F1 Madness

Tag: qualifying

  • Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

    Raikkonen excluded from qualifying – will start at the back of the grid

    Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying following a floor deflection test failure. He will now start the race from the back of the grid.

    The stewards summoned the Lotus team earlier after considering telemetry data and video footage, so that the team could argue their case following the floor deflection test which was performed on his Lotus E21 as well as Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

    The left hand side of the floor of Raikkonen’s Lotus was found to deflect more than the permitted 5mm vertically when the testing load was applied to it.

    Lotus investigated and found that the issue was caused by the broken floor which had broken due to kerb damage but the stewards have not accepted their explanation.

    The statement issued by the FIA said: “The stewards heard the explanation of the team that the relevant part broke upon contact with a kerb.

    “However, the stewards did not accept that the incident referred to constituted an accident, or excused failing the relevant test.”

    So it would seem that since the stewards have previously accepted the same explanation for Grosjean in Hungary, they are not willing to let it go a second time. Perhaps Lotus should have taken steps to ensure that the same thing did not happen again.

    Raikkonen will now start from the back of the grid.

     

     

  • Raikkonen’s car fails floor test after qualifying

    Raikkonen’s car fails floor test after qualifying

    Kimi Raikkonen could lose his fifth place position on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid after his car failed the floor deflection test during a technical inspection following the qualifying session.

    According to a statement from the stewards, “car number seven [Raikkonen] did not comply with Article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations as the front floor deflected more than 5mm vertically when the load was applied vertically to it at the point which lies 100mm of car centre line on the [left-hand side].”

    Lotus team members have been summoned to the stewards to argue their case. If there was a broken part, or the floor had been damaged during qualifying, he could escape penalty.

    Raikkonen’s team mate, Romain Grosjean, escaped a penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix after his car failed the same test. At the time, the stewards ruled that his floor had been damaged and so no penalty was given.

    Stewards today said that Raikkonen and Hulkenberg’s cars had been tested, but the Sauber had complied and the Iceman’s car failed the test.

    If penalised, it is likely that Raikkonen will be excluded from qualifying and will start from the back of the grid.

    Follow @F1_Madness on Twitter for the latest news and updates on the situation as well as all other F1 news and live commentary on race weekends.

     

     

  • Vettel scores his hat-trick pole in India

    Vettel scores his hat-trick pole in India

    Sebastian Vettel took one step closer to his 4th World Championship title by claiming a commanding pole position for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix.

    Vettel put in an incredible lap – the fastest ever recorded at the Buddh International Circuit – with a time of 1.24.119, a crazy 7 tenths faster than the rest of the field. Nico Rosberg will share the front row of the grid with Vettel tomorrow after qualifying second with a time of 1.24.871 followed by team mate Lewis Hamilton.

    Mercedes did mention that Lewis may have been held up by Vettel but it would seem the incident was minor and there will be no further action.

    Mark Webber brought his Red Bull home in 4th place with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa behind him. Massa outqualified his team mate Fernando Alonso once again but Alonso opted for the medium tyre strategy which will see him starting the race on the longer lasting medium tyres tomorrow.

    Romain Grosjean made a shock exit out of qualifying after Q1 after only completing a time on the medium tyres, when everyone else except for Vettel had completed their laps on the softer compound.

    Both McLarens made it through to Q3 today and have also opted for the medium tyre strategy.

    One has to believe that unless something goes wrong with Hungry Heidi, Sebastian Vettel will be crowned World Champion tomorrow. The German only needs to finish 5th in order to clinch the title and the clear dominance he’s shown over the weekend so far shows his clear intention to wrap things up.

    Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and interaction with other F1 fans, during the race tomorrow.

    Here is the timesheet following today’s qualifying in India:

    qualifying-india

  • F1 2013: Japanese GP Qualifying Report – Webber Snatches Suzuka Pole

    F1 2013: Japanese GP Qualifying Report – Webber Snatches Suzuka Pole

    Mark Webber has secured pole position for the 2013 Japanese grand prix.

    The Australian eased his way through qualifying and pounced on his first run on the final  ten minute session. Webber did slightly improve his time in his second run but it was ultimately not required. Sebastian Vettel lines up second for Sunday’s race as the German miraculously managed to secure a spot on the front row of the grid despite losing the kers in the final part of qualifying. Lewis Hamilton secured third in the Mercedes and said, post-qualifying, that tyre management will be the most important factor in the race.

    vergne-fireThe first part of qualifying ended in a fiery mess for Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman brought his car to a stop as both rear brakes caught fire after being stuck open. The red flag was momentarily out as the marshals cleared the Toro Rosso; the session resumed with just about three minutes remaining. Adrian Sutil was the biggest loser as the Force India driver failed to advance to the second part of qualifying. Sutil has also incurred a five place grid penalty for changing a gearbox.

