Bringing the gap to 4-3, so not too brilliant. Lets see how the race pans out. Well done to Vettel, if they can defy the odds and win in Canada then they have the car to win anywhere. Alonso did brilliantly for 3rd. Raikkonen again being beaten by Grosjean, does anyone think he should pack it in and retire? Haha.
Alonso made a mistake at the hairpin on his best lap. Still think Vettel's laptime was out of reach, but I'm happy as this is Ferrari's best qualifying performance on what is theoretically their worst circuit of the season so far. I see the race being between Vettel and Alonso. Alonso has gained at the start at every race this year and starts on the clean side of the track tomorrow so I can him getting past Hamilton. Generally McLaren have been weaker in the races than they have in qualifying so I doubt he'll be fighting with Vettel.
Don't worry about it, points are awarded in the race. Anything can happen, lets see how is car is set for the race. Not saying that a repeat of last year can happen but he can get near enough if his teammate can.
Best sectors combined: 1. Vettel - 1:13.783 (0.001 faster than best lap) 2. Alonso - 1:13.892 (0.259 faster than best lap) 3. Hamilton - 1:14.087 4. Webber - 1:14.240 (0.106 faster than best lap) 5. Schumacher - 1:14.330 (0.482 faster than best lap) 6. Grosjean - 1:14.337 (0.308 faster than best lap) 7. Massa - 1:14.345 (0.120 faster than best lap) 8. Rosberg - 1:14.407 (0.004 faster than best lap)
Personally I am happy with Michael ahead of tomorrow, his realistic pace is 4-tenths quicker than what he posted. And there is plenty of overtaking opportunities. Predicted finish 1)Vet 2)Alo 3)Ham.
I still think Alonso looks good for this race. 3rd place was a disappointment which is saying something after the start of the season. Vettel looked good but do they have the race pace?
Vettel was the slowest in the speedtrap, and the fastest in sector 3. Speed trap: Hamilton - 322.2 Alonso - 320 Vettel - 316
but then again you have to look at who he has ahead of him,and the race pace of the front 5 or so is very similiar,also there will be no rain.
How did Vettel get pole? I was watching the footie, missed qualifying, but i thought that Red Bull were pathetic in speed traps normally?
With the Renault engine cars running lighter at the start vettel will be well out of drs range by lap 3. Will come down to tyre life I imagine.
He does jump a few places at every race but I'm not writing Lewis off yet, he's driving so well this season. If he can rely on his team, over race distance I think he has a good chance. I hope they've set up for the race over quali.
Vettel's lap: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18383730 A solid lap but he made a mistake at the hairpin, although not as bad as Alonso.
Nothing wrong with a bit of optimism, but I'm surprised that McLaren think they'll have the pace to win. They've been more competitive in qualifying than the races this year, and Lewis has gone backwards at every race apart from Spain where he started last. In comparison, the only time Vettel went backwards in the race was in Malaysia (and even then before the Karthikeyan incident he was on-course to finish 1 place higher than he started). You'd also have to say that Red Bull have looked more competitive in the race. The other thing that surprised me was that Ted made no mention of Alonso when speaking about McLaren's strategy. Does that mean McLaren are discounting Alonso as a threat for the win, or is it just an oversight on Ted's part? Without Alonso's mistake, he would have outqualified Hamilton and like Red Bull, Ferrari are more competitive in the race. That's not a good sign for McLaren and Alonso is yet to finish below his qualifying position this year. It's not a huge run down to the first corner but Alonso has made up positions at every start and starting on the clean side he has a decent chance of taking second. I don't think Hamilton even finish on the podium - DRS overtaking was easy last year so if Red Bull are quicker, I can see Webber getting past Hamilton. My race prediction: 1. Alonso 2. Vettel 3. Webber 4. Hamilton 5. Massa 6. Button 7. Grosjean 8. Rosberg 9. Di Resta 10. Raikkonen
I think he just means that if they're not in the lead after turn one it might as well be over in terms of the win, regardless of how Alonso fairs. My race prediction: 1. Vettel 2. Alonso 3. Hamilton 4. Webber 5. Massa 6. Schumacher 7. Rosberg 8. Grosjean 9. Button 10. Raikkonen My main expectations are that Schumacher is much lower than his pace and is due some luck, i think Vettel will win 2011 style lights to flag and Button wont make up much ground (because he's starting on 5 lap old primes and generally lacks pace)
Just watched the post qualifying press conference on Sky. It started like this: When the guy said "Fernando Alonso", Hamilton licked his lips. When the guy said "32nd career pole position", Alonso licked his lips while Lewis shook his head and started touching his cap. Not sure exactly what that means, but you'd think they were pretty pissed off when they heard "32nd pole".
