Qualy: Hamilton leads all-McLaren front row

Saturday 22nd August 2009

Lewis Hamilton continued McLaren's resurgence, claiming pole position for the European GP after outpacing his team-mate by 0.034s.

The Brit, coming to Valencia off the back of his Hungarian GP win, crossed the line with a 1:39.498 and appeared to have the pace to better that before opting instead to pit having already secured the coveted grid slot.

Heikki Kovalainen, who is use the old McLaren chassis that is reported two-tenths slower than the shorter wheel-based chassing being used by Hamilton, finished in second place, 0.034s behind his team-mate.

Rubens Barrichello claimed third place for Brawn GP, also less than a tenth off Hamilton's time while Sebastian Vettel qualified fourth and, importantly, ahead of Championship leader Jenson Button.

Kimi Raikkonen was next in line, P6 for Ferrari, with Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso completing the top eight.

Meanwhile, Luca Badoer's first qualifying session in a decade didn't go according to plan as the Ferrari test driver finished P20, almost three seconds off the pace.

Full report to follow...

Times
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:39.498
02 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:39.532
03 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:39.563
04 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:39.789
05 J. Button Brawn GP 1:39.821
06 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.144
07 N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.185
08 F. Alonso Renault 1:40.236
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.239
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:40.512
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:38.826
12 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:38.846
13 T. Glock Toyota 1:38.991
14 R. Grosjean Renault 1:39.040
15 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.514
16 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:39.531
17 K. Nakajima Williams 1:39.795
18 J. Trulli Toyota 1:39.807
19 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.925
20 L. Badoer Ferrari 1:41.413

Source : Planet F1

European Grand Prix Preview

Cut the elevator music, it's time to go racing again. The summer break is over, but thanks to the incident-packed Hungarian Grand Prix, we haven't had four weeks of tumbleweed blowing through the F1 news.

There's little doubt that Renault wouldn't have been facing the ludicrous penalty of a one-race ban had Massa not made connection with Rubens Barrichello's flukily bouncing rear spring on the Saturday of the last GP weekend.

Pit-stops cock-ups happen all the time, but it takes the mind of a Machiavelli to think that Renault might have deliberately sent Alonso back onto the track knowing that he would lose a wheel.

Thankfully common sense has now prevailed and the Renault team are allowed to race in Valencia, but it took an act of blatant stupidity to impose such an inappropriate penalty in the first place. Presumably FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting will now face similar charges for failing to black flag Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari after he drove round with a flailing exhaust chimney at the French GP in 2008.

The excitement at the prospect of seeing Schumi race again, in Massa's stead, was very real while it lasted. Presumably the former World Champion wanted to drive the current machinery to check out whether his 'secretly fractured' neck would stand up to the strain. When various teams - including Williams, who owe him at least one pie in the face - vetoed a ride in an F60 he must have calculated that the risk of failure was too great.

In his place Luca Badoer will face a tough test at a circuit he doesn't know, in one of the few Ferraris he's had little time in. Certainly the car that he'll be presented with on Friday will be a quantum leap forward from the one he drove in pre-season testing.

It wouldn't be a surpise to see Kimi Raikkonen put a whole second between himself and the Massa replacement. Ferrari are in a bit of a dilemma right now. There are stories doing the rounds that Raikkonen is going to be offered a lot of money not to race for them in 2010 so they can bring Alonso on board.

What they can't know is how Felipe Massa will react to his big accident. Williams' Patrick Head is fond of the theory that after drivers have experienced major accidents they are never quite as fast again. Amongst those he cites are Ralf Schumacher who had a big testing accident at Monza while he was with Williams.

It hasn't seem to have deterred Robert Kubica after his titanic shunt in Canada in 2007, but Patrick's seen enough drivers to know what he's talking about. Ferrari will have to make a decision about 2010 before they can know the true state of Massa's recovery.

Back at the World Championship Brawn should have had enough time to analyse the data from Hungary and work out why they weren't fast on a hot track that was supposed to favour them. Button is good on street circuits and if he can nudge his Brawn in front of the two Red Bulls in Valencia and the following race at Spa, which is a track at which he excels, then he can start to feel less nervous.

The good news for Jense is that Mclaren are looking good for back-to-back wins, with Hamilton supremely strong at the Hungaroring and Kovalainen being given the hurry up from the team. Raikkonen is also looking quick and on home soil Alonso rarely disappoints.

So if all that lot are in front of the Brawn GP cars and the Red Bulls, then Button will not be at all worried. If Red Bull are in front, but Brawn are behind, then it's very bad news indeed. Team orders are an easy call for the Brawn team but for Red Bull any intervention is still a long way off.

With a fine win in Hungary and yet more swanky new parts for the McLaren, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to make it two wins on the trot at the European GP. What's more, he and Raikkonen have the advantage of the KERS boost button which they both used to their advantage on the similarly tight confines of Budapest. Ferrari and McLaren may have given up their Championship-winning ambitions, but they'd both like to finish third in the Constructors' title.

Williams will also be looking to join in the fun and demote either the Red Bulls, or more likely the Brawns down the order, while Toyota will be struggling to hold back the tide of Ferrari and McLaren development and retain fourth in the Constructors'.

Both Fisi and Adrian Sutil are good on street circuits and Sutil in particular will be pitching in there for Force India's first points. Surely his luck has to turn sooner or later. After all, Mark Webber's did.