    Max Chilton optimised conditions perfectly as out-qualified both Caterham drivers and teammate Jules Bianchi. Perfect timing for Chilton who is yet to confirm his future in Formula 1.

    Despite their best efforts Sergio Perez, Valterri Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez, Pastor Maldonado and Daniel Ricciardo were cut at the end of the second session. Though also being caught in the drop zone in Q2 Force India’s Paul di Resta was upbeat after his qualifying performance. The Scot praised the effort made by the team especially considering the fact that new updates have not been brought to the car this weekend. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean set the fastest time in the second part of qualifying, seemingly preparing himself for a duel with the Red Bull duo of Webber and Vettel.

     Ultimately, Grosjean could only muster a time quick enough for fourth but has saved a brand new set of the medium compound tyres for the race. Felipe Massa was able to slot his Ferrari into fifth ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes in sixth. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg continued to impress as he set the seventh fastest time. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen’s lacklustre runs in qualifying continued with eighth and ninth respectively. Raikkonen should be slightly upset given that his pace throughout the weekend suggested a better position was possible. Jenson Button rounded out the top ten in his McLaren.

    Although the qualifying session at Suzuka demanded the utmost concentration thoughts about former Marussia test driver Maria de Villota was not far from the driver’s minds. Several drivers were seen sporting Villota’sMost drivers had stars on their helmets in tribute to Maria de Villota trademark star on their crash helmets as a show of support.

    Mark Webber had earmarked the qualifying session for the Japanese GP as the one his most looked forward to earlier this year. By taking first pole position of the season he has certainly achieved half his goal of leaving this majestic circuit with the best memories possible. This seventh pole of the season for Red Bull also marks a historical moment in Renault’s participation in Formula 1 as the French engine manufacturer has now secured more pole positions than Ferrari.

    Sunday’s race holds great potential for cracking grand prix. The challenge could come from Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes but the form this weekend also suggests that Lotus may yet have a thing or two to say about who stands where on those three podium steps.

     qualifying-timesheet

     

  • 2013 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Report

    The preparations for Sunday’s Singapore grand prix kicked off today with three hours of free practice around the floodlit Marina Bay circuit.

    The first free practice session was topped by the 2009 winner of the Singapore GP, Lewis Hamilton. However, free practice two is where Sebastian Vettel stamped his, and Red Bull’s authority, quite ominously.

    The three-time reigning world champion dominated the timing sheets for the majority of the session. Vettel not only set a time six tenths of a second quicker than teammate Mark Webber but more stunningly a full second faster than the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel’s closest rival in the world championship fight, Fernando Alonso, managed the 6th quickest time.

    An initial flurry of activity had the entire field out on the red walled supersoft tyres simulating a qualifying run. The difference between the two compounds ranged from eight tenths of a second up to 1.4 seconds in the case of Mark Webber. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was the only driver who elected not to run a quali sim instead focusing on the set-up and long run pace of the E21.

    A few minor excursions included both Mark Webber and Felipe Massa kissing the wall towards the end of the lap. Both these driver’s escaped without damage to their cars but Pastor Maldonado wasn’t as lucky. The Williams driver spent the majority of the session sliding his car around perilously close to the barriers; unfortunately for the Venezuelan it was one slide too many as he lost his front wing after skidding into the barriers. In his defence, the Williams looked a right handful  from the moment it left the pitlane. Romain Grosjean reported to his team that he had “hit something” and that he had lost the brakes.

    As the session settled in so the driver’s got on with the task of evaluating their long run pace. The differing fuel loads in the various cars is privileged information but irrespective of this knowledge the Red Bull looked on rails around the Marina Bay circuit. More importantly, was Vettel’s ability to set metronomically consistent lap times.

    It’s early days yet in this race weekend but Red Bull again look the odds on favourite to feature prominently. Nevertheless, some of the best qualifying laps that has been seen this season has come from Lewis Hamilton. The Brit may yet find something overnight and should be a good bet for a front row starting position if not a stolen pole.

    FP2Sing

  • F1 2013 Hungarian GP – Qualifying Report

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton secured his thirtieth career pole position as he set the fastest time in qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix.

    The biggest casualty of the first session of qualifying was Force India’s Paul di Resta. The Scot seemed struggled throughout the first part of qualifying and sounded perplexed on the radio to his team. Some suggest that the new kevlar belted tyre may not be as well suited to the characteristics of the Force India as was the old steel-belt construction. Di Resta will start in 18th position.

