I was actually surprised with that result. We generally don’t have the same pace as the Red Bulls and the Ferraris so I was really surprised when I came through.

I saw that I was P4 but I didn’t know that there was loads of people behind me. I am absolutely overwhelmed with that position, I think that’s great for us, a great starting point and I hope tomorrow we can just either keep that position or take one more tomorrow.

We have got a lot of downforce to find, but I know the guys back at the factory are pushing very hard, and this is much better position to start from than we did last year so I can only be grateful and just keep working with the guys to push us forward. Lewis Hamilton.

It was getting better every run I did and I was getting more comfortable with the car. I really struggled with the fronts locking this afternoon – very different to this morning.

Through quali it was getting better and better and then in the last run something was a bit wrong. Something felt wrong, so we are going to have a look at the car now and see what that is. I’m surprised I was eighth actually because it was struggling around the last lap.

I think Red Bull are very, very fast and even the Ferraris couldn’t stay with them in qualifying.

My first run in Q2, I was in traffic and the second one was a bit better. It was getting better and better every lap so I was reasonably happy but yeah, at the end it wasn’t so good and something just feels a little bit wrong so we need to look at that. Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix in fourth, while Jenson Button could only manage eighth in qualifying.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Mixed Emotions In The McLaren Garage

It is nice to be back racing and competitive in the right direction. I feel happy to be back after such a difficult time.

I was watching races on TV but it’s more exciting to be in the car. I am in a good direction, testing, driving go-karts, so it’s great to be back for racing.

If you look what happened to us, it is a good start for us. I feel very positive to start in second and third, it feels great. For sure Red Bull and some teams are strong, so the race will be difficult but I am happy here to be fighting for top.

I think we did a good job yesterday to prepare for a long distance. We used both tyres and swapped tyres on the long runs. I think we are in the right direction so let’s see how we are going to be in the race tomorrow.

There are many things that will happen in the race, let’s wait and see but I am really optimistic. Felipe Massa.

I am very happy obviously. At is the first race, there are many things to answer in the first race with a long winter with a big difference in fuel loads, in all the tests and yesterday in practice, you never know what the competitors are running.

We were excited about the first qualifying of the season, so now to have both drivers in the top three means we have a very competitive car. We thought so, but you need to confirm and it has been great, a great day and I think it is some kind of nice feeling to realise that we are in the fight because you never know until qualifying.

You never now how you will start the new championship with a big change in the regulations this, and for me also changing teams. For me everything has been great and it is a very good start. Now we were in equal conditions, qualifying with no fuel showed the potential of the cars, so it showed we have a good car.

It is very important to start scoring points from the first race. Fernando Alonso.

Alonso went on to state that his strategy for tomorrow will be open and flexible, believing that the best way to win races this year will be to quickly respond to situations as they arise on the track and adjust his plan as the race unfolds. Felipe Massa will start the Bahrain Grand Prix in second while Fernando Alonso will line up on the grid directly behind pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel in third.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Ferrari Duo Happy With Qualifying Performance

To be honest yesterday was a tough day for us, we had not as much running as we hoped for. Another long night, especially mechanics with not much sleep and a lot of long faces, but they were keen this morning to keep pushing.

I knew we had a great car, but obviously first of all we had to get it together.

Qualifying went pretty smoothly. I am very, very happy to be on pole, the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month, a lot of testing in a short amount of time and to come here, where everybody shows how strong they are, and come out on top is a nice feeling.

I think we all don’t know what is going to be happen tomorrow yet, it could be very exciting, it could be very boring. That is what I hope for! We want a calm race, all of us here would like to be where we start, it is a difficult situation to be in.

The first part of the race will be crucial but there is no secret that you need to take care of tyres. All of us don’t know what to expect tomorrow. Sebastian Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel will start tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix in pole position, ahead of the Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber qualified in sixth.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Vettel Surprised To Be On Pole

	Bahrain 2010: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m54.101s/Tyre: Super-Soft
			Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m54.242s/Tyre: Super-Soft		2
3		Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m54.608s/Tyre: Super-Soft
			Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m55.217s/Tyre: Super-Soft		4
5		Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m55.241s/Tyre: Super-Soft
			Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m55.284s/Tyre: Super-Soft		6
7		Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m55.524s/Tyre: Super-Soft
			Jenson Button McLaren 1m55.672s/Tyre: Super-Soft		8
9		Robert Kubica Renault 1m55.885s/Tyre: Super-Soft
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m56.309s/Tyre: Medium		10
11		Rubens Barrichello Williams 1m55.330s
			Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m55.653s		12
13		Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1m55.857s
			Pedro De La Rosa Sauber 1m56.237s		14
15		Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m56.265s
			Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m56.270s		16
17		Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m56.619s
			Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m57.071s		18
19		Timo Glock Virgin Racing 1m59.728s
			Jarno Trulli Lotus 1m59.852s		20
21		Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 2m00.313s
			Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing 2m00.587s		22
23		Bruno Senna Hispania Racing 2m03.240s
			Karun Chandhok Hispania Racing 2m04.904s		24

Update: Both Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok of Hispania Racing are expected to start the race from the pitlane.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: The Grid

The opening 20-minute qualifying session saw Karun Chandhok finally get a chance to drive his Hispania, the Indian driver failing to make it out in the practice sessions both yesterday and this morning. However, with the hydraulic issues solved, Chandhok finally made it out onto the track and although the Indian qualified at the very bottom of the timing sheet, his performance was expected, understandable and actually not that bad.

Bruno Senna, in the sister Hispania, fared a little better and managed a time 1.7s faster than his team mate. At the sharp-end, Ferrari impressed with Fernando Alonso taking the fastest lap in Q1, but conversely, McLaren appeared to struggle, failing to match the pace of the Ferraris and Red Bulls.

Those knocked-out of the first session were of little surprise, with both Hispania drivers, both Lotus pilots, the Virgin Racing duo and finally Jaime Alguersuari for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Alguersuari’s failure to get any further than Q1 was perhaps a little odd, but with seven drivers being relegated to the garage after the first 20 minutes, one of the established teams will always find themselves in this position.

Timo Glock heads the new teams with Virgin Racing, qualifying P19 and will start the race ahead of Jarno Trulli in the Lotus. Heikki Kovalainen will follow his team mate in P21 while Lucas Di Grassi qualified P22 and comfortably ahead of the Hispania pair.

The second session again saw little surprise although the McLarens again were struggling. For a while Jenson Button hovered in or around P10 and only a final push saw the Briton get through to Q1. Early on in the running Kamui Kobayashi impressed with a quick lap but unfortunately could not further improve and soon found himself falling down the table. Vitaly Petrov qualified P17 and showed himself as a steady hand, although team mate Robert Kubica was closer to the front.

Pedro De La Rosa in the second Sauber drove relatively well and managed to put the C29 in P14, just ahead of Sebastien Buemi and behind rookie Nico Hulkenberg. Vitantonio Liuzzi pushed his Force India into P12 while Rubens Barrichello, on the harder compound, qualified P11 and is in a very good position for tomorrow’s race. With the top-ten starting on the less-desirable soft tyre, Barrichello will be able to go further in the first stint and should be able to pick up a few points, all things going well.

The final session saw Sebastian Vettel mimic his Q2 performance by blasting in a supremely fast lap. So far this weekend, Vettel is the only driver to get into the sub-114s lap times, and in Q3 the young German edged out Felipe Massa by a tenth.

Ferrari showed good pace with Massa taking a front row grid position and Fernando Alonso lining up just behind in P3. Lewis Hamilton hauled his MP4-25 into P4 while team mate Jenson Button had to settle for a lowly P8.

