Saturday's running of Free Practice 3 and Qualifying was bathed in glorious sunshine as the cars lapped the famous circuit.
The top teams were all very close throughout Free Practice 3 leaving it to Qualifying to reveal the real top guys. Red Bull look strong for the race and hope to get their first podium on the classic circuit as Ferrari and Mclaren hope to emulate previous success.
Many drivers struggled throughout mainly practice but also qualifying as the majority of the drivers took trips across the gravel or run off at some stage.
I have the low down and review of both Free Practice 3 and Qualifying below..
FP3
Free Practice 3 began in the early morning sunshine as the track consistently evolved throughout the 1 hour session. There was no hesitation as drivers filed out, cramming in as much running as possible in the shorter, last session of the weekend before Qualifying.
Red Bull showed their dominance yet again, showing a revelation with their Renault engine, one of the slowest on the grid previously, to top the time sheets with fellow engine users Lotus Renault Gp.
Mclaren and Ferrari never looked far away from the start, but could not top the time sheets by the chequered flag.
It still looks close at to whether Red Bull will claim their 13th pole of the season, but we will always know Ferrari and Mclaren are still up there and fighting.
The green light went on and all bar a few top team drivers emerged for their installation laps, with Jerome D'Ambrosio in a heavily modified Virgin Racing being first out. Those drivers who did not emerge at first soon followed suit as Jerome D'Ambrosio became the first driver to complete a lap on Saturdays running with a mid 1m.32 but was soon beaten by both Lotus drivers.
With temperatures increasing to 29 degrees by the sessions end, drivers soon began experiencing blistering throughout the session.
Both Mercedes drivers topped the time sheets early on with first Rosberg taking 1st position, before ruining his second lap by straight lining the first chicane. Schumacher then took over with a 1m.26.9 but repeated his team mates straight lining of the first chicane, however he managed to spin round facing the opposite direction. During this time Rosberg went back up to the top with a 1m.24.956.
By the 20 minute mark it was just the two Ferrari's who had not set a lap time, after 2 installation laps each. Many teams focused on the prime medium tyre compound in the opening half of the session as the softer compounds looked fragile with higher wear rate. This would mean the medium stints in the race could prove very important.
After 20 minutes Button took over the reigns at the front, only for his thunder to be stolen by Mark Webber just moments later.
At halfway all the runners took on the softer tyres after Jamie Alguesuari in the Torro Rosso paved the way, showcasing that the second lap was always better than the first.
With the majority of the runners completing around 20 laps it was a good days work for the drivers, and as the chequered flag came out teams hoped that the set ups could translate to not only a good grid position but to be strong in the race as well.
Vettel duly finished with the quickest time of the session, on a 1m.23.170 0.364 seconds faster than Red Bull team mate Mark Webber. He was then just over 1 tenth faster than Ferrari's Felipe Massa with Lewis Hamilton just over half a second behind Vettel.
Jenson Button was 5th with a late lap boosting him to just 6 tenths behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel, with Button just 1 tenth and 3 tenths clear of the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.
Fernando Alonso finished a quiet 8th place just 4 tenths ahead of both Force India's of Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta, but the astonishing thing was Alonso was almost a second behind Vettel, leaving him on the back foot for qualifying.
Both Lotus Renault Gp cars were just outside the top 10 in 11th for Bruno Senna and 12th for Vitaly Petrov, showing that their engine power has helped them improve their pace.
Both Sauber's followed suit in 13th and 14th with yet again the teams rookie Sergio Perez ahead of more experienced team mate Kamui Kobayashi. They were followed by a Miss match of Williams and Torro Rosso drivers in the order of Barrichello, Alguesuari, Buemi and Maldonado. They were all over 2 seconds off the pace.
Top of the new teams again came Jarno Trulli just over 4 seconds behind Vettel, with Kovalainen in the identical Lotus Racing car 2 tenths behind. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Tonio Luizzi on his home race, Timo Glock and Daniel Ricciardo finished off the top 24 with a gap of 7.146 seconds separating the top 24 with Ricciardo struggling with problems.
