Even as recently as a couple of weeks ago this race wasn’t a certainty – they went right down to and slightly over the wire but finally the circuit is ready.
LH was fastest in the very first practice session; MW in second practice, and RK in the final session.
Remember VP has a 5 grid spot penalty waiting for him after the start line incident at the Japanese Grand Prix
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
HK sits at the pit lane exit, waiting for the light to change
HK 1:45.450
VP 1:43.104
KK 1:41.374
JA 1:41.270
MS 1:40.557
VP 1:39.762
KK 1:39.710
JA 1:39.690
FA was on for a quick time but had to abandon his lap when he caught slower cars in the final few turns
LH 1:38.677
NHu 1:38.561
NR 1:38.178
LH 1:37.517
10 mins left of Q1
FA 1:37.395
TG spins in Turn 13; recovers
LH 1:37.113
JB finally sets a lap time; RK the only one yet to do so now
5mins left of Q1
2mins left; bottom 7 are VL, JT, LdG, BS, HK, SY
VL to P15, pushing AS into the bottom 7
AS up to P11 but that puts VL back to P18
Pit-car from JB saying he can’t get enough temperature into the tyres
Back of the grid will be: VL, JT, TG, HK, LdG, SY, BS.
Qualifying session 2 (Q2)
NHu 1:38.058
LH locks up into Turn 1 and runs wide – he’s on the prime (hard) tyres
SV 1:37.224
FA 1:37.096
FM 1:36.672
SV 1:36.457
(LH P3, still on primes)
Halfway through Q2; NHe and KK yet to set a time
3mins left; bottom 7 are VP, NHu, JA, AS, SB, NHe, KK
All 17 cars are on track
FA 1:36.287
VP runs very wide – he won’t make it to Q3 like that
FM 1:36.169
Chequered flag; bottom 7 are NHu, KK, VP, NHe, JA, AS, SB
SV 1:36.074
MW 1:36.039
Middle of the grid: NHu, KK, NHe, AS, VP*, JA, SB
*VP has a 5 grid spot penalty
Qualifying session 3 (Q3)
MW is first on track, followed by LH and JB
BBC report that RB has been on the team radio complaining about MS, saying MS blocked him on a flying lap in Q2
MW 1:36.917
LH 1:36.167
(JB P3)
FA 1:35.927
(RB P5)
(RK P3)
(SV P2)
5mins left = halfway through Q3; order is FA, SV, LH, RK, MW, JB, RB
Replay of LH entering the pit lane – the tail stepped out and cuts across the grass to re-find the pit entrance
(FM P4)
2mins left; order is FA, SV, LH, FM, RK, MW, JB, RB
(NR P9, MS P10)
(MW P2)
FA 1:35.766
Chequered flag
(LH P4)
(JB P6)
SV 1:35.585
(MW P2)
Front of the grid will be: SV, MW, FA, LH, NR, FM, JB, RK, MS, RB
Provisional grid: SV, MW, FA, LH, NR, FM, JB, RK, MS, RB, NHu, KK, NHe, AS, [VP*] JA, SB, VL, JT, TG, VP, HK, LdG, SY, BS
*VP has a 5 grid spot penalty
Will there be a penalty for MS for blocking RB?
Surprise, surprise – no penalty for Schumacher. [FIA site] Apparently all they did was reprimand him – oh, that must have been so painful for him. Pfffft.