Adrian Sutil impressed with a top-ten qualifying performance and will start the race behind Robert Kubica, who likewise showed reasonable pace in the Renault. Mark Webber couldn’t match his team mate and slots into P6 on the grid while the majority of talking from qualifying centres around the Mercedes duo. Nico Rosberg managed a fine P5, only made all the more sweet by beating his team mate, Michael Schumacher. The multiple world champion has looked a little off-colour all weekend and Rosberg has been consistently ahead in the practice sessions. Many thought Schumacher would be able to turn the wick up and pop in a special lap, but alas not. The most successful driver on the grid, statistically speaking, will start the Bahrain Grand Prix behind his lesser-experienced team mate in P7.

Of the drivers to watch tomorrow, Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello should prove to be the most interesting. You can never rule out Lewis Hamilton and at last year’s opening round the Briton put in a fine performance (prior to the safety car period) in an under-performing car. Michael Schumacher will also be worth watching, just to see if during the race he can reclaim the lost ground to his team mate and improve his stature in the team.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Sebastian Vettel Takes First Pole Of Season

	Bahrain 2010 Qualifying Results	Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes	Laps Completed
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m55.029s	1m53.883s	1m54.101s	14 Laps
2.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m55.313s	1m54.331s	1m54.242s	16 Laps
3.	Fernando Alonso Ferrari	1m54.612s	1m54.172s	1m54.608s	20 Laps
4.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m55.341s	1m54.707s	1m55.217s	19 Laps
5.	Nico Rosberg Mercedes	1m55.463s	1m54.682s	1m55.241s	13 Laps
6.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m55.298s	1m54.318s	1m55.284s	13 Laps
7.	Michael Schumacher Mercedes	1m55.593s	1m55.105s	1m55.524s	15 Laps
8.	Jenson Button McLaren	1m55.715s	1m55.168s	1m55.672s	17 Laps
9.	Robert Kubica Renault	1m55.511s	1m54.963s	1m55.885s	17 Laps
10.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m55.213s	1m54.996s	1m56.309s	16 Laps
11.	Rubens Barrichello Williams	1m55.969s	1m55.330s		12 Laps
12.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m55.628s	1m55.653s		13 Laps
13.	Nico Hulkenberg Williams	1m56.375s	1m55.857s		14 Laps
14.	Pedro De La Rosa Sauber	1m56.428s	1m56.237s		13 Laps
15.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m56.189s	1m56.265s		14 Laps
16.	Kamui Kobayashi Sauber	1m56.541s	1m56.270s		13 Laps
17.	Vitaly Petrov Renault	1m56.167s	1m56.619s		14 Laps
18.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m57.071s			6 Laps
19.	Timo Glock Virgin Racing	1m59.728s			7 Laps
20.	Jarno Trulli Lotus	1m59.852s			6 Laps
21.	Heikki Kovalainen Lotus	2m00.313s			7 Laps
22.	Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing	2m00.587s			7 Laps
23.	Bruno Senna Hispania Racing	2m03.240s			6 Laps
24.	Karun Chandhok Hispania Racing	2m04.904s			7 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Qualifying Result

Hydraulic issues have plagued Hispania Racing so far this weekend and rookie pilot Chandhok was forced to remain in the garage on Friday and again on Saturday morning. Team mate Bruno Senna fared a little better, managing to complete 17 laps in the afternoon and then adding a further 11 this morning.

We’ve had a load of problems, obviously coming late to the programme. We can’t seem to get the clutch and gearbox working the right way. I don’t think we are going to get out this [Friday] afternoon, which is disappointing.

There have been about five occasions in the last 24 hours when we thought we would be okay, and then something went wrong. It’s frustrating for the mechanics as well, because they have been working since last night.

It’s some sort of electronic or hydraulic issue, I don’t think it’s mechanical. It’s not an ideal situation, but we’ve been a but luckier on Bruno’s car which at least got out of the garage, and try and do a bit more this afternoon. Karun Chandhok.

It obviously isn’t an ideal situation for Chandhok, and he admitted to Jake Humphrey prior to qualifying that he just hopes to get some laps under his belt and intends to stay away from the other drivers, perhaps not even running in the final 6 or 7 minutes of Q1 in order to avoid the faster cars.

Even the teams who have been in F1 for a long time, there is a lot to learn, so for a new team and a new driver you can imagine that problem multiplies. It’s not an easy situation.

We all knew coming into the weekend that it is going to be tough, but we were at least hoping to do some sort of a shakedown today. That was the plan. It is what it is.

Medium to long term I am optimistic, but it certainly looks like the first four races are going to be character building. Karun Chandhok.

Karun Chandhok however, despite the problems he and the Hispania team are facing, remained very calm in the garage and spoke well to the media.

It seems to be a bit of a nightmare for us. In some ways it is annoying and frustrating, but in some ways it is normal because it is a shakedown and that is what you end up seeing at shakedowns.

The team are working amazingly hard. These guys have worked 40 hours straight and they are doing the best job they can – unfortunately we haven’t had the time to do all this in private.

To have got into the car and then get back out three minutes later was not a very good feeling, but what can I do? I have to keep my chin up. There is no point getting depressed about it, and no point slagging the team off. It is not anyone’s fault – it is just circumstances. Karun Chandhok.

Update:
Somewhat impressively though, Chandhok managed to get out in the first qualifying session and was only 1.7s off the pace. Considering the Indian had never turned a wheel in the car since today, the pace Chandhok managed was pretty good.

Original article by BlogF1.

Never Turned A Wheel: Karun Chandhok Prepares To Qualify

For 2010 though, the sport has seen an influx of new teams and the total grid now sports 12 squads and 24 drivers, potentially increasing to 13 teams next year. Looking at the opening free practice sessions in Bahrain earlier, Hispania Racing are clearly struggling with pace.

Nico Rosberg’s fastest lap set during the 90-minute session was 1m55.409s, meaning the 107% cut-off would be 2m03.488s had it been qualifying under the governance of this rule. Bruno Senna only managed a time of 2m06.968s while team mate Karun Chandhok failed to even get out of the garage due to a problem with his car. Under the 107% rule, both drivers would be unable to compete on Sunday if this performance continued through qualifying.

However, it is important to remember that Hispania Racing, along with Lotus and Virgin Racing are brand new teams that have never competed a Formula One Grand Prix before. Although they may employ people who are experienced, and even drivers with race wins under their belts, the team is still essentially new. Should there not be some slack given, particularly in the opening rounds of the championship while everybody finds their feet?

Or is it a case of sink or swim? Slower cars on a track can cause problems and can even prove to be a hazard. Not only does it require the front-runners to lap more cars, the inexperience in competing a grand prix increases the chances of an accident. Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced driver on the grid, may know exactly how to lap another car, knowing which side to pass on and how to move back onto the racing line, but the lapped driver may have other ideas.

Original article by BlogF1.

Daily Debate: Would The 107% Qualifying Rule Be Good For Formula One?

One interesting point Todt spoke about was the possibility of re-introducing the 107% qualifying rule. This procedure was last introduced in 1996 as a way to weed out some of the sport’s lesser-funded and therefore under-performing teams and drivers. Essentially, the 107% rule dictates that any driver failing to qualify within 107% of the pole-sitter’s fastest lap would be excluded from participating in the race. Back in 1996, Forti often found themselves on the wrong side of the timing sheet.

The rule was scraped in 2003 as the qualifying process changed to a one-lap system and fewer teams were competing, meaning the limit of 20 cars each race implied most drivers attempting to take part should. For 2010 though, the sport sees more teams participating and if the first free practice sessions at Bahrain are anything to go by, some of these new squads are considerably off the pace of the front-runners.