    The second part of qualifying, always a bit more frantic, saw drivers leaving the pitlane on scrubbed sets of the softer tyres. Mark Webber’s pitwall informed the Australian that he had suffered a kers failure making the Red Bull driver’s afternoon all the more difficult. Nevertheless, Webber was able to advance to the final part of qualifying.

    For the majority of the second part of qualifying Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg appeared to be on course for the top ten. However, the track evolution and several drivers opting for a new set of softs saw the Sauber driver relegated to 12th place. McLaren’s Jenson Button missed out on advancing but teammate Sergio Perez, recovering from a crash in the final practice session, managed to scrape through.

    Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo delivered another impressive qualifying performance and will start from 8th on the grid.As Mark Webber departed the scene without taking to the track in the final session of qualifying it was teammate Vettel who carried Red Bull’s hopes. However, by 0.038s Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position from the German. Hamilton has won the Hungarian grand prix on three previous occasions and is the only driver in the last eight years to win the race from pole (2007, 2012).

    Lotus’ Romain Grosjean underlined the pace shown in the morning practice session with a third place starting position for tomorrow’s race. Nico Rosberg will start fourth – some four tenths off teammate Hamilton.

    Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso quietly qualified fifth ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez* and Mark Webber** round out the top ten, respectively.

    * Sergio Perez has opted for an alternate strategy by setting his fastest lap on the medium compound tyres.

    ** Mark Webber did not complete a lap in the final part of qualifying; this allows him his choice of tyre on which to start tomorrow’s race.

    hunquali

  • F1 2013: Hungarian GP Preview – Qualifying king at the Hungaroring

    F1 2013: Hungarian GP Preview – Qualifying king at the Hungaroring

    After a three week gap the 2013 Formula 1 season restarts with the Hungarian grand prix.

    In its own right the Hungarian GP has written its own part in Formula 1 history. The circuit has rewarded Damon Hill (1993), Fernando Alonso (2003) and very memorably Jenson Button (2006) with their first victories in Formula 1.

    The first grand prix held at the Hungaroring was the first to be held behind the Iron Curtain. Formula 1 has been frequenting the Hungarian grand prix since 1986 and the Budapest located circuit is a guaranteed staple of a Formula 1 race calendar until 2016.

    As a high downforce circuit the Hungaroring is famous for its tight and twisting nature. The dusty track surface confirms how little action the track sees which makes track evolution at the Hungaroring a crucial aspect for judging a qualifying effort. Throughout the 4.381 km lap the Hungaroring’s old-school layout is packed with fourteen corners.

    Hungaroring_AerialThe Hungaroring is technically demanding, bumpy and narrow, loved by drivers and adored by fans for its traditional atmosphere. The key to a good result here is a good grid slot. Having the fastest car will mean nothing if you’re stuck in the pack. In 1990 Thierry Boutsen in a sluggish Williams held off a much quicker Ayrton Senna to win the race. The chances of overtaking, even with DRS, are slim to none. No one knows the frustration of not being to overtake better than Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn has finished second at the Hungarian GP on four separate occasions.

    The new tyres, tested during the three days of the young driver’s test at Silverstone last week, will be used this weekend in Hungary. The test was opened to current race drivers by the FIA to assist Pirelli. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg pointed out that testing the new tyres wasn’t a “day and night” difference and that running on the new compounds for the first time in Hungary “will be fine too.” The 2013 Pirelli P Zero tyres have been matched with 2012 construction to enhance consistency and improve safety.

    Pirelli’s initial conservative choice of the medium and hard compounds would’ve hampered teams such as Lotus and Ferrari who thrive on getting the softer tyre to its working temperature quicker and stretching the life of the tyre. However, coupled with high temperature, forecast at mid-thirties, Pirelli’s reversion to the medium and soft compound will play to the strengths of the two teams.

    McLaren have won eleven of the twenty-seven Hungarian grands prix but victory this weekend is unlikely to be a possibility for the Woking based team. Jenson Button believes that the team are moving the right direction. “A win in 2013 is going to be difficult, but I actually think the team is working very well right now: in Germany, our tyre-usage, strategy and management of the race was as good as it’s ever been.”

    Sebastian Vettel was the quickest of the drivers at the three day young driver’s test at Silverstone last week. He will no doubt want to continue in the same vein this weekend. Red Bull has never been very prolific at the Hungaroring and of the two it is only Mark Webber who has won here before. Then again, a few weeks ago Vettel hadn’t won the German GP either.

    Mercedes have proven their prowess in qualifying which makes the likelihood of the Silver Arrows locking out the front-row of the grid, or getting a car on pole very good. Given the lack of overtaking on the circuit they will have a prime opportunity to control the race and win it. However, the unknown for Mercedes this weekend will be their performance on the new Pirelli tyres.

    Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari hasn’t looked anything special in qualifying trim but his lightening starts can potentially transform fifth on the grid to second – a vital part to a successful race. The key to this weekend is having a car that can cope with the twisting demands of the Hungaroring. But even more so, qualifying and making a good start to the race can be the difference between winning or not.

     

  • Paul di Resta disqualified from Silverstone Qualifying

    Paul di Resta disqualified from Silverstone Qualifying

    Paul Di Resta has been disqualified from qualifying at Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix after his car was found to be 1.5kgs underweight.

    The Scot will now be deprived of his career-best qualifying position.

    Force India are shifting blame to a discrepancy in Di Resta’s weight after qualifying since the driver and car count together.

    The FIA has said that Di Resta will now move to they back of the grid would move to the back of the grid, but he may well be forced to start from the pits.

    If the team need to add anything to the car to make up its weight, that would be considered a setup change, which is not allowed under Formula One parc ferme regulations.

    Paul di RestaIt may make more sense for him to start from the pit lane either way – which will allow him to start on fresh tyres and change to a race setup.

    Force India have decided not to appeal against the decision. This despite the discrepancy with Di Resta’s weight. Apparently he weighed less than expected on the FIA scales after qualifying but team boss Bob Fernley said that when he was weighed again later he was back to his normal weight. The weight of the driver and car together must be at least 642kg in order to comply with regulations.

    Before the problem came to light, Di Resta said he was “shocked” he had been able to qualify so well, saying he had driven the lap as well as he could have. “That was it,” he said. “There wasn’t any more. It takes a lot of commitment and it’s satisfying when you get it done.”

    He had qualified a career best 5th position.

     

  • F1 Silverstone Qualifying Team and Driver Quotes

    F1 Silverstone Qualifying Team and Driver Quotes

    Team and Driver quotes following today’s qualifying session at Silverstone.

    Mercedes

    Lewis Hamilton (1st, Q3 – 1m 29.607s)

    “It feels incredible to be on pole, just like it did back in 2007. We have the greatest Formula One fans in the world here in Britain and there was a great turnout today, which makes the atmosphere so special. My lap in Q3 was a lap for the fans out there around the circuit. I haven’t been feeling comfortable in the car all weekend, so I was really happy to find a good lap and this feels fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job and it’s a great reward for the guys here at the track but also back at base, especially as our two factories are so close to the track. But we know that tomorrow is another day and our Sunday performance isn’t quite as strong right now. Our long run pace looked ok yesterday and we were able to manage the tyres quite well. It’s going to be tough to keep Seb behind but we will give it everything we’ve got.”

    Nico Rosberg (2nd, Q3 – 1m 30.059s)

    “A fantastic team result today and it’s great to see how much progress we have made together since last year. The feeling of confidence that our car will be quick in qualifying is fantastic and I love going to a race knowing that we have a shot of a strong grid position. The team are doing a great job and we are keeping up the development so a big thank you to everyone at the factories, many of whom are here today watching. My lap was good and starting from the front row is great but Lewis did a fantastic job today. I hope we have improved our race pace; it will be all about tyre management tomorrow and keeping the others behind us. I’m confident that we can get a good result.”

    Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal

    “The team has worked incredibly well over the past few months to achieve a result like today’s. We have been chipping away at the performance, quietly bringing new updates and continuing to push, while also focusing our efforts on how we could improve our tyre management issues, and it seems to be paying off. The engineers and drivers got the cars into the perfect place for qualifying and, as the wind dropped towards the end of the session, both Lewis and Nico were able to deliver strong performances. Lewis put in a stunning lap at the end of the session and it’s great to see him and Nico pushing each other so hard in every session. It will be more of a challenge to remain as competitive in the race but we gathered good information yesterday and hope to be able to build on that tomorrow.”

    Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director

    “A fantastic result for the entire team to take our third front row lockout this year. Fair, sporting competition is what Mercedes stands for and, while a lot has been said and written this weekend, the only thing that really matters is what happens out on track. The focus this afternoon should be on our drivers, Lewis and Nico, and on this fantastic team who have pushed so hard to keep developing the car in tough times and solve our problems. Lewis put in a mega lap: I don’t know if it’s the Silverstone factor or something else, but that was an incredible performance. Nico has been strong all weekend and second position gives us a great platform for the race tomorrow. Tomorrow should be warmer and we have struggled with race pace at some circuits so far this year. But the trend is going in the right direction, and I hope we can continue that tomorrow.”