As drivers still struggled with locking, blistering and the searing heat of over 40 degrees track temperature, the session saw a range of drivers cutting chicanes and running wide. A dramatic twitch during the Ascari chicane sending Schumacher extremely wide would have left his heart in his mouth, along with Rosberg, Kovalianen, Trulli, Buemi and Perez continually cutting chicanes and running wide as did many others.
It all sets up to be an interesting Qualifying session, and you can read the review below.
Qualifying
Qualifying began in scorching 29 degree sunshine as the race for grid positions began, with the top 6 or 7 close in practice it could be anyones for the taking.
Q1
Qualifying began with cars filing out of the pit lane to fight tooth and nail for a grid slot. The usual midfield and new team suspects opened the session with Jenson Button's Mclaren also emerging from the garage early on to resolve set up issues.
The front teams chose the harder compound tyre as the lower team's drivers chose the softer set and put in the lap times.
Around 11 minutes left and smoke can be seen from the exit of Parablolica. Turned out it had come from a spinning Pastor Maldonado who had released the DRS on his Williams too early, spinning into the barrier removing his front wing.
It finished with Hamilton ahead of Vettel and Button. The first Ferrari of Alonso was 4th with Massa 7th. Between them came Webber and Petrov.
The drop zone was imminent as Buemi, Barrichello, Senna, Kobayashi and Maldonado all took turns in the drop zone until Alguesuari backed out of his last lap, leaving him 18th.
This left him out of Q1 along with Trulli, Kovalianen,Glock, D'Ambrosio,Ricciardo and Luizzi.
Fastest time: L Hamilton 1m23.976
Q2
The second qualifying session of 15 minutes began with the mid field drivers going out to get into Q3.
Maldonado opened the times, only to be beaten swiftly after by Senna. 5 minutes in and Vettel lead from Button in the 1m23's and were joined eventually by Hamilton and Alonso. This left the field extremely tight until Vettel dipped under the 1m.22's on the soft tyres. This was the first time a car had gone under the 1m.23's all weekend.
The teams all caught up but were only able to get low 1m.23's with Button the first to close on him 1 tenth behind. Rosberg had previously held 2nd on a 1m.23.3 but was demoted by Button's good lap.
The lead drivers pitted with 6 laps remaining, with Hamilton in 7th on a 1m.23.740, but he was brave and went onto the hard tyre for his first run. Vettel was still leading on a 1m.22.914 with Button behind. Alonso improved to 4th.
In the battle for the final few top 10 spots, Petrov, Schumacher and Senna held them with 4 minutes left with the cut off as a 1m.24.398. Sutil and Di Resta were 11th and 16th, but the later had not set a time with 3 and a half minutes remaining, along with Kobayashi.
With 3 minutes left a mad dash for the track began with all the top 10 coming back out for their final runs.
Schumacher jumped up to 6th with Hamilton beginning his first lap on the softs with 2 minutes left, with his current position in 8th he had to do a great lap.
Other drivers such as Di Resta and the Saubers chose a different strategy to not go out till late and stay out on track instead of going in for new tyres.
The chequered flag came out with Di Resta on the bubble, but Senna pushed Di Resta out by less than 1 hundredth of second, as the last driver over the line.
Out were Di Resta, Out qualifying his team mate Sutil again, with Sutil 12th, Barrichello 13th with team mate Maldonado behind, Perez, Buemi and Kobayashi finished off the top 17.
Vettel ended the session on top ahead of Button, Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Webber, Schumacher, Massa and both Lotus Renault's of Petrov, and just about, Bruno Senna.
Fastest Lap: S Vettel 1m.22.914
Q3
Q3 started with the 10 minute session being opened by Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso giving the Ferrari fans a show.
Hesitation was shown as the Ferrari's lapped the track alone, line astern.
Commentators discussed the team strategy of giving each other a tow to increase straight line speed of both cars to get the best possible lap, and it was shown that he was not close enough to tow in the first 2 sectors, and showed it was not the obvious game plan despite Alonso going 3 tenths faster than Massa on a 1m.22.999.
