Q1 The main event that happened in Q1 was that Kovalainen qualified for Q2 although with Heidfeld not taking part and Barrichello suffering problems it was more by consequence than Lotus progression, that said Kovalainen still had to beat his team mate which he did for the fifth straight time this year. Mercedes and Ferrari also made potentially race ruining mistakes by needlessly sending out their drivers on the option tyres which will be sure to compromise their race strategy. This was also the second race in a row that Ferrari has made this same mistake which does not exactly put their new strategy team in the best of light. Q2 Both Toro Rosso, Sauber and Force India cars got knocked out along with Kovalainen who went for more superficial success while Force India took a view with race strategy in mind. Buemi again outqualified Alguersuari, while Di resta again outqualified Sutil. The stand out performer of Q2 was Maldonado who got his Williams up into Q3 showing a glimpse of at least some talent. Q3 Red Bull and Mclaren went out early on their sole run, only three hundreth of a second spilt Hamilton and Button but even as they were crossing the line the Red Bulls were decimating Mclaren's sector times with nothing between Webber and Vettel until the last sector where Webber went almost 0.3 seconds faster to claim pole and to end Vettel's run, although Vettel did not have his KERS. Elsewhere Schumacher decided against running altogether, Petrov got ahead of Rosberg for 6th, Massa struggled to 8th and was only a tenth ahead of Maldonado. However when everything seem set and done Alonso pulled off an almighty lap to steal 4th off Button and sent the Spanish fans into an early rapture. So tomorrow looks like Red Bull will battle it out for the win, although if Vettel still does not get his KERS working he could be a sitting duck at the start. In terms of tyres Red Bull and Mclaren are in the strongest position with having a fresh set of options for the race although Hamilton will start on a slightly damaged front left, while Ferrari and Rosberg used all their option tyres up as did Petrov, by not running in Q3 Schumacher also saved a set of options for the race.
Nice summary mate, this is going to be one 'eck of a race tomorrow. My predictions.. 1)Webber 2)Hamilton 3)Alonso 4)Vettel 5)Schumacher 6)Button 7)Rosberg 8)Massa 9)Maldonado 10) Kobayashi
This is what a predicted for zdkf1 1) Webber 2) Vettel 3) Alonso 4) Hamilton 5) Button 6) Rosberg 7) Massa 8) Petrov 9) Kobayashi 10) Buemi I do not think it will be much different to that, although with tyres and possible Red Bull KERS problems who really knows.
Schumacher's KERS didn't work in Q3, reports Autosport, which is is why he went out on prime tyres. Might Mercedes be one of the teams Paul Hembery hinted had learned how to make the super-hard tyres work?
alonso doesnt have fresh tyres to use,plus he starts on the dirty side of the track,so 3rd place for him probably wont happen. the top 3 will be webber vettel lewis
I think if Vettel's KERS dont work tomorrow. Alonso could get an unlikely 2nd place. I can see him get Hamilton off the start, or atleast in 1st stint as Hamilton has the flat spot. Then get Vettel in DRS zone with KERS too, especially as he is quicker in straight line already. Button could spring up a surprise, only 0.03(?) behind LH. Hoping for some Aussie bad luck tomorrow if this happens and Alonso wins! For the 27th time.
1) Vettel 2) Webber 3) Lewis 4) Button 5) Alonso 6) Rosberg 7) Petrov 8) Schumacher 9) Kobayashi 10) Di Resta
the ferrari doesnt perform well when its carrying alot of fuel,plus alonso starts on the dirty side of the track.and when it comes to the flat spot,lewis is used to driving with a flat spotted tyre.he had to do it in china because during the race he flat spotted one of his tyres,but that didnt stop him from driving brilliantly.plus he dismissed it in his post quali interviews.also lewis made a mistake during quali which cost him a few tenths,thats why it was closer than it should have been.so i think what you said is more what you hope happens more than what will realistically happen.
webber is strong in spain,plus vettel has no kers, so i cant see vettel beating webber.i cant remember the last time vettel won a race when he didnt start from pole.
Brazil 10 Malaysia 10 Last time I checked KERS gave 5 tenths, which vettel didn't have so I expect vettel has so far shown on quali pace he is quicker. EDIT: And what's stopping Red Bull giving him a fixed KERS system before the race?
Actually the Ferrari has much better race pace than qualifying pace, in Turkey Alonso was able to lap on the pace of the Red Bulls. I think Alonso will be able to get 3rd in the race.
Mifune is right, Ferrari are much (and i mean much) better in race than they are in Q. Its perfectly realistic seeing Alonso on the podium.
Excellent summary Mifune. As you say, Alonso was simply excellent and his lap was very special. For anyone who wants to see it: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LL5PMQAK
I think Vettel's Kers is going to be critical to how the race pans out. If he doesn't have it he'll end up about 7th going into the first corner. The run to the first corner is huge and the Renault's and Mercedes' have great traction, so I think he could be vulnerable right back to Petrov and Rosberg. If it's working though I still expect him to win, Turkey was the first time Mark managed to complete the race with the same number of stops, so I think Vettel's tyre management will give him enough strategic flexibility to leapfrog him at some point. Unless he gets passed at the start of course, we've seen it in the last three races where someone on the front row gets passed and ends up losing the race.