Jean Todt has stated he is in favour of re-introducing the rule, although admits that if it is appended to the regulations, it won’t likely happen until 2011. In order to get the 107% rule in, the FIA would need unanimous agreement from all the teams, and that simply isn’t going to happen because Virgin Racing, Lotus and Hispania would have to block the move on a just in case reasoning.

We are very in favour of reintroducing the 107 percent limit. The reason why it was abandoned was because of the change in qualifying which was happening with fuel to start the race in the car.

Now to change that for 2010 you need to have the unanimous agreement of the teams, and to get the unanimous agreement of the teams the FIA will be supporting this solution.

I don’t think it will happen so we have to wait until 2011 to introduce it. Jean Todt.

Despite seemingly wanting to curb non-achievers in Formula One though, Todt was supportive of the new teams and offered his praise and support.

You must have respect for a new team who is arriving in this particular economic crisis period and to invest money to be in F1. I don’t think it is a time to criticise but to support and help, and to help them, and it is in the interests of everybody.

Everybody in the business should be supportive of these days. I was impressed today, they did quite well and we must give them a certain time to be ready. Jean Todt.

Looking at Nico Rosberg’s fastest lap of 1m55.409s in the second free practice this afternoon in Bahrain, 107% of this would be 2m03.488s. If this had been qualifying and the 107% rule had been in force, Hispania drivers Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok would undoubtedly be in trouble, while the Virgin Racing duo would be cutting it close.

Original article by BlogF1.

Jean Todt In Favour Of 107% Qualifying Rule

However, 2010 will see a ban on in-race refuelling and the only times a car will enter the pitlane is to either get new tyres or to simply retire. With a lack of re-fuelling, more emphasis will placed on the tyre changes and the drivers will have to manage their rubber a bit more as the cars will initially start the race heavily laden.

The teams have been busy over the winter trying to reduce the effect of this extra weight and the best (and possibly only) way to do this is make the engine more efficient. By using less fuel than a fellow competitor to complete a race distance, then obviously the lighter the car will be throughout the grand prix. As fuel is pretty heavy and can mean up to a tenth or two each lap, this is something the teams and engine suppliers have been keen to get right.

Had the FIA decided to publish the fuel weights of each car (either measured or declared) after qualifying, then we would have been able to work out who is running the most efficient engine. Alas, the sport’s governing body has chosen to keep this information secret.

Will you miss finding out who is doing better, or do you feel that the fuel weight is now less important than it was was? Is keeping some things a secret better for the sport, or should the information be made public for all to dissect and decide?

Original article by BlogF1.

Daily Debate: Should The FIA Publish The Fuel Weights?

Update: Vitantonio Liuzzi had his gearbox changed after qualifying and therefore drops five places on the grid, promoting Sebastian Vettel and all those behind.

Brazil 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m19.576s
			Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m19.668s		2
3		Adrian Sutil Force India 1m19.912s
			Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m20.097s		4
5		Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m20.168s
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m20.250s		6
7		Nico Rosberg Williams 1m20.326s
			Robert Kubica BMW 1m20.631s		8
9		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m20.674s
			Fernando Alonso Renault 1m21.422s		10
11		Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1m21.960s
			Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m22.231s		12
13		Romain Grosjean Renault 1m22.477s
			Jenson Button Brawn 1m22.504s		14
15		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m25.009s
			Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m25.052s		16
17		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m25.192s
			Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m25.515s		18
19		Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1m40.703s
			Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India No Time		20

Original article by BlogF1.

Brazil 2009: The Grid

The conditions improved a little shortly before Q1 was due to begin and the green light was given for the cars to go out and set times. However, while the Williams duo were showing everybody how to drive in the wet, Giancarlo Fisichella brought out the red flag after just four minutes. The Italian lost the rear of his Ferrari while off-throttle and stopped broad-side on the racing line. Fisichella’s anti-stall device apparently did not kick in and the F60 was stranded with others having dodge him as they rounded the corner.

At the same time, drivers were speaking to engineers via their radios explaining that the conditions have worsened and they are aquaplaning on the straights. Race control decided to stop the session with 15m53s left on the clock and everybody cruised back to the pitlane. As the Ferrari was recovered Race Control sent the Medical Car out several times to assess the track conditions, and after a short while the drivers were sent out again.

The Interlagos circuit had obviously improved by the time the second start occurred as lap times tumbled from around the 1m40s region down to the 1m25s region. However, while Q1 was able to be completed it was clear that conditions had once again worsened towards the end. Lewis Hamilton ran off the track and aborted his final run and Sebastian Vettel struggled throughout with a car setup for the dry.

Both McLarens, also on a dry setup, failed to get out of Q1 and Nick Heidfeld also struggled and failed to get through. Both Williams ran superbly with a wet setup and while they may have compromised their Sunday pace, Nico Rosberg went fastest and was tailed by his team mate for much of the session until Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica finally pipped Kazuki Nakajima which opened the floodgates for others to push through.

Q2 started after a delay but even before any driver was able to get a lap time in, Vitantonio Liuzzi had a sizable off, dropping the Force India has he released the throttle into the first corner, running down the pitwall before spinning around the backing the car heavily into the barrier on the other side. The accident was quite large but Liuzzi was fine and extricated himself from the car unaided. However, conditions were clearly not acceptable and the red flag was shown once again. The session was left with 12m24s on the clock.

Qualifying then went through a phase of waiting for track inspections which occurred just about every fifteen minutes. The level of standing water on the track was too severe and during the broadcast, the weather seemed to worsen which only made the call to continue even harder.

However, after what seemed like an eternity, the rain stopped and the session was able to restart. As the cars streamed out on to the track, Interlagos looked much better and before Q2 was over, Nico Rosberg switched to intermediate tyres which prompted the others to do the same. Although Rosberg struggled initially, by the time the German started his final set of laps, the tyre was keyed in and Williams went fastest in the middle 15 minute session.

The shock of Q2 was seeing Jenson Button fail to get through and although many had felt that the Briton was lucky after Sebastian Vettel left qualifying early, the luck quickly dried up and after simply not being fast enough and failing to change to the intermediate tyre, Button will start tomorrow’s race just a couple of positions ahead of his rival.

Q3 started as scheduled – five minutes after the completion of Q2 – and all drivers went out on intermediate tyres. The track was improving with each passing lap and it seemed that the final driver to complete a time would have the best opportunity. However, Rubens Barrichello was simply on fire and managed to control his tyres and time pefectly. A stonking final run from the Brazilian laid down the gauntlet and only Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Mark Webber really had the pace to challenge. Unfortunately for both, Barrichello was just too fast for them and the grid was completed.

Adrian Sutil once again proved he is very handy in wet and changable conditions and the German driver lines up in P3, behind Webber and ahead of Trulli. Kimi Raikkonen, who looked good in Q2, could only muster a P5 lap and Sebastien Buemi gave Scuderia Toro Rosso cause to celebrate with a fine P6.

Williams appeared to struggle though in the final run, but fuel weights are currently unknown and therefore it may not be true pace we saw from the blue cars. Nico Rosberg managed to get into P7 and team mate Kazuki Nakajima hauled the sister car into P9. However, if the Grove-based squad have gone heavy for the race, it would perhaps be an unwise decision based on the fact that they are both on a high-downforce wet setup and the race could be ran in dry conditions. We await the fuel weights to be published though.

And so Rubens Barrichello has claimed his first pole position since his days spent at Ferrari many years ago. Furthermore, the Brazilian has kept his title chances alive by out-qualifying his team mate by considerable margin, and a victory at home in front of his fans and family would edge Barrichello to within 4 points of Jenson Button if the Briton fails to score tomorrow.