They were joined on track by Petrov, Hamilton, Button and Vettel later on. Button set the pace on a 1m.22.777 with Hamilton going slightly quicker by 5 hundredths of a second but still behind Vettel who popped in a 1m.22.613 between the two.
Vettel was on his second lap when a large slide affected him through the Ascari chicane after he ran wide at Lesmo 2, before backing off to start a new lap.
4 of the top 5 pitted after 4 minutes for new tyres and to cool brakes and engines as Petrov goes 6th with a 1m.24.175 with Rosberg going 7th on a 1m.25.514 on the harder tyre.
Webber emerged and put in his first lap with 2 minutes left in 5th place with a 1m.23.126.
The leaders, Senna and Schumacher emerged for their last runs with Vettel i traffic, and Button disposing of Webber.
Webber was at the front of the Que in a train of cars ahead of Button, Hamilton, Massa and Alonso with Vettel at the back of the que crossing the line with just 15 seconds left.
With the chequered flag out sector times were flashing green as everyone went across the time traps, with Hamilton giving up on his last lap. Button pitted to save tyre life with no one improving a position Vettel then went 3 tenths faster on his last lap for his the 13th Red Bull pole of the season, Predictable eh?
It finished with Vettel 1st, Hamilton 2nd, Button 3rd, Alonso behind ahead of Webber, Massa, Petrov and Schumacher. Rosberg did his lap on the harder tyres in 9th saving tyres for the race, with Senna not even putting a time in.
Fastest Lap: S Vettel 1m.22.275
Qualifying shows the race could be interesting as Mclaren and Ferrari look strong, but only time will tell.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Many drivers struggled throughout mainly practice but also qualifying as the majority of the drivers took trips across the gravel or run off at some stage.
I have the low down and review of both Free Practice 3 and Qualifying below..
FP3
Free Practice 3 began in the early morning sunshine as the track consistently evolved throughout the 1 hour session. There was no hesitation as drivers filed out, cramming in as much running as possible in the shorter, last session of the weekend before Qualifying.
Red Bull showed their dominance yet again, showing a revelation with their Renault engine, one of the slowest on the grid previously, to top the time sheets with fellow engine users Lotus Renault Gp.
Mclaren and Ferrari never looked far away from the start, but could not top the time sheets by the chequered flag.
It still looks close at to whether Red Bull will claim their 13th pole of the season, but we will always know Ferrari and Mclaren are still up there and fighting.
The green light went on and all bar a few top team drivers emerged for their installation laps, with Jerome D'Ambrosio in a heavily modified Virgin Racing being first out. Those drivers who did not emerge at first soon followed suit as Jerome D'Ambrosio became the first driver to complete a lap on Saturdays running with a mid 1m.32 but was soon beaten by both Lotus drivers.
With temperatures increasing to 29 degrees by the sessions end, drivers soon began experiencing blistering throughout the session.
Both Mercedes drivers topped the time sheets early on with first Rosberg taking 1st position, before ruining his second lap by straight lining the first chicane. Schumacher then took over with a 1m.26.9 but repeated his team mates straight lining of the first chicane, however he managed to spin round facing the opposite direction. During this time Rosberg went back up to the top with a 1m.24.956.
By the 20 minute mark it was just the two Ferrari's who had not set a lap time, after 2 installation laps each. Many teams focused on the prime medium tyre compound in the opening half of the session as the softer compounds looked fragile with higher wear rate. This would mean the medium stints in the race could prove very important.
After 20 minutes Button took over the reigns at the front, only for his thunder to be stolen by Mark Webber just moments later.
At halfway all the runners took on the softer tyres after Jamie Alguesuari in the Torro Rosso paved the way, showcasing that the second lap was always better than the first.
With the majority of the runners completing around 20 laps it was a good days work for the drivers, and as the chequered flag came out teams hoped that the set ups could translate to not only a good grid position but to be strong in the race as well.
Vettel duly finished with the quickest time of the session, on a 1m.23.170 0.364 seconds faster than Red Bull team mate Mark Webber. He was then just over 1 tenth faster than Ferrari's Felipe Massa with Lewis Hamilton just over half a second behind Vettel.
