British Grand Prix – Qualifying

It’s Massa’s 200th Grand Prix but he started it by running wide in Stowe, spinning and hitting the wall in FP1.

Free Practice times:

• FP1: ROS (1:35.424), HAM, ALO, RIC, RAI
  Susie Wolff went out in BOT’s car, making her the first woman to take part in a grand prix weekend in 22 years, but an engine problem forced her to stop on lap two of her first run.
  PER made a comment about how women are “better to stay in the kitchen”; idiot.
• FP2: HAM (1:34.508), ROS, ALO, RIC, VET
• FP3: VET (1:52.522), RIC, MAL, GRO, SUT – wet session

Air temperature 15°C; track 21°C; showers

Tyre compounds: prime = hard (orange lettering), options = medium (white)

The rain means everyone will probably be on intermediate tyres for Q1 but the forecast for the race is dry, so will they set the cars up for today’s rain or tomorrow’s possibly dry race?

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
CHI heading out on inters, with a new gearbox and a 5 grid spot penalty
CHI 1:48.724
SUT 1:58.080
BIA 1:46.908
GUT 1:46.701
VET 1:45.086
RIC 1:44.710
RAI twitches in the final turn, runs wide
HAM 1:43.676
Radio for PER “more rain on the pit wall”
Radio from HAM – could go to slicks if we can keep the temps up
MAS struggling as the Williams squirms in the damp corners
Some of the lower runners switching to dry tyres
KVY runs a fraction wide and kicks up a lot of water
BUT on slicks; setting great sector times
GUT 1:43.285
(CHI P2)
SUT 1:42.603
3mins left of Q1
BUT 1:39.791 but wide in the final turn – will he lose that lap?
(BIA P2)
ERI sliding one way and then the other; sideways and off across the gravel; recovers
2mins left of Q1; bottom 6 are RAI, MAL, GRO, KVY, ERO, KOB
BUT’s time has been disallowed, so BIA now P1
KVY 1:41.032
1min left; bottom 6 are VER, RAI, MAL, GRO, ERI, KOB
ROS 1:40.380
ALO runs wide – lost the tail under braking in Brooklands
SUT off, stuck in the gravel
Chequered flag
Back of the grid: BOT, MAS, ALO, RAI, ERI, KOB
So both Williams and both Ferrari fail to make it out of Q1!

Qualifying session 2 (Q2)
SUT’s car was stranded in the gravel at the end of Q1 so he won’t be taking part in Q2
Quite a few cars quick to get on track – are they expecting more rain?
Radio for BUT – “everyone on new inters”
Radio from ROS letting his team know where the track is still wet
GUT 1:50.572
RIC 1:47.980
MAL 1:47.955
VER 1:47.173
ROS 1:45.292
HAM 1:44.639
A dry line is appearing in many parts of the circuit, but there are still damp spots
VET 1:44.085
VET’s time disallowed for running too wide in Copse
5mins left of Q2; bottom 6 are GRO, GUT, BIA, VET, CHI, SUT
Everyone switching to slicks
ROS 1:42.730
GUT 1:40.912
BIA 1:39.712
HAM runs wide, aborts his lap
VER 1:38.310
ROS 1:35.179 (3 seconds quicker than VER!)
2mins left of Q2; bottom 6 are KVY, MAL, HUL, PER, GRO, SUT
HAM 1:35.000
GUT has gone off, hit the barrier backwards
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are GRO, BIA, CHI, GUT, MAL, SUT
HAM 1:34.870
GRO improves his time but still P11
Middle of the grid: GRO, BIA, CHI*, GUT, MAL, SUT
*CHI has a 5 grid spot penalty for a gearbox change

Qualifying session 3 (Q3)
Radio from ROS – drizzle in Stowe
VER 1:40.855
KVY 1:40.707
PER 1:40.457
Rain getting harder
HAM 1:39.232
(ROS P2)
Incident involving cars 13 (MAL) and 11 (PER) will be investigated after the session – impeding [That’s from Q2]
Sector times show no-one improving
6mins left of Q3; order is HAM, ROS, PER, RIC, KVY, VER, BUT, HUL, MAG (no time from VET)
Radio for BUT – “looks like rain has stopped”; “sit in the garage and go again at the end of the session”
Everyone in the pits
Still raining quite hard
2mins left; some drivers heading out for a final quick lap
Only RIC, KVY and VER remain in their garage
HAM controlling the pace – no incentive to let anyone improve their time
Radio from ROS – “Tell Lewis he needs to speed up”
Chequered flag
HUL 1:38.329
VET 1:37.386
(BUT P2)
HAM headed into the pits instead of completing his lap
ROS 1:35.766
Front of the grid: ROS, VET, BUT, HUL, MAG, HAM, PER, RIC, KVY, VER

HAM’s body language in parc ferme shows he’s really frustrated

Provisional grid: ROS, VET, BUT, HUL, MAG, HAM, PER, RIC, KVY, VER, GRO, BIA, CHI*, GUT, MAL, SUT, BOT, MAS, ALO, RAI, ERI, KOB
*CHI has a 5 grid spot penalty for a gearbox change

Remember: Incident involving cars 13 (MAL) and 11 (PER) will be investigated after the session – impeding

BBC report:

Lewis Hamilton gives a Kimi Raikkonen-esque interview to Lee McKenzie.

“I don’t know, I don’t have much of an answer,” says Lewis Hamilton when asked why he aborted the lap. When pushed for an answer, a disappointed Hamilton added: “I just decided not to do the lap.”

Did he not complete the lap because he felt he wasn’t going to improve, Hamilton says: “Obviously not. I don’t have anything to say to you at the moment.”

Mind you, it’s great to see Jenson start in P3.