The 2009 championship, it would appear, is far from over…

Further Reading

• Brazil 2009: Qualifying Result
• Brazil 2009: Live Qualifying Notes
• More information on the Interlagos circuit can be found on BlogF1’s sister site, AerialF1.

Original article by BlogF1.

Brazil 2009: A Saturated Qualifying Puts Barrichello In Pole Position

Q1

• FIS heads down the pitlane to be among the first out.
• Most drivers are expected to put in a banker early on.
• Half the field are on track.
• VET aquaplaning down the straight.
• VET 1m39.694s
• GRO big slide.
• FIS stuck on struck pointing out onto the racing line..
• RED FLAG.
• Drivers were reporting too much aquaplaning on the radios.
• The red flag was shown at 15:53. The clock has stopped.
• VET, FIS, ALG, ROS, GRO, NAK, BUE have all set times, and in that order currently.
• Race control state that the session will not restart until conditions improve.
• FIS says conditions were “impossible”. He also said his anti-stall device didn’t work.
• ALG is worried that is the session is restarted with the current level of rain, there will be more red flags and lots of yellows.
• Ted Kravitz reporting that Toyota have heated visors on their helmets, much like on a car rear-windscreen. Brundle says he prefers the more simple solution of doubling up on the visor, double-glazed so to speak, which also prevents misting.
• HAM queues at the end of the pitlane.
• LIU has 7 laps of fuel, which will get him to the end of Q1.
• Q1 restarts.
• Everybody floods out onto the track (sorry).
• Conditions have improved and times are about to tumble.
• The last driver to set a lap is likely to set the fastest lap.
• ROS: 24.356
• NAK: 24.154
• The Williams have the highest-downforce settings apparently, which will benefit today but not necessarily tomorrow.
• ROS: 22.828
• Despite a big slide, VET matched his previous lap time. Albeit in P17.
• SUT and HEI very close to each other on track and dicing one with another.
• RAI P2.
• KUB P3.
• Red Bull have set their car up for the dry for tomorrow’s race. VET is very tentative and is struggling to qualify.
• HAM off. Kept it going and rejoins. But he’s P18 at the moment.
• GRO slides and almost spins. Gathers it together.
• VET in traffic, again.
• HAM pits. That’s it. He’s out.
• VET pits as well. He’s out too.
• It’s raining heavily again.
• FIS, HEI, HAM, KOV and VET are out.

Q2

• Race control say Q2 will start on time.
• Medical car on track to check conditions. It is raining heavily again.
• Q2 has been delayed.
• HAM confirms his (and presumably KOV’s) McLaren is set up for dry weather.
• Q2 will start in 1 minute.
• Williams roll down to the end of the pitlane.
• Everybody on track.
• Track look absolutely saturated.
• LIU big accident.
• RED FLAG.
• Clock stopped at 12:24.
• LIU went in backwards in to the barrier at T1. Dropped it in the braking zone and almost collected RAI.
• LIU radios his engineer to say he is okay. Gets out of the car. Badly damaged all round.
• NAK spun as well.
• No driver set a lap time.
• LIU taken to medical centre. I wonder if the G-meter was triggered. He seems perfectly fine though and was walking around and waving to the crowd.
• Button’s engineer updates Button on LIU via the radio. Says he felt the impact as the accident was close to Brawn’s pit garage.
• Brundle is reminiscing about sitting in the car in the garage and feeling “cosy” when it is wet outside, like “laying in the bath and looking up and over the taps”.
• Webber is being very blunt with race control over the radio, and suggests Charlie Whiting “puts his glasses on” to see what the drivers are experiencing on-track.
• Nick Fry says his information suggests the weather will continue like it is until 4pm local time, 8pm UK time.
• Race control say there will be another track inspection (by the Medical Car we presume) at 30 minutes past the hour. They say the track is cleared but they are waiting for the general conditions to improve.
• UK BBC viewers will want to switch to BBC2 apparently as the session has over-run and some people want to watch some dancing show that was originally scheduled.
• Race control say the next track inspection will happen at 45 minutes past the hour.
• Race control say the next track inspection will happen on the hour.
• John Howett confirms Toyota have discussed a 2010 drive with Robert Kubica (who is now signed to Renault) and Kimi Raikkonen.
• Howett also says the weather is expected to ease after 4pm local and once the standing water has cleared a little they should be able to restart.
• Mario Theissen agrees.
• Apparently Q2 will restart in 5 minutes.
• Bernie says that running with the Q1 result as the grid, the rules would have to be changed because of the fuel loads.
• Aaaand, Q2 restarts.
• The track looks much, much better.
• ROS: 1m21.815s
• BUT: 22.941
• RAI: 21.378
• KOB ran wide.
• Williams on inters!
• Wet tyres lift about 60 litres of water each second, Inters lift about 30 litres each second.
• WEB: 21.185 on full wets.
• ROS: S1 down a little.
• Other drivers going to inters as well.
• ROS: S2 further down, but they should kick in soon.
• BUT stays out on full wets.
• WEB: 20.906
• BUT is struggling in the dropzone on the full wet tyres.
• WEB: 20.803
• ROS: 20.668 – the inters have kicked in.
• SUT: P2 on full wet.
• ROS: 20.368
• NAK: 20.427
• TRU: 20.635
• LIU, BUT, GRO, ALG, and KOB out.

Q3

• Q3 begins.
• Williams among the last to go out. They are probably looking for some clean air.
• All drivers on Intermediate tyres.
• BUE goes fastest.
• BUE improves.
• ROS travelling slowly, might be waiting for space on-track..
• BAR fastest. 21.167
• KUB: 20.655
• ROS is okay and going quickly now.
• RAI: P3.
• TRU: 20.596
• ROS: 20.492
• TRU is flying in S1.
• TRU S2 is faster as well.
• TRU: 20.333
• BAR: 20.210
• All are improving. The last over the line will have the best opportunity.
• WEB: 20.109
• ROS: P3 only.
• WEB: S2 faster.
• WEB: 19.668
• BAR: 19.576
• SUT: P3
• KUB: P7
• BUE: P5
• RAI: P5 (BUE now P6)
• Barrichello on pole.

Original article by BlogF1.

Brazil 2009: Live Qualifying Notes

Brazil 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m24.100s	1m21.659s	1m19.576s
2.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m24.722s	1m20.803s	1m19.668s
3.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m24.447s	1m20.753s	1m19.912s
4.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m24.621s	1m20.635s	1m20.097s
5.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m23.047s	1m21.378s	1m20.168s
6.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m24.591s	1m20.701s	1m20.250s
7.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m22.828s	1m20.368s	1m20.326s
8.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m23.072s	1m21.147s	1m20.631s
9.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m23.161s	1m20.427s	1m20.674s
10.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m24.842s	1m21.657s	1m21.422s
11.	Kamui Kobayashi Toyota	1m24.335s	1m21.960s
12.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m24.773s	1m22.231s
13.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m24.394s	1m22.477s
14.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m24.297s	1m22.504s
15.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m24.645s	No Time
16.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m25.009s
17.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m25.052s
18.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m25.192s
19.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m25.515s
20.	Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari	1m40.703s

Original article by BlogF1.

Brazil 2009: Qualifying Result

Should Toyota or the FIA decide Glock is not fit enough to take part in the Japanese Grand Prix – remember, the German is also recovering from a fever – and presuming test and reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi is allowed to stand-in, then he will undoubtedly start from the pitlane.

Just before qualifying started, Force India changed the gearbox in Vitantonio Liuzzi’s car, meaning the Italian would be demoted five places regardless of where he qualified. As it turned out, Liuzzi qualified plum-last anyway, and so will start at the back of the grid, albeit ahead of the two pitlane starters. For reference, drivers starting from the pitlane are not allowed to leave the pits until the final car has passed the pit exit, assuming all cars actually make it that far, that is.