Jenson Button was 5th with a late lap boosting him to just 6 tenths behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel, with Button just 1 tenth and 3 tenths clear of the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.
Fernando Alonso finished a quiet 8th place just 4 tenths ahead of both Force India's of Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta, but the astonishing thing was Alonso was almost a second behind Vettel, leaving him on the back foot for qualifying.
Both Lotus Renault Gp cars were just outside the top 10 in 11th for Bruno Senna and 12th for Vitaly Petrov, showing that their engine power has helped them improve their pace.
Both Sauber's followed suit in 13th and 14th with yet again the teams rookie Sergio Perez ahead of more experienced team mate Kamui Kobayashi. They were followed by a Miss match of Williams and Torro Rosso drivers in the order of Barrichello, Alguesuari, Buemi and Maldonado. They were all over 2 seconds off the pace.
Top of the new teams again came Jarno Trulli just over 4 seconds behind Vettel, with Kovalainen in the identical Lotus Racing car 2 tenths behind. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Tonio Luizzi on his home race, Timo Glock and Daniel Ricciardo finished off the top 24 with a gap of 7.146 seconds separating the top 24 with Ricciardo struggling with problems.
As drivers still struggled with locking, blistering and the searing heat of over 40 degrees track temperature, the session saw a range of drivers cutting chicanes and running wide. A dramatic twitch during the Ascari chicane sending Schumacher extremely wide would have left his heart in his mouth, along with Rosberg, Kovalianen, Trulli, Buemi and Perez continually cutting chicanes and running wide as did many others.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m23.170s 18
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m23.534s + 0.364 19
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.668s + 0.498 14
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.741s + 0.571 17
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.787s + 0.617 16
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.875s + 0.705 22
7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.114s + 0.944 20
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.133s + 0.963 14
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m24.543s + 1.373 21
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.581s + 1.411 22
11. Bruno Senna Renault 1m24.853s + 1.683 20
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m24.889s + 1.719 19
13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.948s + 1.778 22
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.261s + 2.091 21
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m24.319s + 2.149 19
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.426s + 2.256 19
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.439s + 2.269 22
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m25.539s + 2.369 19
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m27.328s + 4.158 19
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m27.491s + 4.321 21
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.186s + 5.016 23
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m28.441s + 5.271 22
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.962s + 5.792 17
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.316s + 7.146 16
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m23.170s 18
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m23.534s + 0.364 19
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.668s + 0.498 14
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.741s + 0.571 17
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.787s + 0.617 16
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.875s + 0.705 22
7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.114s + 0.944 20
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.133s + 0.963 14
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m24.543s + 1.373 21
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.581s + 1.411 22
11. Bruno Senna Renault 1m24.853s + 1.683 20
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m24.889s + 1.719 19
13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.948s + 1.778 22
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.261s + 2.091 21
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m24.319s + 2.149 19
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.426s + 2.256 19
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.439s + 2.269 22
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m25.539s + 2.369 19
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m27.328s + 4.158 19
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m27.491s + 4.321 21
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.186s + 5.016 23
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m28.441s + 5.271 22
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.962s + 5.792 17
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.316s + 7.146 16
It all sets up to be an interesting Qualifying session, and you can read the review below.
Qualifying
Qualifying began in scorching 29 degree sunshine as the race for grid positions began, with the top 6 or 7 close in practice it could be anyones for the taking.
Q1
Qualifying began with cars filing out of the pit lane to fight tooth and nail for a grid slot. The usual midfield and new team suspects opened the session with Jenson Button's Mclaren also emerging from the garage early on to resolve set up issues.
The front teams chose the harder compound tyre as the lower team's drivers chose the softer set and put in the lap times.
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
It finished with Hamilton ahead of Vettel and Button. The first Ferrari of Alonso was 4th with Massa 7th. Between them came Webber and Petrov.
The drop zone was imminent as Buemi, Barrichello, Senna, Kobayashi and Maldonado all took turns in the drop zone until Alguesuari backed out of his last lap, leaving him 18th.
This left him out of Q1 along with Trulli, Kovalianen,Glock, D'Ambrosio,Ricciardo and Luizzi.
