"Cato Batista" 11/07/2011 20:41:37 ID #83
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Another Red Bull front row, but this time it was Webber a of Vettel. It was a crazy Q3 session with constantly changing conditions, and it was even crazier in Q2 when showers wetted only parts of the track, a complete lottery. In the end the Status Quo prevailed at the front with Ferrari taking the second row to confirm their upward form. McLaren is lost for words to explain the huge 1.5 seconds margin that separated their best runner Button in 5th to the pole; all Hamilton could do was 10th. And there were more surprises in the top ten: Renault didn’t make the cut, neither Schumacher, instead rookies DiResta is 6th, Maldonado 7th, and Kobayashi’s Sauber is a of Rosberg’s Mercedes. A very interesting looking grid. It’s expected to be partly cloudy and dry with temperatures around 17c (low for the hard compound).
Our QF results were a total disaster. Fourteen members (that’s 14!) didn’t score any points, we had only one 4-point plenum (me), two more -Joe, (leading the QF department) and Fredrik- with 2 points, and 2 more with one point! -Rocco & Erik-. Curro scored a perfect 1-2-3 as well, but it was disallowed for submitting late (what a shame). No big changes atop of the standings as all the leaders went blank (!)
The grid for tomorrow:
WEB VET ALO MAS BUT DIR MAL KOB ROS HAM
DRS detection zone has been set for corner 3, with activation allowed in the short straight to corner 4 and the longer straight after that. DRS wasn’t a factor last GP in Valencia, but this is a very fast circuit where it could make an impact on the 52 lap race. The main factor however will be the strategy to use the silver coloured hard tires at the right stint during the race since most teams have problems making them operate properly in the expected low temperatures, and then the short supply of the yellow-soft compound after the leading drivers had to use several sets in the difficult QF conditions. Silverstone has one of the largest pitlanes with an important time-penalty for pitstops. The only significant reference we have so far are the Saturday morning P3 dry times when the teams had a chance to work on dry-race set ups. The order was VET-ALO-WEB-MAS, BUT was 6th, ROS 8th and HAM 13th.
Traditionally this is a very entertaining GP, the polesitter has won only 3 of the last 10; Button & Massa had never been to the podium, Red Bull has won the last 2.