During qualifying, a number of drivers were found to have not backed off enough while passing yellow flags. The waved yellow flag indicates that a driver must slow down as there is a problem ahead, which is usually a car that has spun off into the gravel. For obvious reasons, it isn’t wished upon any following driver that they too spin off and instead of gracefully coming to a stop in the gravel, they instead slam into a stationary car. Double waved yellows indicates that a driver has to slow right down and be prepared to stop. This is shown when marshals are on the track.

Given the high number of incidents during qualifying earlier, there were quite a lot of yellow flags being waved, and some drivers were deemed to have not heeded them as well as they should have. Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Sebastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso each fell foul of the rule book and their own telemetry, and each received a five grid place penalty.

After qualifying, McLaren decided to change Heikki Kovalainen’s gearbox, demoting the Finnish driver from his original P9 to a post-penalty P13.

You’ve already asked the question in your head, no doubt… how has Kovalainen received a five grid slot penalty, but only moved down the order by four places? This is because Formula One likes to make it a little bit more complicated, but it is actually quite fair. Penalties are always issued in the order that the offense was committed. Therefore, Mark Webber was initially moved to the pitlane and essentially, P20 before qualifying started. Vitantonio Liuzzi was second to receive the elbow, and therefore definitely starts at the back of the grid. Liuzzi can still opt to start from the pitlane, but all things considered, he is probably better off where he is.

The last of the penalties receivers, so far, is Heikki Kovalainen. Therefore, all the yellow-flag-ignorers have had their demotions applied before Heikki gets his. And therefore, in a hopefully ultimate tone, will start in P13. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the exact order the yellow-flag offenses were committed, and so we do not know the final grid order. This grid is likely to change and is just a guesstimate.

Interestingly, Autosport seem to be under the impression Mark Webber will start behind Timo Glock in the pitlane. Although from my understanding, Glock received his punishment after Webber (and boy, it was more punishment than I think he was bargaining for), and so therefore is penalised after Mark. Which would surely put Timo just behind the Red Bull driver in the pitlane.

Either way, here is my stab at the grid for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.

Japan 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m32.160s
			Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m32.220s		2
3		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m32.395s
			Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m32.945s		4
5		Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m32.980s
			Nico Rosberg Williams 1m31.482s		6
7		Robert Kubica BMW 1m32.341s
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m32.466s		8
9		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m32.660s
			Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso No Time		10
11		Jenson Button Brawn 1m32.962s
			Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1m31.704s		12
13		Heikki Kovalainen McLaren No Time
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso No Time		14
15		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m31.718s
			Romain Grosjean Renault 1m32.073s		16
17		Fernando Alonso Renault 1m31.638s
			Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m32.087s		18
19		PITLANE Mark Webber Red Bull Racing No Time
			PITLANE Timo Glock Toyota No Time		20

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: The Grid, Maybe

The first penalty of the day went to Vitantonio Liuzzi, the Italian taking an unscheduled gear box change prior to qualifying and therefore accepting a five-grid slot demotion. As it turned out, Liuzzi could only manage last-place anyway, his only consolation being the non-active participant, Mark Webber. The Red Bull pilot was unable to take part in the running after damaging his car earlier in the day. Webber will start tomorrow’s race from the pitlane, therefore leaving Liuzzi at the back of the grid.

And for infringing the rule which states drivers must lift sufficiently when the yellow flags are waving, Fernando Alonso, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button have all been reprimanded. Sebastien Buemi has landed himself in hot water as well for driving back to the pitlane with a damaged car. Each has been awarded a demotion of five grid slots, meaning a change to the order following qualifying.

• Vitantonio Liuzzi qualified 19th and remains 19th.
• Fernando Alonso qualified 12th but will start 17th.
• Sebastien Buemi qualified 10th but will start 15th.
• Jenson Button qualified 7th but will start 12th.
• Rubens Barrichello qualified 5th but will start 10th.
• Adrian Sutil qualified 4th but will start 9th.

This promotes Nick Heidfeld to fourth, Kimi Raikkonen to fifth and Heikki Kovalainen to sixth. Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica also get promoted up the order. A grid will follow later today.

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: Penalties Galore

Vitantonio Liuzzi also endured a troubled start to the weekend with a gear box change, prompting a five-grid slot penalty. Although having only qualified ahead of Webber, the punishment will see no change of grid position for the Italian unless he decides to also start from the pitlane.

The first incident during qualifying came from Scuderia Toro Rosso pilot Jaime Alguersuari. Again at the Degner Curves, Alguersuari ran wide on his entry and hit the barriers. Although the Spaniard had to be assisted from the car, it was later announced Jaime was unhurt and cleared to race tomorrow.

The second of the red flags to be posted was in result to Timo Glock having a sizable accident coming out of the final chicane. The Toyota pilot skated of the gravel and smashed into the barriers, causing not only a red flag but the medical car to be in attendance as well. Timo suffered a cut leg and complained of back pain after being extricated from the TF109. As a precaution, Glock has been airlifted to hospital, but scans have apparently shown there is no serious damage to the driver. Toyota have stated they will make a decision early Sunday morning as to whether or not Glock would race (if cleared by the FIA). Test driver Kamui Kobayashi, who stood in for Glock during practice as the German driver is also recovering from a fever, is on stand-by to deputise again but the Japanese driver’s inclusion would require all other teams to unanimously agree to it.

Not escaping moments themselves, Sebastien Buemi also crashed in the second session which meant that although the Swiss pilot had made it through to Q3, could not set a time. Heikki Kovalainen also suffered incident after he too felt the magnetic force of the Degner tyre barrier.

And so after a hectic session at the returning Suzuka circuit, Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton. Adrian Sutil managed a great fourth place while Rubens Barrichello helps his championship cause by out-qualifying team mate Jenson Button, fifth to seventh respectively. Sebastien Buemi placed his Scuderia Toro Rosso in tenth despite failing to set a lap in Q3 and Nick Heidfeld continues BMW’s renaissance by qualifying in sixth.

Singapore 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m30.883s	1m30.341s	1m32.160s
2.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m31.063s	1m30.737s	1m32.220s
3.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m30.917s	1m30.627s	1m32.395s
4.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m31.386s	1m31.222s	1m32.466s
5.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m31.272s	1m31.055s	1m32.660s
6.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m31.501s	1m31.260s	1m32.945s
7.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m31.041s	1m30.880s	1m32.962s
8.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m31.288s	1m31.052s	1m32.980s
9.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m31.499s	1m31.223s	No Time
10.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m31.196s	1m31.103s	No Time
11.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m31.286s	1m31.482s
12.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m31.401s	1m31.638s
13.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m31.417s	1m32.341s
14.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m31.550s	No Time
15.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m31.571s	No Time
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari	1m31.704s
17.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m31.718s
18.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m32.073s
19.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m32.087s
20.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	No Time

Original article by BlogF1.

Japan 2009: Qualifying Result

Hungary 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m47.891s
			Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m48.204s		2
3		Nico Rosberg Williams 1m48.348s
			Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m48.722s		4
5		Fernando Alonso Renault 1m49.054s
			Timo Glock Toyota 1m49.180s		6
7		Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m49.307s
			Robert Kubica BMW 1m49.514s		8
9		Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m49.778s
			Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m48.828s*		10
11		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m47.013s
			Jenson Button Brawn 1m47.141s		12
13		Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m47.177s
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m47.369s		14
15		Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m47.413s
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m48.231s		16
17		Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m48.340s
			Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1m48.350s		18
19		Romain Grosjean Renault 1m48.544s
			Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m48.792s		20

*Includes a 5-grid slot penalty received for an unscheduled gearbox change. Rubens Barrichello originally qualified in P5.

