US Grand Prix – qualifying

June 16, 2007 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Fastest times in the three practice sessions have all gone to Fernando Alonso, with Heidfeld 2nd quickest on Friday morning, Hamilton in the afternoon, and stand-in Vettel this morning.

I don’t understand why TSN is showing golf – never mind why they’re showing it rather than F1 (which is a good question in itself) but why is it showing golf at all? It’s not like it’s a real sport!

Hamilton will not be penalised after an engine change because it happened before this morning’s practice, and that marks when they can no longer make changes without implications.

Qualifying starts in ~10 minutes; my notes will be behind this cut…

Track temperature 57°C; air 34°C; wind 2.9m/s; humidity 29% – there’s quite a headwind on the main straight

Q1 (Qualifying session 1):
The pit lane exits lights turn green … bit there’s no rush to get out
DC is first on track, followed by CA
DC posts 1:13.837 – he’s on the harder tyres (Bridgestone brought medium and soft compounds for this weekend)
DC 1:13.424
HK 1:12.998
LH 1:12.563
FA 1:12.416
5mins left; bottom 6 are: SS, TS, AD, RB, AS, CA
(NH to P2)
(SV to P4)
3mins left; bottom 6 are: SS, TS, AD, RB, AS, CA
(AD to P9!) – looks like something fell off his car in the final corner
1min left; bottom 6 are: JT, SS, TS, RB, AS, CA
DC has spun off across the grass under braking in Turn 8
Chequered flag out
RB to P11
JT to P11 … then GF to P11
Everyone’s finished their flying laps
Bottom 6 are: P17=AW, 18=TS, 19=VL, 20=SS, 21=AS, 22=CA
CA was only 2.1secs slower than FA’s P1 time
Both McLarens only did 3 laps – an out lap, their flyer, and then back in to the pits

Q2:
Pit lane opens – again, no rush to go out
2 mins gone – AD rolls towards the pit exit
AD 1:13.378
JT 1:13.179
DC 1:12.897
MW 1:12.788
LH fastest in Sector 1 (22.1) and S2 (29.4)
LH 1:12.065
(FM P2 1:12.180)
FA 1:11.926
5mins left; bottom 6 are: GF, JT, RB, JB, AD, RS
AD is the only one on track right now
3mins left; bottom 6 unchanged
AD takes P14 from JB but he’s still in the relegation zone
Everyone bar the top 4 are now on track
Chequered flag is out but almost everyone is on a hot lap…
Are Renault using HK to create a draft for GF?
GF up to P6
JT up to P10
Bottom 6 are: P11=DC, 12=RS, 13=JB, 14=NR, 15=RB, 16=AD

Q3:
Battling for the top 10 positions are: FA, LH, KR, FM, NH, HK, GF, SV, MW & JT – yes, the 19 year old test driver is mixing with the best!
There’s a queue forming up, waiting for the pit lights to change – FA was the only one not rushing to get on track
LH 1:13.089
Interview with AD – he’s pleased to make it to Q2 because he tapped the wall in this morning’s practice session
10mins left; first tyre stop is ~90secs away
“Al Wurz” and “Phil Massa” – I hate Speed’s commentators
SV & JT pit
HK quite slow in the pit lane approaching his box
McLaren hold FA, waiting for a gap in traffic
Looks like many of the drivers staying on the harder compound – saving the soft tyres for the final push
5mins left
FM 1:12.703
(NH to P2)
(KR to P2)
FA 1:12.500
LH 1:12.385
3mins left; LH, FA, FM, KR, NH, SV, HK, JT, GF, MW
Time for the 2nd pit stop
FM exits almost alongside NH
The McLarens are last to pit
1min left; LH, FA, FM, KR, NH, SV, HK, JT, GF, MW
SV can’t improve on P6
Chequered flag is out
MW to P7
GF to P8
FA can’t improve
LH 1:12.331 – improves on his pole time

Provisional grid:

L.Hamilton (McLaren) 1:12.331
F.Alonso (McLaren) [fastest of all - 1:11.926 in Q2]
F.Massa (Ferrari)
K.Raikkonen (Ferrari)
N.Heidfeld (BMW)
H.Kovalainen (Renault)
S.Vettel (BMW) — that’s excellent
J.Trulli (Toyota)
M.Webber (Red Bull)
G.Fisichella (Renault)
D.Coulthard (Red Bull)
R.Schumacher (Toyota)
J.Button (Honda)
N.Rosberg (Williams)
R.Barrichello (Honda)
A.Davidson (Super Aguri)
A.Wurz (Williams)
T.Sato (Super Aguri)
V.Liuzzi (Toro Rosso)
S.Speed (Toro Rosso)
A.Sutil (Spyker)
C.Albers (Spyker)

Interviews:
LH: feeling a bit under the weather; expected Alonso to be on pole
FA: not a happy bunny! Fastest in all three practice sessions and Q1 & Q2, but not the important one
FM: “we need to be in front, not closer” “Third is not a disaster”
LH: “Getting my second pole is even better than last week”