Hamilton going out on options... ... allegedly. McLarens not tremendously quick on options. Webber going even quicker.
Alex's tip for a Webber pole is looking very good now, especially as Seb's missed so much of the session.
I can't even understand which bits are in front of or above which other bits. please log in to view this image That's a lot of effort to go to to be 1.3 seconds off Vettel.
The kid is on rails. A fraction faster than Mark with only 1 real run. Imagine what he can do in qualy.
Vettel manages to just depress everybody again. please log in to view this image Not bad from Schumacher in relation to McLarens and Ferraris but I guess we saw this in Turkey and then he fell away in qualifying. The 1m18s predictions are looking unlikely, as Mifune pointed out yesterday.
He was so ragged through the last corner, apparently (I wasn't watching the footage when they were talking about but could hear them) he was a bit tail happy through Campsa as well. Bit of an unnecessary risk from him, if he'd hit the wall his day would've been over. Worryingly for everyone else that suggests he has a bit of performance left in hand, presumably they'll give him a bit more rear downforce quali.
Looks like Red Bull could get through Q1 with primes if Heidfeld doesn't take part in qualifying. Lotus's upgrades don't seem to have given them the performance boost they'd been hoping for.
I missed the last 10 mins of Practice. Did the Ferrari improve from being "undriveable"? - were the problems hard tyre related or rear wing? On a positive note, Ferrari are good in the speed traps and for that reason, quick in S1. I wouldn't be surprised if in Q3, Alonso does a purple first sector, but then loses half a second in the other sectors. With such a long run to the 1st corner, I would rather Alonso gets 5th. That's probably the best they can do.
I don't think everything is as bad as it looks, Vettel did his fast time right at the end of the session when the track was at it's fastest, and both Mclaren drivers had traffic on their fast laps. I think it will be close between Webber and Vettel for pole, then it will be Hamilton in 3rd, Button in 4th and Alonso in his customary 5th.
Fantastic! Does this mean gearbox change (and therefore 5 place grid penalty?) Ferrari's twitter hasn't mentioned anything about it - all they've said is [URL="http://twitter.com/#!/InsideFerrari/status/71878215949492224]"and the gap from the front is very huge.."[/URL]
Maybe I'm wrong. Towards the end there was a replay of him coasting and not changing gear. The commentators said he was stuck in sixth and already in the pits and out of the car. Then everyone started their quick runs so the focus shifted. Did he change his gearbox in Turkey (the first change is free) or did they fix it?
At Turkey, they checked something, but didn't need to change the gearbox. So I guess that means no penalty, should the gearbox need to be changed.
I dont know why they ban everything from Ferrari? Do the FIA hate Alonso? Worst track to ban it too. What was the reason?
It was nothing more than a clever interpretation of the rules - just like the F-Duct was. I don't see why the FIA should ban it. Very silly decision imo.
