"Cato Batista" 27/05/2011 18:46:45 ID #45
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Please let me start with correcting my mistaken P2 results,it should had been: (+secs. behind)

ALO 1.15.123 HAM+.105 ROS+.198 BUT+.325 VET+.544 MAS+.658 SCH+1.233 WEB+1.519 SUT+1.978 HEI+2.003

I omitted HAM in second place which was completely unfair because he was fully committed and awesome to watch, same as ALO, both pushing their cars to the top on driving merits rather than their machines’ capabilities.

The picture emerging from Thursday’s practice sessions is that both compounds (softs & super softs) are lasting what Pirellis was expecting of them. With pre-event fears of tire chaos caused by a rapidly degrading proved unfounded, Pirelli thinks this will lead teams to select radical tactics on Sunday. We saw VET doing 18 laps on the primes yesterday (about a quarter of race distance, 78 laps) although he had to cool them down twice at some stage, a luxury not possible during the race. According to Pirelli’s chief Paul Hembery the winning strategy will be 2 stops with the teams using the supersoft in one of the 3 stints.

This will translate in to 2 scenarios: Grid position will be crucial, none of this tire-saving QF tactics. And then the possibility for drivers outside the top 10 (Q3) to overtake the top runners by having an extended first stint on the soft and then using the super-soft at the end with a light fuel load for a better pace. Starting in 11th position will be a bonus!

There’s little mention of DRS and KERS around here, it has become clear that tire wear and tactics will mark this GP where passing is impossible.

Red Bull has been on pole the last 6; VET has been on the front row the last 10. But if you feel that’s too much of a one-sided dominance,think back to the 92-93 season when Williams won 24 successive poles! McLaren’s last pole was in Canada last year; WEB’s pole time in 2010 was 1.13.826

We have the prospect of the most intense QF session of the season, get ready to see the best 3 drivers of this generation at their absolute best.

Edited by Cato Batista 2011-05-27 21:20:31