    Red Bull

    Sebastian Vettel (3rd, Q3 – 1m 30.211s)

    “We will see what happens tomorrow. It’s a long race, but I’m happy with today. Either Lewis found a short cut or he has something special round here, it was a phenomenal lap and he wasn’t in reach today. I was very happy with the lap I did at the end, it was very close with Mark also. We did what we could for the team and it’s always nice to position well in qualifying, especially around here – qualifying is good fun and I’m enjoying the high speed corners. We’ll see how we get on with the tyres tomorrow and with looking after them. I’m happy for the team today, our factory is very close to this track, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

    Mark Webber (4th, Q3 – 1m 30.220s)

    “We were up against it to get on the front row against the Mercs, they’re on another level as they have been for the last few events. It was disappointing to get pipped by Seb there at the end by a hundredth, it was very close. I was happy with the first part of my lap, but I could have done better in the last sector. We have a good balance for qualifying and race pace in terms of where we prioritised things. It should be an interesting race, we can get a good result from there.”

    Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal

    “We could see this morning that Mercedes were very fast over a single lap and they’ve demonstrated that again this afternoon, so congratulations to Lewis on his pole position at Silverstone. It was a great performance from both of our drivers with only one hundredth of a second separating them on the second row. Hopefully we can give Mercedes a good run for their money tomorrow from there, and I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting British Grand Prix.”

    Thierry Salvi, Renault support for Red Bull

    “Silverstone is one of the hardest circuits on the engines, with some of the fastest series of corners we see all year and one of the highest average speeds, but also some of the tightest complexes. As a result, getting the maps correct is always a compromise, but we were on the right side today. While it would have been great to get a front row start at the team’s home race, we did the best we could. We’re still in a good position to let the race come to us and hopefully we can win for the fourth time in five years.”

    Force India

    Paul di Resta (5th, Q3 – 1m 30.736s)

    “I’m over the moon with the qualifying result and I think the whole team can feel very satisfied with fifth on the grid. The morning practice session was quite difficult so it feels great to come through and end up just behind two Mercedes and two Red Bulls. This track takes a lot of commitment and you need to build up your speed, but I think we saved our best till last – and that’s when it mattered. For tomorrow our tyre wear looks healthy and we’ve given ourselves a good opportunity to get in some clean air during the race. I will sleep well tonight and hope that we can have a straightforward race, and come away with lots of points.”

    Adrian Sutil (7th, Q3 – 1m 30.908s)

    “Seventh place is a great result today. The car was not easy to drive this morning, but we made some improvements before qualifying and found more speed with each session. If we can do our homework tonight then we have the potential to have a great race. There are still some unknowns with the tyres over long runs because I haven’t really done more than ten laps on a set of tyres, but I feel comfortable on both compounds. So we can be happy with the result, but we need to concentrate on tomorrow because that’s what counts. In terms of strategy we need to keep an open mind and have several options going into the race so that we can react as the race develops.”

    Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal and managing director

    “I am delighted with today’s qualifying result. The sun was shining, the grandstands were full, and we put on a fantastic show. Fifth place for Paul at his home Grand Prix is a tremendous effort, especially on this high-speed track, which has not been our strongest race in previous years. Adrian’s seventh place confirms just how competitive we are this weekend and we know that we have good race pace. For tomorrow it’s important that we maximise these starting positions and hopefully give our supporters and partners something to celebrate at our local race.”

    Toro Rosso

    Daniel Ricciardo (6th, Q3 – 1m 30.757s)

    “Coming off the back of a bad couple of races, I expected to be strong here and I was more motivated than ever. However, if I’d been told I could be sixth this afternoon, I would have been surprised. We were very close to Di Resta in fifth, but we can be happy with this position. We showed good pace all weekend, including this morning when I was sixth, so it was nice to confirm that this afternoon. Now I am looking forward to the race when I hope I can come away with a good handful of points. I’d like to think I could finish at least in the same place I am starting from. It would be nice to do even better and I will be pushing hard to achieve that. I believe it will be a few degrees warmer tomorrow, which could make the track conditions change quite a lot. This is a very demanding circuit with lots of high speed corners, so the tyres don’t get much of a rest, therefore tyre wear will be an important factor tomorrow.”

    Jean-Eric Vergne (13th, Q2 – 1m 31.785s)

    “I made a mistake on my quick lap in Q2 and that’s the plain fact and I’m very upset about it, as it lost me the chance to get into Q3 which was definitely possible. As to what happened when I got it wrong, I am not exactly sure what was the reason: maybe I was too close to Vettel in front of me, but I felt I lost downforce and then just went straight on. Anyway, I am not looking for excuses. The car was working well, as it has done all weekend, so now I must make up for it in the race tomorrow. Looking at Daniel’s performance this afternoon, it’s a good sign as it shows the car is quick and we will have something to work with tomorrow afternoon. I think it’s still feasible to have a good race tomorrow and to bring home points.”