Original article by BlogF1.

Singapore 2009: The Grid

More information on the Marina Bay Street Circuit can be found on BlogF1’s sister site, Google Circuits, including a map of the track and results from last year’s race.

Build-Up

• *Rubens Barrichello has changed his gear box. Following a near-stall in Belgium, there were concerns about the box but amazingly it survived Monza. However, the Brawn team have just changed it and therefore Barrichello will now take a 5-place grid penalty no matter where he qualifies in an hour’s time.
• Jenson Button has been complaining about the balance of his car, so perhaps Brawn aren’t looking as great as I initially thought.
• Concerns over Romain Grosjean have been allayed. The French pilot was ill earlier in the week and Renault were preparing an alternative pilot. Thankfully, Grosjean is driving this weekend, although he has had to learn the track and hasn’t been setting the track alight in free practice.

Q1

• FIS out early.
• ALG out early
• SUT out early.
• Ferrari saying FIS struggling with braking and may not get out of Q1.
• GRO ran off track on his outlap. Managed to recover and doesn’t appear to have damaged the car.
• GRO says on the radio he has no brakes.
• FIS sets opening lap: 51.028.
• ALG immediately beats FIS: 50.169
• RAI: 49.905
• BUE: 49.078
• BUT: 48.632
• WEB: 49.123
• BAR: 47.939
• KOV: 48.473
• VET: 48.168
• ROS: 47.636
• HAM: 47.241
• VET improves: 47.541
• BUT: 47.559
• KOV flying in S2.
• KOV: 47.542
• ALG improves but still in dropzone.
• LIU, GRO, ALG, HEI, TRU in dropzone currently.
• HAM improves his own fastest time: 46.977.
• GRO P12, but still may not be enough.
• RAI and FIS, P14 and P15.
• RAI on super soft tyres already.
• RAI up in S1.
• RAI down in S2 by 0.2s.
• RAI: 47.293, P2.
• HEI: 47.347, P3.
• KUB: 47.615, P8.
• SUT improves.
• ALO improves.
• TRU improves.
• BAR: Was P15. Now P6 with 47.397.
• SUT: Was in the dropzone in P16. Still in P16.
• LIU, GRO, FIS, ALG, SUT out.

Q2

• VET out early.
• BUT, BAR and RAI also on track.
• BUT says inside unloaded wheel-spin on acceleration.
• VET: 51.995
• BUT: 47.412
• BUE: 48.233
• BAR: 47.126
• WEB: 47.030
• ROS: 46.197
• KOV: 46.842
• HAM: 46.657
• GLO: 46.707
• VET: 46.642
• ALO waiting and will only do one run.
• ALO: On track now.
• ALO could squeeze in another run actually.
• HEI: 46.832
• Brundle has decided to call that corner “Piquet’s Corner”.
• ALO: P5 with 46.767
• RAI: Made errors and managed a 47.954. May have backed off despite having enough time for another run.
• BUT: Didn’t improve. P11.
• BAR: Backed off as well, but has another run. He ran wide at T10.
• KUB: 46.813. P6.
• VET: 46.362. P2.
• BAR: 46.787. P6 and in.
• WEB: 46.328. P2.
• TRU, BUE, RAI, BUT, NAK out.
• BAR apparently has floor damage from when he ran wide over the kerbs on his penultimate lap.

Q3

• ROS and VET out early.
• All out with the exception of HAM.
• All out on track now.
• ROS: 48.348
• VET: 48.204
• BAR: 48.828
• WEB: 48.722
• KOV: 49.778
• HAM: 47.891
• HAM timing it to be the last to set a time.
• BAR: Hit the wall. Damaged front-left tyre.
• Red Flag.
• Qualifying is over.
• HAM on pole.

Original article by BlogF1.

Singapore 2009: Qualifying Live Notes

Singapore 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m46.977s	1m46.657s	1m47.891s
2.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m47.541s	1m46.362s	1m48.204s
3.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m47.390s	1m46.197s	1m48.348s
4.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m47.646s	1m46.328s	1m48.722s
5.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn*	1m47.397s	1m46.787s	1m48.828s
6.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m47.757s	1m46.767s	1m49.054s
7.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m47.770s	1m46.707s	1m49.180s
8.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m47.347s	1m46.832s	1m49.307s
9.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m47.615s	1m46.813s	1m49.514s
10.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m47.542s	1m46.842s	1m49.778s
11.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m47.637s	1m47.013s
12.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m47.180s	1m47.141s
13.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m47.293s	1m47.177s
14.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m47.677s	1m47.369s
15.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m47.690	1m47.413s
16.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m48.231s
17.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m48.340s
18.	Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari	1m48.350s
19.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m48.544s
20.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m48.792s

*Rubens Barrichello had his gearbox changed just prior to qualifying, and therefore will receive a 5-grid slot penalty.

Original article by BlogF1.

Singapore 2009: Qualifying Result

Monza 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m24.066s
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m24.261s		2
3		Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m24.523s
			Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m24.845s		4
5		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m25.015s
			Jenson Button Brawn 1m25.030s		6
7		Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 1m25.043s
			Fernando Alonso Renault 1m25.072s		8
9		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m25.180s
			Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m25.314s		10
11		Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m23.611s
			Romain Grosjean Renault 1m23.728s		12
13		Robert Kubica BMW 1m23.866s
			Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1m23.901s		14
15		Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m24.275s
			Timo Glock Toyota 1m24.036s		16
17		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m24.074s
			Nico Rosberg Williams 1m24.121s		18
19		Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m24.220s
			Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m24.951s*		20

*Jaime Alguersuari received a 10-grid slot penalty after taking a new gearbox prior to qualifying. The Spanish driver qualified last though, so no effect is seen.

Original article by BlogF1.

Monza 2009: The Grid

Monza 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m23.375s	1m22.973s	1m24.066s
2.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m23.576s	1m23.070s	1m24.261s
3.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m23.349s	1m23.426s	1m24.523s
4.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m23.515s	1m23.528s	1m24.845s
5.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m23.483s	1m22.976s	1m25.015s
6.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m23.403s	1m22.955s	1m25.030s
7.	Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India	1m23.578s	1m23.207s	1m25.043s
8.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m23.708s	1m23.497s	1m25.072s
9.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m23.558s	1m23.545s	1m25.180s
10.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m23.755s	1m23.273s	1m25.314s
11.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m24.014s	1m23.611s
12.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m23.975s	1m23.728s
13.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m24.001s	1m23.866s
14.	Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari	1m23.828s	1m23.901s
15.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m23.584s	1m24.275s
16.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m24.036s
17.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m24.074s
18.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m24.121s
19.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m24.220s
20.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m24.951s

Original article by BlogF1.

Monza 2009: Qualifying Result

If we take Williams’s figure of 2.25kg of fuel needed to cover a normalised distance of 5km, we can figure out that a Formula One car will on average use 3.15180kg of fuel to complete a 7.004km lap of Spa Francorchamps. Allowing for a couple of laps for grid formation and margin and taking off the minimum weight of the cars, we can guess when the drivers will first call into the pits for fuel and tyres, assuming the weather is dry and the safety car remains at the end of the pitlane.

