German Grand Prix – Qualifying

July 29, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Air temperature 29°C; track 47°C; wind 1.2m/s

Penalties: Albers & Trulli both have 10-spot penalties waiting for engine changes.

Sakon Yamamoto has replaced Montagny in the Super Aguri … but SY crashed just before the end of this morning’s practice session so he’ll be driving the old SA05 instead of the new SA06 model.

Session 1:
Webber 1:17.878
R.Schumacher 1:17.037
Big accident for Scott Speed – there’s debris everywhere (although he’s out the car and walking away) so the session is stopped – red flag out with 10:04 left on the clock
Replay shows he was fishtailing coming out of the corner and smashed into the wall backwards
Session restarted – 2 McLarens, 2 Hondas, 2 Red Bulls on track
Halfway through the session, only 5 drivers have set a lap time
Barrichello 1:16.670
Buttons posts 1:17.035 for P2 but within ~5 seconds he’s down to P7
Raikkonen 1:15.214 – that’s the quickest lap time of the weekend so far
5mins left … and with that, the Renaults finally exit the pits
Yamamoto’s fastest lap is 5seconds off the top time
Massa 1:14.412
3mins left and still 7 drivers yet to set a time (although Speed won’t be coming out again after that accident)
Remember that now, when the chequered flag comes out, drivers can complete the lap they’re on
Chequered flag comes out
Liuzzi was on to bump Villeneuve down to P17 (and therefore out of the 2nd session) but somehow he lost a lot of time in the final sector
Bottom 6: P17=Liuzzi; P18=Albers; P19=Sato; P20=Monteiro; P21=Yamamoto; P22=Speed
With Yamamoto 6 seconds off the pace, he shouldn’t be allowed to race – he’s just going to be a (barely) mobile chicane.

Session 2:
Webber is first on track again, followed by Williams teammate Rosberg
Webber 1:15.094
Coulthard 1:14.949 – that’s almost a second faster than his best lap in Session 1
Halfway through the session
Both Renaults are setting fastest sector times
Fisichella 1:14.747
Alonso only manages P3, but then that’s enough to secure a place in the final session
Button 1:14.378 – finally things are coming together for JB
Massa 1:14.094
M.Schumacher 1:13.778
3 mins left
Trulli exits the pits, but he’ll receive a 10-spot penalty for an overnight engine change
Chequered flag comes out, with most of the 16 drivers still on track
Bottom 6 are: P11=Webber; P12=Klien; P13=Trulli; P14=Villeneuve; P15=Rosberg; P16=Heidfeld

Session 3:
The 10 drivers in the final “shootout” session are: M.Schumacher, Massa, Button, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Barrichello, R.Schumacher, Alonso, Coulthard and de la Rosa
FM and MS line up at the pit exit, waiting for the lights to change
The two Renaults have lined up behind the Ferraris, with about a minute to go until the final 15-minute session starts
Unsurprisingly MS has passed FM on their out lap
MS 1:18.521
JB 1:17.953
KR 1:17.688
KR 1:17.288
PdlR has spun – replay shows he was hit by RS, puncturing the McLaren’s rear right tyre
10mins left
Both PdlR and RS head for the pits
RS is pushed back into the garage – serves him right for that stupid move
Both Ferraris pit – the team service them together
Replays show MS making a very late decision to pit and running sideways across the grass to make it into the pit lane, and then FA shakes his fist at someone (MS?) as he leaves the pit lane
PdlR 1:16.085
5mins left
KR 1:14.070
PdlR pits for new tyres but there’s a lot of smoke
KR arrives before PdlR has left the box
Toyota team appear to have finished working on RS’s front left suspension but he’s still in the garage
RS almost T-bones JB in the pit lane!
1minute left; order is KR, MS, FM, JB, GF, RB, FA, PdlR, RS, DC
KR runs wide, over the grass and across the kitty litter but he drags his McLaren back onto the track
Chequered flag is out
No-one seems able to improve on their time in the final lap
Top 10: P1=KR; P2=MS; P3=FM; P4=JB; P5=GF; P6=RB; P7=FA; P8=RS; P9=PdlR; P10=DC

Provisional (pre-penalty) grid:
KR, MS, FM, JB, GF, RB, FA, RS, PR, DC; MW, CK, JT, JV, NR, NH; VL, CA, TS, TM, SY, SS.

Wow! In answer to a question about Alonso saying on his radio “Did you see what Michael just did?”, Smugmacher just said “it goes that way some days”! If the positions were reversed, I’m sure he’d be screaming like the world was about to end.
Dear Smug, please announce your retirement from F1 as soon as possible.