    James Key, Toro Rosso technical director

    “It’s good to have got through to Q3 with one car here. We’ve been reasonably on the pace right from the start of the weekend, even if neither driver has been completely happy with the balance of the car. However that did not stop them from setting what we consider a competitive lap time. We were not sure what to expect at Silverstone, as it’s such a different track to the last three venues, especially to Monaco and Montreal. We did a lot of work to ensure we had the car in its sweet-spot for here and that paid off. Daniel did a fantastic job to get to Q3 and then to P6 completely on merit, while it was a great shame for Jev, who had matched Daniel’s pace all weekend but just did not get the maximum out of his Q2 lap. Overall, it shows that the steps forward we are making on the performance front are working consistently and a two car points finish is a realistic target tomorrow.”

    Lotus

    Romain Grosjean (8th, Q3 – 1m 30.955s)

    “Whilst were very quick on the hard tyres at the beginning of qualifying, we weren’t as competitive on the mediums, I don’t know if it’s the weather or something else, but we weren’t as good on them as in free practice this morning meaning we didn’t have enough to qualify further up the grid. We are working hard and in the right direction, but the tyres are still playing a key part. I’m quite satisfied with my performance today.”

    Kimi Raikkonen (9th, Q3 – 1m 30.962s)

    “It was a close qualifying session between both of the team’s cars so I think we both got pretty much all there was from the car today. It’s not ideal as we’d like to be nearer the front of the grid, but it is what it is. We’ll go into the race wanting to get a better result than we did in qualifying. Usually this is what happens for us and and hopefully that is the case again tomorrow.”

    Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director

    “I’m reasonably happy with both cars making it into the top ten but, of course, we would have liked a bit more from today. Romain didn’t have a perfect last lap and suffered from understeer in Turn 15 whilst there didn’t seem to be much more pace in Kimi’s car. We had quite a dilemma as to whether we should run Romain on the harder tyres in Q3 as he went very well on them in Q1. Other than that, both compounds are well suited to the demands of Silverstone and there should be a range of strategy permutations available tomorrow. Like many of the crew, the E21 certainly prefers warmer temperatures. The cloud cover today can mean a reasonable temperature drop, so we’re certainly hoping for clearer skies and a warmer track tomorrow.”

    Ferrari

    Fernando Alonso (10th, Q3 – 1m 30.979s)

    “This weekend has been complicated for us by problems that we haven’t managed to get on top of, concerning various aspects such as the balance of the car, its driveability and performance. We can consider this the worst Saturday of the season so far, having never finished so far down, but now we must react immediately to try and return to the form we showed at the start of the year. We definitely expected a lot more here, because this is a track that suits our car’s characteristics better than others. In Q3, we hesitated a bit over tyre choice: we went out on the Hards because they had worked well in free practice this morning and in Q1. Then we switched to Medium with the idea of just coming back to the pits if it did not go well but then we decided to finish the lap and nevertheless our rivals were quicker. Now, we must try to do the same, starting from tomorrow: even if the race will be an uphill struggle we are well aware how things can change during a race. We hope we can stage a good climb up the order and bring home as many points as possible.”

    Felipe Massa (12th, Q2 – 1m 31.779s) “It was an extremely difficult day as we did not have the car we were expecting and we had no grip whatsoever with new tyres. Compared to other cars, we struggled to put together a good lap. The time lost when I went off the track yesterday and the interruption this morning to change the engine definitely cost me valuable kilometres and in qualifying I lacked the few tenths necessary to make it through to Q3. Now we must think about tomorrow, as the race is an altogether different matter and I hope that, with a full fuel load and higher temperatures, things can change in our favour. If the car is more competitive, I’m sure I can pull off a few passing moves and fight for a good result.”

    Pat Fry, Ferrari chassis director

    “Today, the much awaited sunshine didn’t manage to push the temperatures up as much as we had hoped, especially on the track. The surface stayed rather cold and already in the final free practice this morning had created some problems with grip, with several drivers going off the track. Things only improved slightly in qualifying, but not enough to improve the grip levels. Looking at our start positions, it’s obvious that our cars suffered more than others, even if the gaps in the small group of cars ahead of Fernando are very close. While trying to improve the balance on the car, we tested various solutions, trying to increase driveability in both the high and low speed corners, always keeping in mind what will be the key factors in tomorrow’s race. We can be more confident when it comes to the race and we will be counting on the performance we have seen over a long run, which is encouraging. During the opening laps it will be important to try and make up a few places. Then, our strategy will be aimed at helping the drivers as much as possible in their efforts to close up to our direct rivals.”

