European Grand Prix – Qualifying

May 6, 2006 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Track temperature 38°C; air temp 21°C; wind 2.9m/s; humidity 24%
Franck Montagny (“FMo” in my notes, to avoid confusion with Fillipe Massa) has replaced Ide in the #2 Super Aguri spot
NR has had an engine change, so he’ll be getting a 10-spot penalty
RS is first out on track
RS posts a 1:32.674
VL 1:32.621
KR 1:31.263
(JB 1:31.725 for provisional P2)
5mins left in this session – 6 drivers still yet to set a time
FA 1:31.138
Red flag with ~3.5mins left – can’t see why – and they’ve cleared the flag
2mins left; bottom six are SS, TM, CK, TS, JV & FMo. (The last two have yet to set a time)
Session ended; bottom six grid positions are: 17=SS, 18=TM, 19=CK, 20=TS, 21=JV, 22=FMo.
Fastest was FA’s 1:31.138

The TSN commentators (i.e. on Canadian TV) are hoping JV’s aborted lap (when the red flag came out) will count … yeah, sure.

Session 2 … there’s going to be a 10 minute delay “due to time-keeping problems” – the official FIA timing page just shows “Please Wait”!
Well, maybe the FIA are fiddling with the results, or maybe they’ll abandon that session and Session 2 will allocate the bottom 12 positions?

The timing screen is back up … and JV has been given a lap time, bumping him from P21 to P7 … and a few other times seem to have been adjusted. The revised bottom 6 positions are now P17=CK, 18=CA, 19=SS, 20=TM, 21=TS, 22=FMo. No wonder Gerhard Berger was looking pretty unhappy.

Oh, wait – the screen’s refreshed again and now JV is in P15! Wow, what a shambles!

Session 2 should start in a minute… and VL is first on track, so I guess that means the FIA have finished their “adjustments”
VL 1:31.728
JV 1:31.545
RS spins his Toyota in Turn 4 but recovers OK
KR 1:31.263
Halfway through this session – 5 drivers still to set a time
MS 1:31.235
TSN announce JB is out of the top 10 … except he’s in P6 – someone should give me a job commentating!
3mins left; bottom 6 are RS, DC, NH, JT, VL & GF
GF moves to P10, bumping JB down to the bottom 6
90seconds left – if they’re not 2/3rds of the way round, this lap won’t count
JB jumps to P8
Session ended; bottom 6 are P11=RS, 12=NR*, 13=GF, 14=DC, 15=NH, 16=VL
(*NR will get a 10-spot penalty for an engine change)
Fastest this session was MS’s 1:31.235
A mini-fire as a Williams is refuelled – quickly put out
GF has gone over to the BMW garage to express his displeasure at JV for (what he believes) was him baulking him, resulting in GF not progressing to the final session.

Session 3 starts and everyone* heads out of the pits to start burning off fuel.
(*The 10 drivers in this session are FA, KR, JM, MS, FMa, JT, MW, RB, JB & JV)
MS 1:33.607 … although the lap times are very artificial right now
MS 1:32.530
(Remember the fastest lap in Session 1 was FA’s 1:31.138, and in Session 2 was MS’s 1:31.235)
10mins gone/left; everyone’s still 4-5 seconds off their potential lap times
JB enters the pit lane – he’s the first in for new tyres
Both Ferraris pit, as does FA
RB and JV both pit
JB 1:31.715 … but MS has already beaten JB’s Sector 1 time
FA 1:30.454
FA pits – the team tweak his front wing
Lots (all) of the others pit too
2mins left – time to get serious boys! (Remember, on this session they can complete their current lap once the flag falls)
FA improves his provisional pole time with 1:29.819
Chequered flag is out
MS pP2 with 1:30.028
JB bumps JV down as he takes pP6
KR doesn’t improve his pP5 time
JT bumps JV down another spot as he takes pP7

Provisional grid:
P1=FA, 2=MS, 3=FMa, 4=RB, 5=KR, 6=JB, 7=JT, 8=JV, 9=JM, 10=MW; 11=RS, (12=NR*) 12=GF, 13=DC, 14=NH, 15=VL, 16=CK, 17=CA, 18=SS, 19=TM, 20=TS, 21=FMo, 22=NR.

The FIA timing site says MW will also get a 10-spot penalty for an engine change.

Update: Confirmation of both Williams drivers (MW + NR) getting penalties for engine changes on the FIA site here.

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One Comment on European Grand Prix – Qualifying

  1. Paul, Kerri and The Boys » Spanish Grand Prix - qualifying on Sat, 13th May 2006 9:49 am

    2. [...] Session 1: RS is the first to post a lap time – 1:20.567 TS 1:20.257 TM 1:18.639 VL 1:17.925 JT 1:17.531 SS 1:17.412 KR 1:16.613 8mins left: DC has spun off and wrecked his Red Bull car in the wall – yellow flags out ~30secs later, red flags out – session suspended Session restarted MS is first out of the pits but, with only ~7.5mins left, almost everyone is going to be on track (MS puts in 1:16.945 for pP2) FM 1:16.359 FA 1:15.816 Session ended; the bottom six grid spots are: 17=SS, 18=TM, 19=CA, 20=TS, 21=FMo, 22=DC. Fastest lap: FA 1:15.816 The timing screen resets without any worrying behaviour … unless last week! [...]

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