European Grand Prix – qualifying

July 21, 2007 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Germany only has one race this year: the European GP at the Nurburgring.

Air temperature 22°C; track 37°C; wind 1.6m/s; humidity 40%

Markus Winkelhock has replaced Christijan Albers at Spyker – it’s his first F1 race. (I already use MW for Mark Webber so Winkelhock will be MWi and MW will be MWe.)

Qualifying session 1:
AS is first on track
AS 1:34.691
(MWi 1:35.940)
AW 1:33.049
5mins gone of Q1 – only 5 drivers have set a time so far
RS 1:32.779
JT 1:32.727
TS 1:32.678 (yes, Sato!)
LH 1:31.587
FA 1:31.074
5mins left; bottom six are DC, VL, AS, MWi with KR & FM yet to set a time (but both are on track)
(KR 1:31.522 for P2)
(FM 1:31.447 for P2 even though he was fighting the Ferrari through some of the corners)
3mins left; bottom 6 are NR, JB, DC, VL, AS, MWi
Everyone except the top 7 drivers are on track for one last flying lap
Chequered flag is out
DC came out the pits too late to be able to start a good lap, so he’s out
NR to P7
JB can’t improve on P17 :(
JT to P10
RS to P11
Bottom 6 are: P17=JB, 18=SS, 19=VL, 20=DC, 21=AS, 22=MWi

Qualifying session 2:
Lights turn green but no rush to get on track
3mins gone and still no-one on track
It’s just over 4 mins in to the session before JT heads out, followed by RS, HK & GF
JT runs wide in Turn 1 … and again in T11(?)
The official FIA Live Timing site is lagging behind the action
JT 1:31.859
RS 1:31.843
HK 1:31.788
KR 1:31.237
FM 1:30.912
(LH goes P2 with 1:31.185)
5mins left
JT runs wide across the gravel but rejoins OK
3mins left; bottom 6 are GF, RB, MWe, AW, TS, AD
Chequered flag is out
GF can’t improve on P11
HK to P7
MWe to P7
JT moving very slowly – he lost the back end in the chicane
Bottom 6 are: P11=NR, 12=AW, 13=GF, 14=RB, 15=TS, 16=AD

Qualifying session 3:
Battling for the top 10 spots are: FM, FA, LH, KR, RK, NH, MWe & HK
FM is already waiting at the pit lane exit
FM 1:34.062 on soft tyres
LH 1:33.833 on medium tyres
NH 1:33.283
FA 1:33.054
10mins to go; order is FA, KR, NH, FM, LH, RK, JT, RS, HK, MWe
FM & LH pit, followed by KR, FM & RS
Why is LH so close to FM when they’re trying to set a good qualifying time?
FM backs off mid-corner and LH has to brake to avoid an accident
LH has planted his McLaren deep in the tyre wall!
Red flags are out (5:13 left on the clock)
LH is trying to free himself from the car
Abysmal lack of marshals – even worse the typically poor standards that you see at many foreign circuits
Replay shows the front right tyre fail as LH was going in to Schumacher-S – he had no control and just headed straight across the gravel and into the tyre wall
Another replay shows smoke ahead of the tyre failure – was that a hub or some structural failure?
How many minutes has it taken for the “emergency” services to arrive – it’s a good job he’s not seriously injured! :(
McLaren mechanics are paying a lot of attention FA’s wheels
Finally, LH is on a stretcher and being taken to the ambulance
LH’s McLaren is lifted away, leaving a big gash in the tyre wall – the marshals don’t seem very interested in fixing it
FIA report that McLaren have identified “the wheel gun at Hamilton’s last pit stop was the root cause of the accident” – presumably a wheel nut wasn’t properly secured?
The broken McLaren has been delivered back to the McLaren garage; a Bridgestone engineer is carrying what remains of the front right wheel
FIA announce the session will restart in ~3mins, so the drivers return to their cars … and NH is first to the pit lane exit – it’s going to be a long wait for the BMW
Update from the medical centre: no broken bones or other notable injury – that’s good news, especially that he didn’t lose consciousness, so he could be OK to drive tomorrow
Lights turn green with 5:13 left on the clock – the order is FA, KR, NH, FM, LH, RK, JT, RS, HK, MWe
After just one lap, most are heading in to the pits for new tyres
JT 1:32.501 – provisional pole for the Toyota!
FM 1:31.778
Chequered flag is out
KR 1:1.450
(RK to P4)
(FA to P2 – he was really fighting with the car in Sector 2)

Provisional grid: KR, FA, FM, NH, RK, MWe, HK, JT, RS, LH, NR, AW, GF, RB, AD, TS, JB, SS, VL, DC, AS, MWi.

We’ll hear later today whether LH will race tomorrow.

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Comments

2 Comments on European Grand Prix – qualifying

  1. paul on Sat, 21st Jul 2007 12:22 pm

    2. Update from BBC:

    Lewis Hamilton remains hopeful he will race in Sunday’s European Grand Prix after leaving the Nurburgring on a stretcher following a high-speed crash.

    The Briton, 22, went into the tyre wall at the ‘Schumacher S’ bend and struggled to get out of his McLaren before medical assistance arrived.

    “I’m absolutely fine and we will see later if I am able to race,” Hamilton said in a statement.

    “I’m just pleased that everything is OK and I really hope I can race.”

    Team boss Ron McLaren said: “I will be surprised if he is not able to race.

    “I’m pretty optimistic but I don’t want to make any predictions. He doesn’t appear to have pain anywhere. He has no broken bones and did not lose consciousness.”

    Dennis explained that the crash had occurred because the right-front wheel was not attached properly after a wheel gun failure.

    “Effectively the wheel wasn’t properly put on, but that’s not the mechanic’s fault,” said Dennis.

  2. European Grand Prix - race | blog.henman.ca on Sun, 22nd Jul 2007 7:28 am

    3. [...] good news is the Hamilton is OK to race. [See my notes from qualifying if you don’t know why that’s an [...]

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