Fastest time: L Hamilton 1m23.976
Q2
The second qualifying session of 15 minutes began with the mid field drivers going out to get into Q3.
Maldonado opened the times, only to be beaten swiftly after by Senna. 5 minutes in and Vettel lead from Button in the 1m23's and were joined eventually by Hamilton and Alonso. This left the field extremely tight until Vettel dipped under the 1m.22's on the soft tyres. This was the first time a car had gone under the 1m.23's all weekend.
The teams all caught up but were only able to get low 1m.23's with Button the first to close on him 1 tenth behind. Rosberg had previously held 2nd on a 1m.23.3 but was demoted by Button's good lap.
The lead drivers pitted with 6 laps remaining, with Hamilton in 7th on a 1m.23.740, but he was brave and went onto the hard tyre for his first run. Vettel was still leading on a 1m.22.914 with Button behind. Alonso improved to 4th.
In the battle for the final few top 10 spots, Petrov, Schumacher and Senna held them with 4 minutes left with the cut off as a 1m.24.398. Sutil and Di Resta were 11th and 16th, but the later had not set a time with 3 and a half minutes remaining, along with Kobayashi.
With 3 minutes left a mad dash for the track began with all the top 10 coming back out for their final runs.
Schumacher jumped up to 6th with Hamilton beginning his first lap on the softs with 2 minutes left, with his current position in 8th he had to do a great lap.
Other drivers such as Di Resta and the Saubers chose a different strategy to not go out till late and stay out on track instead of going in for new tyres.
The chequered flag came out with Di Resta on the bubble, but Senna pushed Di Resta out by less than 1 hundredth of second, as the last driver over the line.
Out were Di Resta, Out qualifying his team mate Sutil again, with Sutil 12th, Barrichello 13th with team mate Maldonado behind, Perez, Buemi and Kobayashi finished off the top 17.
Vettel ended the session on top ahead of Button, Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Webber, Schumacher, Massa and both Lotus Renault's of Petrov, and just about, Bruno Senna.
Fastest Lap: S Vettel 1m.22.914
Q3
Q3 started with the 10 minute session being opened by Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso giving the Ferrari fans a show.
Hesitation was shown as the Ferrari's lapped the track alone, line astern.
Commentators discussed the team strategy of giving each other a tow to increase straight line speed of both cars to get the best possible lap, and it was shown that he was not close enough to tow in the first 2 sectors, and showed it was not the obvious game plan despite Alonso going 3 tenths faster than Massa on a 1m.22.999.
They were joined on track by Petrov, Hamilton, Button and Vettel later on. Button set the pace on a 1m.22.777 with Hamilton going slightly quicker by 5 hundredths of a second but still behind Vettel who popped in a 1m.22.613 between the two.
Vettel was on his second lap when a large slide affected him through the Ascari chicane after he ran wide at Lesmo 2, before backing off to start a new lap.
4 of the top 5 pitted after 4 minutes for new tyres and to cool brakes and engines as Petrov goes 6th with a 1m.24.175 with Rosberg going 7th on a 1m.25.514 on the harder tyre.
Webber emerged and put in his first lap with 2 minutes left in 5th place with a 1m.23.126.
The leaders, Senna and Schumacher emerged for their last runs with Vettel i traffic, and Button disposing of Webber.
Webber was at the front of the Que in a train of cars ahead of Button, Hamilton, Massa and Alonso with Vettel at the back of the que crossing the line with just 15 seconds left.
With the chequered flag out sector times were flashing green as everyone went across the time traps, with Hamilton giving up on his last lap. Button pitted to save tyre life with no one improving a position Vettel then went 3 tenths faster on his last lap for his the 13th Red Bull pole of the season, Predictable eh?
It finished with Vettel 1st, Hamilton 2nd, Button 3rd, Alonso behind ahead of Webber, Massa, Petrov and Schumacher. Rosberg did his lap on the harder tyres in 9th saving tyres for the race, with Senna not even putting a time in.
Fastest Lap: S Vettel 1m.22.275
Qualifying shows the race could be interesting as Mclaren and Ferrari look strong, but only time will tell.
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