Romain Grosjean will be making his debut for Renault and all eyes will be on him to see if he can close the gap between the two Renauts. This is probably not the race to do it, though. Don't expect an exhilarating overtaking fest from the dock side - sorry, harbourside - circuit of Valencia, but whatever happens, there will be some significant action.

Source : Planet F1

Prac Two: Alonso delights Spanish fans

Fernando Alonso delighted his Spanish fans by finishing Friday's practice in the P1 slot despite a bit of a coming together with Nick Heidfeld.

Alonso proved to be there and there about throughout the session, often going quickest before dropping a few places only to then rise to the top. But, with 15 minutes left on the clock, the Spaniard locked his brakes, sending him into the side of Heidfeld's BMW. The damage put Heidfeld out of the session although a new front wing saw Alonso put in a blistering 1:39.404.

The Renault driver's time was a staggering 0.774s up on Jenson Button's best while his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello was third quickest.

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean finished in 13th place, Luca Badoer 18th and Jaime Alguersuari 19th. As for Lewis Hamilton, he was P20 after a minor coming together with the barriers ended his session.

Report: Sweltering conditions and a track temperature of 44'C greeted the drivers as Sebastien Buemi, Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari led out the field for their installation laps. While most pitted after one lap, Buemi stayed out to set the afternoon's first time, a 1:43.726 and was quickly joined by others. Mark Webber went second, Alguersuari third and Luca Badoer fourth. The timesheets changed, though, as Lewis Hamilton went quickest with a 1:43.214. Fernando Alonso took fourth place with Heikki Kovalainen seventh and Kazuki Nakajima eighth.

Hamilton put his McLaren into a spin and stopped facing the wrong way, not the greatest feeling as one of the Toro Rosso's came speeding past him. The Brit, however, quickly through another spin to face the right way and continued lapping. Meanwhile, Alonso overhauled his time by half a second to go fastest. Kovalainen went second with Adrian Sutil putting in another great lap to take third place. His team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella went fifth only to be dropped by Jenson Button.

Buemi moved up to second place, Rubens Barrichello took ninth and Romain Grosjean tenth as the French racer continued to impress in his debut outing. Nico Rosberg slotted in to second place, 0.449s off Alonso's best, with Barrichello behind him in third. Grosjean also found some pace, taking eighth place, less than a second off Alonso's time. Nakajima moved up to the order, going third behind his team-mate, who had closed the gap to less than a tenth to Alonso. Webber climbed to third.

At the back of the pack, Badoer continued to battle for pace, 3.8s slower than the lead driver. Not a great start to the Ferrari man's first weekend as a Scuderia driver. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen improved to fifth place while moments later Badoer left the bottom of the timesheets to take P19. Barrichello moved into the top three before he was overhauled by Sutil.

Meanwhile, Hamilton was left sitting in his garage after it emerged that he had damaged his car during his earlier spin. The McLaren driver actually broke a piece, a 'hanger' off the front of his car.

Rosberg took the P1 slot off Alonso while his team-mate Nakajima went second quickest. Jenson Button moved up to eighth place moments before Heidfeld took 13th. The BMW driver's rise up the order meant that once again Badoer was slowest of all. Vettel climbed to second place, 0.039s off the pace.

Button was the next to lead the way as the Championship leader clocked a 1:41.534 to edge Rosberg by 0.054s. Barrichello went third while Alonso improved his time but stayed sixth. Heidfeld shot up the order, moving into second place, 0.046s off the pace. But he was soon dropped as Rosberg went quickest. Buemi moved up to fifth place while Kubica took 11th. Alonso resumed his place at the top of the timesheets with a 1:41.324.

Button and Barrichello moved up into the 1-2 with Jarno Trulli taking third. However, the Brawn duo soon swapped over as Barrichello outpaced his team-mate. Raikkonen went from 12th to fifth while Kovalainen moved up from 18th to 11th. Alonso returned to the front as the Spaniard continued to impress at home. Heidfeld took the long way around, running wide and using the run-off to get back to the track.

Glock climbed to fifth place ahead of Kubica before moving up one position more as he overhauled his team-mate Trulli. Badoer improved to 18th place, leaving Alguersuari and Hamilton in his wake.

Problems for Alonso and Heidfeld as the two parties came together at the final corner with Heidfeld's BMW actually being launched into the air before landing heavily. Damage as well to Alonso's Renault, which appeared to lock up as his braked, causing him to hit Heidfeld.

Nakajima went quickest with Trulli taking third place and Raikkonen seventh. Barrichello was the next to lead the way, Rosberg going second, Button third and then second, Kovalainen went sixth.

Alonso, back on track with a new front wing, put in three fastest sector times on his way to a 1:39.404 which put him quickest. Button went second, 0.774s behind.

Times
01 F. Alonso Renault 1:39.404 33 laps
02 J. Button Brawn GP 1:40.178 33 laps
03 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:40.209 34 laps
04 N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.385 39 laps
05 K. Nakajima Williams 1:40.503 35 laps
06 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:40.596 23 laps
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:40.643 34 laps
08 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:40.681 31 laps
09 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:40.723 33 laps
10 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:40.738 31 laps
11 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.739 39 laps
12 J. Trulli Toyota 1:40.770 32 laps
13 R. Grosjean Renault 1:40.787 35 laps
14 M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.956 37 laps
15 T. Glock Toyota 1:40.985 30 laps
16 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.156 34 laps
17 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:41.350 29 laps
18 L. Badoer Ferrari 1:42.017 37 laps
19 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.089 34 laps
20 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:43.214 3 laps

Source : Planet F1