Paul Henman formula1 Grand Prix of Hungary – Qualifying

Grand Prix of Hungary – Qualifying

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I only caught up with watching the British Grand Prix a few days ago, so it feels like this race weekend has arrived very quickly. 🙂 The result means VET is just one point ahead of HAM in the Drivers’ Championship.

Free Practice:

  1. FP1: RIC (1:18.486), RAI, HAM, VER, BOT
    Turn 9 saw a few people spin off, including test driver Antonio Giovinazzi putting MAG’s Haas in the tyre wall
    PAL trashed his front wing on the kerb at Turn 4
  2. FP2: RIC (1:18.455), VET, BOT, RAI, HAM
    WEH had a big off, bringing out the red flags and damaging his Sauber but he’s OK
    PAL also went off into the tyre wall but avoided such a hard impact
    RAI had an issue with his Ferrari and almost parked it off track but got it going again
  3. FP3: VET (1:17.017), RAI, BOT, VER, HAM
    RIC parks the Red Bull – looks like a gearbox issue (turns out it was a hydraulic leak)

MAS was been unwell with an inner ear issue all weekend; Williams just announced that Paul di Resta will replace him for qualifying and the race. PdR hasn’t raced in an F1 car since Brazil 2013, and hasn’t been in a 2017 F1 car at all! It probably would have been better for MAS to drop out sooner and give PdR some time in FP3, but MAS thought he would be OK to race. [FIA]

Although a few cars have had gearbox changes (BOT, GRO, HUL, PAL, RIC) only HUL has failed to meet the usage requirements and gets a 5 grid spot penalty. [FIA]

It’s ALO’s 36th birthday today so can he put in a good performance in Quali? He headed Q1 at Silverstone, although that was thanks to switching to the dry tyre just at the right time.

Apparently Williams’ plan is to send Paul di Rest (“DIR” on the timing charts) out as soon as Q1 starts and let him spend most of the session getting familiar with the car, then do a quick lap right at the end.

Air temperature 26°C; track 57°C; not a cloud in the sky

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
BOT and HAM are first out of the pit lane, followed by DIR, WEH and ERI
Sky commentators joke about DIR’s lack of commitment to his commentary job 🙂
BOT runs wide and abandons his lap
HAM 1:17.905
(DIR’s first F1 lap in 4 years is 1:22.289)
RAI 1:17.382
VET 1:17.244
(DIR 1:21.218 – in FP3, MAS’ best was 1:21 and teammate STR was 1:22)
5mins left of Q1; bottom 5 are GRO, ERI, WEH, DIR, MAG
Radio from WEH complaining a Red Bull (RIC?) didn’t move out of his way
1min left; bottom 5 are STR, MAG, ERI, WEH, DIR
Yellow flag as KVY has gone off in Sector 2
Chequered flag
MAG P16
DIR P19
Back of the grid: MAG, STR, WEH, DIR, ERI
DIR was 0.7sec behind teammate STR

Qualifying session 2
HAM first out of the pits; complaining about vibration from the super-soft tyres
HAM runs wide in Turn 4
HAM 1:17.194
VET 1:16.802
(VER P2)
VET seems confident of his time; he’s out of the car
5mins left of Q2; bottom 5 are PAL, SAI, KVY, GRO, PER
HAM 1:16.693
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are OCO, PAL, GRO, KVY, PER
KVY P12
PAL P11
PER P14
Middle of the grid: PAL, OCO, KVY, PER, GRO

Qualifying session 3
Top 10 shootout is between HAM, VET, VER, RAI, BOT, HUL*, RIC, ALO, VAN and SAI
*Remember HUL has a 5 place grid penalty
BOT first on track, followed by VET and HUL then HAM
Radio from HAM asking the team to improve the balance of the next set of tyres
BOT 1:16.631
VET 1:16.276
HUL P3
HAM backs out of his lap and returns to the pits
RAI P3
RIC P3
ALO P6
VAN P7
VER p3
Order is VET, BOT, VER, RIC, RAI, HUL, ALO, VAN; no time yet from HAM or SAI
3mins left; HAM heads out of the garage
Radio from HAM complaining about vibrations yet again
HAM P3
BOT P2
SAI P10
Chequered flag
RIC P5
VET doesn’t improve on his P1 time
RAI P2
Front of the grid: VET, RAI, BOT, HAM, VER, RIC, HUL, ALO, VAN, SAI

BOT didn’t park with VET and RAI on the grid – he needs to remember to join them for the interviews

Provisional grid: VET, RAI, BOT, HAM, VER, RIC, HUL*, ALO, VAN, SAI, PAL, OCO, KVY, PER, GRO, MAG, STR, WEH, DIR, ERI
*HUL has a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change

2 thoughts on “Grand Prix of Hungary – Qualifying”

  1. “Kvyat handed three-place grid drop for impeding Stroll” [FIA]
    “The Russian was also awarded one penalty point on his licence for the misdemeanour, bringing his total for the 12 month period to 10 points – two points short of the tally which triggers an automatic one-race ban.”

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