-events in Russia under the cloud of that race in Suzuka and now the financial pressures taking their first two victims - we need something good, something exciting for once. Hopefully the US can deliver that.
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