    McLaren

    Jenson Button (11th, Q2 – 1m 31.649s)

    “I’m higher on the grid than I expected after practice. Yesterday, I didn’t think we’d qualify ahead of one Ferrari and just behind the two Lotuses. But I was much happier in qualifying than I’d been all weekend – we should be positive that we’ve improved the car. I think 11th was the best we could have realistically achieved today. Even if we’d got into Q3, we’d probably have been 10th; so starting 11th means I’ll have a new set of tyres and will start from the clean side of the grid. After Q2 I walked down the pit lane to the FIA scales, waving to the crowd. There were so many Union Jacks and rocket-red caps out there, and the fans have been unbelievably supportive all weekend. You always want to do a good job in front of your home crowd, so I want to say a big ‘thank-you’ to them for their support. You never know what will happen tomorrow: starting 11th isn’t great, but we can race well from there. I will drive my heart out for a good result.”

    Sergio Perez (14th, Q2 – 1m 32.082s)

    “It’s been a difficult day. The puncture in FP3 wasn’t the best preparation for qualifying – and it made it more difficult, because we had to change the damaged floor for the older-spec version. This afternoon, I struggled a little with the warm-up of my tyres during Q2; I lost temperature when I was stopped and weighed at the FIA scales. We’ve been a bit unlucky all day. Still, we were a lot closer today than we were yesterday. Even if it’s not apparent, we’ve definitely made some improvements, and I think we might have had the potential to slip into Q3 if we’d been a little bit luckier. Our race pace should be better than our qualifying pace. Tomorrow is still going to be difficult, but I’m positive we can go forwards from here.”

    Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal

    “It’s been a difficult weekend for the team, but our pace in qualifying shows an upturn in form that we hope to carry into the race tomorrow. Jenson was unfortunate to miss out on Q3. In Q2, he lost out to 10th place by just 0.057s, and was only 0.659s from the fastest qualifier. Checo had an unlucky day: his poor luck started with his puncture in FP3, which damaged his floor and meant we had to fit an older-spec floor to his car. Into qualifying, he was called to the FIA weighbridge, which lost him tyre temperature, and then encountered traffic on his critical run, which lost him time. However, both our drivers are fantastic racers: Jenson will have the support of the home crowd behind him, and Checo will be determined to recover from the setbacks that affected him today. So I think our drivers are both set for charging races tomorrow.”

    Sauber

    Nico Hulkenberg (15th, Q2 – 1m 32.211s)

    “Unfortunately P15 is reality. It was more or less the best we could do today. The car was difficult to drive, especially at high speed with a little bit of wind the car is very sensitive. We are simply not quick enough. Of course, a lot can happen during the race tomorrow, and maybe a bit of English rain would help us. But I think points will be difficult, then again you should never say never.”

    Esteban Gutierrez (18th, Q1 – 1m 32.666s)

    “Compared to the practice sessions yesterday, I think we made a step forward, but it’s tricky because we find ourselves in a position where everything is on the limit. Whatever we do there is always a compromise to it, which is challenging. It seems I am losing a lot of time at the exit of the corners, and this is tricky, because that is usually when I try to push and get things right. I believe I did my best with overall good and consistent laps. But it is just not quick enough. This is something we have to evaluate and see what we can do to be better in order to progress.”

    Tom McCullough, Sauber head of track engineering

    “We struggled with the car’s balance in FP3, but were able to improve it for qualifying. P15 and P18 on the grid is clearly not where we want to be and will make the race difficult tomorrow. The current forecast is dry, so we will work hard tonight on the strategy in order to maximise our chances.”

    Monisha Kaltenborn Sauber team principal

    “We can’t be happy with a result like that. Nico did a good job, while Esteban was struggling. Of course, this is not the position you want to be in looking ahead to the race tomorrow. It won’t be an easy race for us.”

    Williams

    Pastor Maldonado (16th, Q2 – 1m 32.359s)

    “We were expecting to be a bit closer to the top ten today, but we were struggling to put everything together in the car for one lap. Hopefully tomorrow we can work on our race pace and fight with the teams around us to move up a few positions. We need to keep improving as a team because we’re not where we want to be still, but race by race we are aiming to close the gap.”

    Valtteri Bottas (17th, Q1 – 1m 32.664s)

    “We were unlucky to miss out on Q2 today as I was very close to my teammate and we could have both made it through. There are always things you can do better during a lap but we didn’t have the pace to be in the top ten today so we need to do everything we can to get closer. We will look at our strategy going into tomorrow and try to maximise our potential for the race.”