Belgium 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms	Fuel Weight Kilograms	First Stop Estimated Lap
1.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	648	36.7	12
2.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	656.5	45.2	14
3.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	655	43.7	14
4.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	644.5	33.2	11
5.	Robert Kubica BMW	649	37.7	12
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	655	43.7	14
7.	Timo Glock Toyota	648.5	37.2	12
8.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	662.5	51.2	16
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	658	46.7	15
10.	Nico Rosberg Williams	670	58.7	19
11.	Adrian Sutil Force India	678.5	67.2	21
12.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	693.5	82.2	26
13.	Fernando Alonso Renault	684.4	77.4	25
14.	Jenson Button Brawn	694.2	82.9	26
15.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	697	82.2	26
16.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	685	73.7	23
17.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	704.5	93.2	30
18.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	706.1	94.8	30
19.	Romain Grosjean Renault	704.7	93.4	30
20.	Luca Badoer Ferrari	691.5	80.2	25

From the table we can see that Fisichella is not the lightest of the front runners and in fact Rubens Barrichello should be calling into the pits before him. Fisichella is on par with Robert Kubica and Timo Glock, and only a couple of laps lighter than Jarno Trulli, Nick Heifeld and Kimi Raikkonen. If Rubens is to have an impact on the leading trio, he will need to make up places on the first lap, otherwise he could find himself stuck behind the slower BMW and Toyota.

The top ten all seem to be on a two-stopping strategy (although Nico Rosberg remains flexible), and the bottom ten all seem to be attempting a one-stop strategy. The heaviest driver on the grid is Kazuki Nakajima, closely followed by Romain Grisjean and Jaime Alguersuari. The lightest car starting the race tomorrow is Rubens Barrichello, which just highlights the problems facing the Brawn team at the moment.

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Belgium 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m46.308s
			Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m46.395s		2
3		Nick Heideld BMW 1m46.500s
			Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m46.513s		4
5		Robert Kubica BMW 1m46.586s
			Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m46.633s		6
7		Timo Glock Toyota 1m46.677s
			Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m46.671s		8
9		Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m46.788s
			Nico Rosberg Williams 1m47.362s		10
11		Adrian Sutil Force India 1m45.119s
			Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m45.122s		12
13		Fernando Alonso Renault 1m45.136s
			Jenson Button Brawn 1m45.251s		14
15		Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m45.259s
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m45.951s		16
17		Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m46.032s
			Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m46.307s		18
19		Romain Grosjean Renault 1m46.359s
			Luca Badoer Ferrari 1m46.957s		20

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2009: The Grid

Both Force India drivers performed well in qualifying, and Adrian Sutil was hot on Fisichella’s heels initially, but couldn’t quite better the pace of those around him in the second stint. Sutil starts the race in P11 though, and is primed for a good race providing he can make up a couple of places at the start and hang on to those ahead. The field spread tends to be quite big at Spa Francorchamps, but if the cars are running well, then both Sutil and Fisichella could disrupt the usual running and provide an interesting race.

Two of the sport’s biggest names fell by the wayside early on in qualifying, and Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will start tomorrow’s grand prix in P12 and P14 respectively. Although only 0.003s shy of Sutil, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t quite make it out of Q2, but the most surprising performance came from Button, who once again has lost out to his team mate.

Rubens Barrichello fared better around Spa Francorchamps and the European Grand Prix winner starts in P4. Although not the best position to capitalise on his recent upsurge in pace, Barrichello is at least ahead of Red Bull Racing and McLaren, and only has a BMW, Toyota and Force India ahead of him. Assuming the experience of Barrichello can keep him out of trouble tomorrow afternoon, and depending on how much fuel is in the Brawn, Rubens is primed for a stellar race.

Like Force India, BMW have come alive as well, and although the grid looks like it should be indicating a wet qualifying session, the Belgian circuit was dry throughout and the results we see are genuine. Nick Heidfeld struggled in Q3 and seemed to have lost his way despite having hauled his F1.09 into the third run. However, on his last run Heidfeld popped in a surprising P3 lap and leads a resurgent BMW team into the race. Robert Kubica finished his Saturday running in P5 and following on from Kubica’s point-scoring European Grand Prix, the Hinwil team must surely be looking forward to another haul of points from the race tomorrow.

Toyota have both their cars in the top ten as well, with Jarno Trulli reveling the Spa Francorchamps circuit. Trulli sits alongside his compatriot on the front row of the grid and with his team mate in P7, both Trulli and Glock are taking the fight to McLaren in the constructors championship, the teams separated by only 2.5 points.

Both Red Bulls did manage to qualify in the top ten, but looking at the final positions, it isn’t much to write home about. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber completed their afternoons in P8 and P9, and although they are ahead of Button, they are also a fair distance behind Barrichello. It isn’t obvious why the team suffered so much in qualifying, but both drivers will struggle to score any meaningful points in the race and will be hoping for a bit of bad luck to fall Barrichello’s way.

Elsewhere on the grid, the Scuderia Toro Rosso and Williams had fairly anonymous sessions, with only Nico Rosberg again showing consistency with a top ten position, but seemingly down on pace in comparison to his Valencia outing last weekend. Renault too are struggling, Fernando Alonso only getting as high as P13 and Romain Grosjean only bettering the Ferrari of Luca Badoer.

And so Luca Badoer has indeed failed to improve his performance from the European Grand Prix, the Italian bringing up the rear after his qualifying ended early with a trip across the grass and thump with the barrier. Although not a heavy accident, the back of the F60 sustained damage and perhaps provided the final nail in his Formula One career.

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2009: Giancarlo Fisichella Storms To Belgian Pole

Belgium 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m45.102s	1m44.667s	1m46.308s
2.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m45.140s	1m44.503s	1m46.395s
3.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m45.566s	1m44.709s	1m46.500s
4.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m45.237s	1m44.834s	1m46.513s
5.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m45.655s	1m44.557s	1m46.586s
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m45.579s	1m44.953s	1m46.633s
7.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m45.450s	1m44.877s	1m46.677s
8.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m45.372s	1m44.592s	1m46.671s
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m45.350s	1m44.924s	1m46.788s
10.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m45.486s	1m45.047s	1m47.362s
11.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m45.239s	1m45.119s
12.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m45.767s	1m45.122s
13.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m45.707s	1m45.136s
14.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m45.761s	1m45.251s
15.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m45.705s	1m45.259s
16.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m45.951s
17.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m46.032s
18.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m46.307s
19.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m46.359s
20.	Luca Badoer Ferrari	1m46.957s

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2009: Qualifying Result

Lewis Hamilton was indeed lighter than Heikki Kovalainen, which is a standard McLaren tactic. However, what is perhaps slightly surprising is that there wasn’t a lot of difference in it. Kovalainen has just one extra lap of fuel on board, indicating that until the Finn messed up his final run in Q3, he was actually setting very competitive times. Both McLaren pilots are on a similar strategy and will stop around the lap 16 mark.

Brawn too are opting for a same strategy for both drivers, with Jenson Button taking the lighter of the two. Unfortunately for the Briton, team mate Rubens Barrichello out-qualified him on a heavy fuel load, suggesting Button was not as keyed-in to Valencia on Saturday than the Brazilian. Both will stay out longer than the McLarens, which means that if they can keep up with the silver cars for the opening stint, they look good for a decent result. If the KERS-enabled MP4-24s power away though, it will be over relatively quickly.

Red Bull Racing have split their strategies slightly, with Sebastian Vettel stopping around the same time as the McLarens, and Mark Webber stopping around the same time as the Brawns. It is interesting to compare the cars of Vettel and Hamilton, as each had similar fuel loads, but the RB5 was 0.3s slower, proving just how much the McLaren team have improved their car.

The lightest drivers on the grid are Hamilton and Vettel, and Robert Kubica has opted for a fairly aggressive strategy as well, aiming for lap 18 for his first stop. The heaviest cars out there on race morning will be Jarno Trulli, who can theoretically go until lap 37 before stopping, and Kazuki Nakajima who can last until lap 35. Toyota aren’t afraid of running ridiculously long into stints, and while sometimes it works, it doesn’t always prove successful. Although as Trulli qualified in P18, I guess there’s no harm in trying something a little radical.

