British Grand Prix – qualifying

July 7, 2007 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Hamilton was fastest in practice yesterday morning (1:21.100), Raikkonen in the afternoon (1:20.639) and Raikkonen again this morning (1:19.751).

Air temperature 21°C; track 43°C; wind 1.7m/s; humidity 47%; rain is not forecast for qualifying but is for the race tomorrow.

Button is driving today after concerns yesterday when he skipped the 2nd practice session because of back problems.

Qualifying session 1:
Both Spykers take to the circuit as soon as the lights turn green
AS 1:23.163
CA 1:23.160
HK 1:21.297
GF 1:21.054
10mins left of this session – only 9 drivers have set a time so far
(DC goes P2)
GF 1:20.967
LH 1:20.274, even though he ran wide coming out of Woodcote
LH 1:19.885
5mins left; bottom 6 are AS, JB, TS, CA with FA, FM yet to set a time
FA 1:19.330
(FM goes P2)
3mins left; bottom 6 are AD, RB, AS, JB, TS, CA – that’s 2 of the 4 Brits set to be out in Q1 at their home Grand Prix :(
AD is on track but is hitting traffic, as is usual in the last minutes of the session
AD loses the tail under braking and slides off into the gravel – he’s stuck and the yellow flags come out with just seconds left in Q1
Chequered flag
JB moves up to P17, but then his time is bettered by NR
RB jumps to P15
Bottom 6 are: P17=NR, 18=JB, 19=AD, 20=AS, 21=TS, 22=CA
NR was 5th fastest in this morning’s practice

Qualifying session 2:
VL is first on track
VL 1:20.947
JT 1:20.854
RS 1:20.354
GF 1:20.294
KR 1:19.252
(LH P2 1:19.400)
FA 1:19.152 .. and that was on the harder compound tyre
5mins left; bottom 6 are SS, RB, VL, JT, DC, AW
3mins left – only FM on track … and then he pits
1min left – all bar the top 6 are back on track
Chequered flag is out
AW to P8
JT to P8
RS to P5
Bottom 6 are: P11=MW, 12=DC, 13=AW, 14=RB, 15=SS, 16=VL
That’s 3 of the 4 Brits out … OK, that’s not entirely unexpected
It is a surprise that both Toyotas are through to Q3 though

Qualifying session 3:
The top 10 drivers are FA, KR, LH, FM, RS, GF, RK, HK, JT & NH
LH is at the front of the queue waiting for the pit lane exit light to turn green
FA looks to pass his teammate as the lights change, but LH leads everyone onto the track
FA is filling LH’s mirrors … assuming he’s using them :)
LH 1:21.270
FA goes P2, followed by FM, RK, RS, GF, HK, JT, NH, KR
NH tries to pass KR around the outside at Woodcote
Halfway through Q3: FA pits, followed by FM and co.
RS 1:21.218 – he must be light-fuelled!
5mins left – the order is RS, LH, KR, FA, FM, JT, RK, NH, GF, HK
FA 1:20.410
3mins left – everyone’s coming in for their second stop and another set of soft tyres
LH is the last to pit
1min left; FA, FM, KR, LH, RK, GF, HK, RS, NH, JT
FA 1:20.147
(FM P2)
Chequered flag is out
KR 1:20.099
(HK to P5)
LH 1:19.997 … and punches the air as he enters Copse :)

Provisional Grid:

  1. L.Hamilton (McLaren) – the first Brit on pole for the British Grand Prix since Damon Hill in 1996 :)
  2. K.Raikkonen (Ferrari)
  3. F.Alonso (McLaren)
  4. F.Massa (Ferrari)
  5. R.Kubica (BMW)
  6. R.Schumacher (Toyota)
  7. H.Kovalainen (Renault)
  8. G.Fisichella (Renault)
  9. N.Heidfeld (BMW)
  10. J.Trulli (Toyota)
  11. M.Webber (Red Bull)
  12. D.Coulthard (Red Bull)
  13. A.Wurz (Williams)
  14. R.Barrichello (Honda)
  15. S.Speed (Toro Rosso)
  16. V.Liuzzi (Toro Rosso)
  17. N.Rosberg (Williams)
  18. J.Button (Honda)
  19. A.Davidson (Super Aguri)
  20. A.Sutil (Spyker)
  21. T.Sato (Super Aguri)
  22. C.Albers (Spyker)

Summary: LH, KR, FA, FM, RK, RS, HK, GF, NH, JT, MW, DC, AW, RB, SS, VL, NR, JB, AD, AS, TS, CA.

Interviews:
LH: 50th pole for McLaren; “extremely intense qualifying session”; “I did quite a sweet job”; “it’s great to be home”; “I could hear the crowd – I was screaming almost as loud as them”
KR: 1st front row start since Australia; “it’s a long race”; “wind has been quite difficult”
FA: fastest time of all 3 sessions (1:19.152 in Q2); “3rd is the best we could today”; “set up for the race”; “yesterday I was not completely happy with the car”
LH: every time he’s been on pole he’s won the race; “quite a positive weekend for me”

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Comments

One Comment on British Grand Prix – qualifying

  1. blog.henman.ca » British Grand Prix - race on Sun, 8th Jul 2007 7:58 am

    2. [...] no change in the grid after yesterday’s qualifying session: LH, KR, FA, FM, RK, RS, HK, GF, NH, JT, MW, DC, AW, RB, SS, VL, NR, JB, AD, AS, TS, CA. However, [...]

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