"Cato Batista" 19/06/2014 16:37:15 ID #600

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It went down to the last moments of qualifying. ROS had a good, clean lap, HAM did two small mistakes in sector 1. Still both Mercedes were at least half a second faster than VET in the Red Bull and the very fast Williams of BOT & MAS. The rest of the top 10 were the second Red Bull, both Ferraris, 1 McLaren and 1 Toro Rosso,

Our QF efforts were wiped off by HAM’s mistake. All it takes is a brief lock-up in corner one (right in front of us) that’s a tenth-and-a-half of a second to hand Nico the pole, and we ended up with almost no points. Tim pick the Mercedes drivers in the right order for a double and 10 others saved a point. No more.

The grid: ROS HAM VET BOT MAS RIC ALO VER BUT RAI

HAM starting behind ROS was not in the script. From a no-brainer choice of Lewis to win now all kinds of scenarios are developing. It's going to be a battle for the first corner to the last lap, Nico has found an ideal set-up for his W05, it looks on rails. Both Williams are working really well here, they are the fastest on full-loads (after the Silver ones, of course) Pirelli has said their soft compound ‘could do 70 laps’ (or race distance) which translates to a one-stop strategy. A 2 stopper is going to be an alternative for those with faster cars stuck behind traffic.There are at least 2 good passing areas so I’m sure we shall see good action tomorrow.

I must say that my first impression today was disappointment. I hadn't ever heard a racing engine that sounds like these, and honestly it's horrible. You don’t need ear-plugs, they don’t even sell them anymore. It’s a strange feeling to be able to have a conversation as the cars race just below us, that was the best part. Another positive change is that you can hear how different the power band is between the 3 engines, their different gear ratios and how the tyres struggle for traction.

Mercedes has tied the 2011 Red Bull record by taking the first 7 poles of the season. Last Ferrari pole was Germany 2012. HAM has won 3 out of his 6 Canadian GPs. McLaren has won 4 of the last 6 but has not won in 25 races. And look at this one: since 2000 the poleman has only won 5 times in here.

Difficult call, for every place...CATO - HAM ROS VET BOT RIC ALO

Enjoy!