Congratulations Vettel, you were the man today (in Q3 anyway - Bianchi is my driver of the day). But watch out Vettel, you have two very fast starting Ferrari's behind you, and they have better tyre management.
Maybe with regards to the team splitting strategies and keeping him out on old Inters and allowing "Fettel" to pit for new tyres?
Tomcat, isn't 'Fettel' the correct pronunciation, though? (From an English phonetic point of view) Really chuffed for Massa and Ferrari: for all their ruthless reputation, they stuck by Felipe and now he's coming good
Risky move changing tyres having 1 out lap to get heat into them and 1 flying lap, Fast starting Ferraris should be interesting now they're at the front.
What a lap by Vettel. I was pretty excited to see Alonso come through timing and scoring a second ahead, only I knew right away that based upon his pace that Vettel was going to best his time. Didn't expect another second off of that time though. Well done to Felipe as well, great lap from him.
New tyres were clearly the way to go, Couple of guys lost some ground there. McLaren looked better, Jenson may have a chance to do more than just hold people up, with only a one week turnaround from Melbourne i can't complain about that. Perez in the top 10 as well, even if they got the tyre call wrong. Alonso's going to start getting tetchy if this new Massa beating him thing keeps up. Bianchi looks great, though we have to remember all his performances are made to look better by the horror show that is Max Chilton.
I'm really happy with this result. De La Rosa said before qualifying that they weren't focusing on qualifying and that tomorrow is what is important - and now they're starting 2nd and 3rd. He also said Kimi was main worry for Sunday and now he's starting 7th. My only worry is that Red Bull sacrificed qualifying speed for race pace, based on RB's high fuel running in FP3 and their slow speed in Q1. Oh and Domenicali should NOT take credit for keeping Massa when others wanted him sacked! Italian media reported last year that Domenicali was pushing for Hulkenburg but was overruled by LDM who signed Massa.
Hmm, good question. I am not sure about that, most english talking people pronounce it "Wettel" though?
Great lap by Vettel, and chuffed that Massa is back to being quick Shame about Hamilton but we'll have to see how tomorrow goes now the front guys aren't tyre hampered Button 8th, I'd take that at 8am
We still need to see if Massa can string a season together, and actually beat Alonso in a race. Very positive start, but the issue is far from settled.
Don't think so, the drivers were asked about their choice it seems. Horner said on RTL something about Hamilton probably hindering Webber.