    Mike Coughlan, Williams technical director

    “It was a difficult session for us, after a promising FP3 we were expecting more from qualifying. In the high speed corners here we feel we are competitive but we still have work to do in the low speed sections. There is always a great crowd here at Silverstone and we are looking forward to the race tomorrow. We will be aiming to put on a good show for all our fans here supporting us at our home event.”

    Caterham

    Charles Pic (19th, Q1 – 1m 33.866s)

    “The final lap in quali is one of my best laps of the year so far so I’m very pleased with how today’s gone. We made some good progress in FP3 with the balance and that carried over to qualifying, and breaking into the 1.33s and finishing ahead of the Marussias was about as much as we aimed for today, so it’s gone to plan. It changes from race to race but it does look like we have a small advantage over our nearest rivals this weekend, but having seen good race pace all year I’d like to think we’ll be fighting with a couple of cars ahead as well in the race tomorrow. We’ve been close to the Williams cars this year in a few races so with a good start, decent deg levels and no reliability issues tomorrow could be a good day.”

    Giedo van der Garde (21st, Q1 – 1m 35.481s)

    “It’s been an interesting day as we ran a different plan to the normal FP3 and then did just the one run in quali. It’s finally dry so we used some of FP3 for aero evaluation and then switched to race prep, bearing in mind the penalty from the last race which meant we knew pretty much where we’d end up in quali. We worked a lot on managing the tyre degradation, not really looking at quali at all but we still ended up beating one of the Marussia cars in quali which was a bonus, but really today’s all been about getting ready for Sunday. I think we’re in pretty good shape now and after the work we did today the degradation levels look manageable, even with the warmer track conditions we had today and which it looks like we’ll have tomorrow, and we have a good setup for the race so let’s see what happens.”

    Marussia

    Jules Bianchi (20th, Q1 – 1m 34.108s)

    “It’s good to have one Caterham behind us but less good to have one ahead. In the short space of time that we have had to work on our dry set-up, I don’t think we are quite there yet, so we’ll be spending the time we have now to see what we can do to give us the best chance for tomorrow.”

    Max Chilton (22nd, Q1 – 1m 35.858s)

    “Today was a challenging day. We had some work to do this morning trying to get the balance right and it felt like we had made a good step forward, but so did everyone else. We still have quite a bit of work to do but our race pace yesterday looked more promising, so that’s what we’ll focus on now. We’ll do what we can to have a better race tomorrow.”

    John Booth, Marussia team principal

    “Following on from yesterday we had two differing car balances to contend with and Jules was slightly happier with his car than Max. We made some changes to Max’s car in order to equal up the set-ups, however this morning both cars appeared to be suffering with balance issues. During and after FP3, the engineers and crews worked hard to make significant changes to the cars to gradually improve the balance, however at the end of our qualifying session we still have two cars for which the balance is less than perfect. Overall we are slightly disappointed with the result and need to understand how we can improve our pace in qualifying. For tomorrow it looks like we will have a better race set-up and I am sure that with the top speed we have and the improvements we have made to our race pace, we can have a better day. It looks like the race will be dry and temperatures up from today and these conditions should suit us better.”

    Pirelli

    Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director

    “The wet conditions yesterday morning meant that the teams had to work hard in the morning to make up for time lost gathering data on the slick tyres. All of them managed to find plenty of pertinent information: vital not only for qualifying today but the race tomorrow as well, which we expect to be dry. During the final free practice session this morning we saw a deflation on the rear left tyre of Sergio Perez. First findings show that this was unequivocally caused by a cut in the inner sidewall: something went into the tyre, pierced it, and then came out again, in the direction of travel. Whether that was a piece of debris or the edge of a kerb is hard to say at the moment and it is important to point out that this incident was unrelated to any of the delamination issues we have had in the past. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for sealing a great pole position with a stunning lap at his home grand prix. Yesterday’s rain meant the fans didn’t get a chance to see much on-track activity but today was action from start to finish. We’re looking forward to an exciting grand prix tomorrow with between two and three pit stops per car if conditions stay largely the same.”

     

  • Mercedes lock out front row at Silverstone Qualifying

    Mercedes lock out front row at Silverstone Qualifying

    Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position in Silverstone qualifying today a massive four tenths ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg for a Mercedes front row lock out.

    Hamilton’s time, a 1.29.607 proved too fast for Rosberg, or the Red Bulls to contest. The Red Bull team mates locked out the second row, a mere 0.009 seconds apart.

    Ferrari were in a very bad place today – Massa did not make it through to Q3 and Alonso struggled and managed to qualify in 10th place.

    The McLarens faired no better – neither getting through to Q3 either.

    Below are the results for today’s Silverstone Qualifying session.

    quali-results