Valencia 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms	Fuel Weight Kilograms	First Stop Estimated Lap
1.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	653	42.7	16
2.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	655	44.7	17
3.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	662.5	52.2	20
4.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	654	43.7	16
5.	Jenson Button Brawn	661.5	51.2	19
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	661.5	51.2	19
7.	Nico Rosberg Williams	665	54.7	21
8.	Fernando Alonso Renault	656.5	49.5	19
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	664.5	54.2	20
10.	Robert Kubica BMW	657.5	47.2	18
11.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	677	66.7	25
12.	Adrian Sutil Force India	672.5	62.2	23
13.	Timo Glock Toyota	694.7	84.4	32
14.	Romain Grosjean Renault	677.7	67.4	25
15.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	688.5	78.2	29
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	692.5	82.2	31
17.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	702	91.7	35
18.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	707.3	97	37
19.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	678.5	68.2	26
20.	Luca Badoer Ferrari	690.5	80.2	30

Original article by BlogF1.

Valencia 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Valencia 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m39.498s
			Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m39.532s		2
3		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m39.563s
			Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m39.789s		4
5		Jenson Button Brawn 1m39.821s
			Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m40.144s		6
7		Nico Rosberg Williams 1m40.185s
			Fernando Alonso Renault 1m40.236s		8
9		Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m40.239s
			Robert Kubica BMW 1m40.512s		10
11		Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m38.826s
			Adrian Sutil Force India 1m38.846s		12
13		Timo Glock Toyota 1m38.991s
			Romain Grosjean Renault 1m39.040s		14
15		Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m39.514s
			Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m39.531s		16
17		Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m39.795s
			Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m39.807s		18
19		Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m39.925s
			Luca Badoer Ferrari 1m41.413s		20

Original article by BlogF1.

Valencia 2009: The Grid

Q1

• Have BMW always had a shark fin engine cover?
• The answer is no, it is a new part.
• Will Alonso take a corporate pole, or does he actually have decent pace anyway. Remember, he did well in Germany, taken the pole position and ran his race well until the wheel came off.
• Force India might be able to get through to Q3 as well with one of their drivers; they look pacey having been in the top ten in Friday practice and SUT headed Saturday morning practice.
• Also, we might see Massa’s lap record from last year broken. SUT set a 39.143s this morning, and the record is 38.989s.
• BAD (softer compound) and BUE on track. Smedley implies that BAD’s pace is as bad as it looks. Hehe, bad BAD.
• BAD: 42.957s.
• SUT: 41.222s.
• ALG: 41.444s
• NAK: 40.339s
• BUE: 40.203s
• KOV: 39.997s
• GRO ran wide after looking front brakes.
• RAI: 39.718s
• HAM: Spun after braking on the kerb. Recovered.
• KOV: 39.562s
• BUT yet to set lap.
• VET P2, WEB P6.
• ROS: 39.416s
• FIS: P2, 39.531s
• BUT: P8
• HAM: 39.198s
• BAR: 39.019s
• BUT: P12
• KOV: P2, HAM: P3
• SUT: P5, FIS: P6
• HAM: 38.649s (that’s a new record)
• ALO: P8
• GRO: P4
• WEB, ALG, GLO, TRU, BAD in dropzone at moment.
• BAD is 0.9s slower that TRU.
• NAK off track. Engine cut out. Qualifying over.
• WEB: Back-end of car not happy. 39.408s, P5
• BUT: 39.088s, P4
• BUE: P3
• RAI: P3
• KUB: P2
• KOV: P3
• BUT: 38.531, P1
• BAD, ALG, TRU, NAK, FIS out.
• All 3 Italian drivers out in Q1.

Q2

• RAI first out in Q2.
• RAI: 38.823s
• BAR: 38.645s
• BUT: 38.601s
• KOV: 38.579s
• VET: P3
• ROS: 38.541s
• BAR: 38.231s
• HAM: 38.182s
• WEB: 38.625s – P6
• GRO: P14
• HAM: Complaining of rear tyres overheating by S2 on the lap.
• ALO: 38.853s – P11
• GRO: 39.040s – P12
• WEB ruined lap. Backed off to save tyres for second run.
• RAI: 38.782s – P8
• HAM does not go again.
• SUT: P14
• BAR: 38.581s – No improvement.
• VET: P3
• ALO and GRO still in dropzone.
• BAR: 38/076s – P1
• ALO: 38.717s – P8
• GRO – out
• BUE, GRO, GLO, SUT, HEI out.

Q3

• The BBC reckon this is the first time a Ferrari has ever qualified last. Absolute last. Plum last. Awaiting confirmation, and if it doesn’t come I will look into it later this evening. But if correct, that is astonishing.
• KUB, KOV, RAI and ROS on track. KOV waited at end of pitlane, possibly for green light. KUB overtook and exited pitlane first.
• HAM and ALO are out.
• VET leaves garage.
• KOV looks to be heavy on fuel, as usual.
• HAM: 39.498s
• HAM ran to deep into T1 after setting quick lap.
• BUT: Locked up a bit. 39.905s – P2
• RAI: P3
• ALO: P4
• HAM remained on track for another run. But now he’s out of sequence and will only just get another run in.
• HAM pitted for new tyres. Released with 2:07 on the clock for a final run.
• BAR: 39.563s
• KUB: 40.719s
• WEB: P4
• KOV: P2
• ROS: P5
• VET: P4
• RAI: P8
• ALO: P7
• KOV: Purple S1.
• BUT: P5
• KOV: Purple S2
• KOV: P2. Blew it in last 2 corners.
• RAI: P6
• HAM: Aborts lap. Already on pole.

Original article by BlogF1.

Valencia 2009: Live Qualifying Notes

Hungary 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms	Fuel Weight Kilograms	First Stop Estimated Lap
1.	Fernando Alonso Renault	637.5	28.2	13
2.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	655	45.7	21
3.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	652	42.7	20
4.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	650.5	41.2	19
5.	Nico Rosberg Williams	654	44.7	21
6.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	655.5	46.2	21
7.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	651.5	42.2	19
8.	Jenson Button Brawn	664.5	55.2	25
9.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	658	48.7	22
10.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	671.5	62.2	29
11.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	671.3	62	29
12.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	689	79.7	37
13.	Timo Glock Ferrari	679.2	69.9	32
14.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	667.7	58.4	27
15.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	658	48.7	22
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	680.5	71.2	33
17.	Adrian Sutil Force India	683.5	74.2	34
18.	Robert Kubica BMW	666	56.7	26
19.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	675.5	66.2	30

From the table, we can see that Fernando Alonso was quite light in qualifying. In fact, he is the lightest car on the grid, by some margin. The Red Bulls have hit the fuel load somewhere around the same as most others, although Jenson Button is the heaviest of the top ten.

Felipe Massa isn’t included in the table because his car weight was not mentioned, the F60 in question being substantially damaged following the Brazilian’s qualifying-ending accident.

Outside of the top ten, we can see that most are opting for a three-stop race, although Sebastien Buemi, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Timo Glock, Nelson Piquet Jr., Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Jaime Alguersuari are going to attempt a two stop race. Robert Kubica and Jenson Button remain fairly flexible and could go either way, depending on how their races unfold.

The heaviest driver on the grid is Rubens Barrichello, who with his fuel load can get all the way to lap 37 in theory. The lightest driver is pole-sitter Fernando Alonso, who will be visiting his garage for a glug of fuel shortly after the lights go out tomorrow afternoon (around lap 13).

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live notes can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Live Qualifying Notes
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Fernando Alonso Takes A Well Timed Pole Position
• The grid can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: The Grid

Original article by BlogF1.

Hungary 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights