The big news since the French Grand Prix last weekend has been Seb Vettel announcing he’ll retire at the end of this season, which led to an outpouring of tributes.
Air temperature 22°C; track 30°C
It’s not currently raining but there are plenty of black clouds hanging over the circuit
There was a fair bit of rain before and during FP3, so the track is pretty green which means it will probably evolve during Quali and we should see lap times fall throughout the session
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
VER 1:19.020
VER 1:18.792
(HAM P2)
VER 1:18.509
(SAI P2)
5mins left of Q1; bottom 5 are MAG, ZHO, LAT, VET, SCH
TSU’s lap time deleted; he drops to P19
SCH P9; ALB relegated to P16
ZHO P5; RIC P16
VET P12; BOT P16
ALB P16
HAM 1:18.374
(RUS P2)
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are TSU, VET, GAS, LAT, ALB
ALB P17
GAS P19
LAT P20
VET P18
TSU P16
Back of the grid: TSU, ALB, VET, GAS, LAT
Qualifying session 2
Air and track temps haven’t changed but there’s more rubber on the racing line now
MAG 1:19.378
HAM 1:19.063
RUS 1:18.883
LEC 1:18.769
NOR 1:18.121
PER has his P2 lap time deleted for exceeding track limits
VER 1:17.703
(ALO P2)
5mins left of Q2; bottom 5 are SAI, STR, MAG, SCH, PER
(LEC P2)
Radio from PER reporting drops of rain on the back of the circuit
SAI P4; BOT P11
Race control have reinstated PER’s lap time so he’s P9 and OCO’s P11
OCO P8; PER P11
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are PER, ZHO, MAG, STR, SCH
PER’s in the pits so he can’t improve
ZHO P12
MAG P13
Middle of the grid: PER, ZHO, MAG, STR, SCH
Replay of radio from PER complaining that MAG blocked him
Qualifying session 3
Top 10 shootout is between VER, LEC, ALO, SAI, HAM, NOR, RUS, RIC, OCO and BOT
Green light – Q3 has started but they’re playing chicken and waiting for the others to go out first
OCO 1:18.890
RIC P2
LEC 1:17.985
NOR P2
SAI 1:17.505
BOT P5
ALO P3
HAM P3
RUS P2
VER P7
Order after the first run: SAI, RUS, LEC, HAM, ALO, NOR, VER, OCO, BOT, RIC
Radio from VER, “I have no power”; he’s given a setting change; “No power”; VER gets sweary at his engineer
OCO P4
ALO P5
RIC P7
LEC P2
Chequered flag
SAI 1:17.421
NOR P3
RUS 1:17.377
HAM pits – his DRS wouldn’t open; P7
VER pits; P10
Front of the grid: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, OCO, ALO, HAM, BOT, RIC, VER
Provisional grid: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, OCO, ALO, HAM, BOT, RIC, VER, PER, ZHO, MAG, STR, SCH, TSU, ALB, VET, GAS, LAT
