Brazilian Grand Prix – Qualifying

October 21, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Track temp 36°C; air temp 21°C; wind 2.3m/s; humidity 64%

Qualifying session 1:
Ferrari are busy working on Massa’s car – apparently there’s a gearbox problem
Yamamoto 1:15.244
Monteiro spins the MF1 Spyker – the car is pushed away, so he’s not going to set a time
Albers 1:13.498
10mins left
Trulli 1:12.719
Doornbos goes P2 but he’ll receive a 10-grid spot penalty after an earlier engine change
Rosberg 1:12.690
Webber 1:12.540
Raikkonen 1:12.035
M.Schumacher 1:11.565
5mins left
FM now on track but no sign of the Renaults
FM 1:10.643
FA and GF are on their out laps
3mins left
FA goes P3 – safe enough for this session
2mins left – bottom 6 are RB, TS, DC, SY, NH, TM
RB up to P8 in his home race
DC only manages to move from P21 to P18!
Chequered flag is out; bottom 6 are SS, CA, DC, TS, SY, TM
Session ends; the bottom 6 are p17=Speed, 18=Albers, 19=Coulthard, 20=Sato, 21=Yamamoto, 22=Monteiro
(Remember there’s a penalty coming for Doornbos)
6 of the top 10 are Bridgestone runners … which I suppose is good news as they’re the sole tyre supplier next season

Qualifying session 2:
Trulli’s the first on track with 1.5mins gone
JT 1:11.343
10mins left; only JT, RK, RS & NH have set a time
7mins left; no change at the top
FA 1:11.148
MS 1:10.313
5mins left; bottom 6 are NR, NH, VL, FM, JB, RD
FM goes P2
3mins left; bottom 6 are GF, NR, NH, VL, JB, RD
90secs left; JB finally on track
1min left; bottom 6 unchanged
JB goes P11 – he’s got to improve
Chequered flag is out
Bottom 6 are P11=Webber, 12=De la Rosa, 13=Rosberg, 14=Button, 15=Doornbos, 16=Liuzzi
Apparently JB had traction control problems

Qualifying session 3:
The drivers battling for the top 10 grid slots are M.Schumacher, F.Massa, F.Alonso, J.Trulli, K.Raikkonen, G.Fisichella, R.Schumacher, R.Barrichello, R.Kubica and N.Heidfeld
Both Ferraris are at the pit exit, waiting for the lights to change
FM slow to pull away behind his teammate, letting MS get a good lead … but now MS has pulled off line and slowed down, letting everyone pass him, and then rejoins at the back … but from the onboard camera the Ferrari sounds pretty sick – is he stuck in gear?
MS enters the pit lane, and he’s pushed back into the garage – there’s 12mins left in this session, so can Ferrari fix it?
FM 1:14.149
FM 1:13.547
10mins left
FM 1:13.142
FM 1:13.109
7mins left; GF is first to pit
5mins left; Ferrari mechanics continue working on MS’s car, with the FIA watching on
FM 1:13.018
GF 1:12.147
RK 1:12.131
FA 1:11.863
4mins left
KR 1:11.649
FM 1:10.842
3mins left
2mins left – is MS about to come out? … No, he’s getting out of the car – will he be P10 or P20 on the grid?
Chequered flag is out – order is FM, JT, FA, RB, KR, RS, NH, RK, GF, MS
KR takes P2
FM 1:10.680
Final order: FM, KR, JT, FA, RB, RS, NH, RK, GF, MS – that’s Brazilians in P1 and P5