Saturday was definitely my busiest day at the Hockenheimring so far, with third practice and qualifying to cover as well as the afternoon media sessions.
Like the previous day, it all kicked off with a 6:00am alarm, before heading to the track and arriving in a rather quiet paddock at just before 8:00am.
After setting up, I then went for a wander around the paddock, where I saw the F1 team members arriving just after the curfew.
My first piece of the day was writing up the news that the Russian Grand Prix organisers are confident the race will go ahead, despite the horrible plane crash in Ukraine (my thoughts are with all those affected), near the country’s border.
Once that was ready to go, I saved it in drafts and headed to Ferrari’s motorhome for breakfast with Luke Smith (F1 writer for NBCSN and my boss at Richland F1), Phillip Horton (F1 Zone), Mike Seymour (GPUpdate) and Leanne Boon (Octane Photographic).
It was, as always, brilliant and I would definitely recommend the croissants to anyone who visits the F1 paddock.
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I then wrote up some quotes from Paul Hembery, who was in Friday’s press conference, on the feedback Pirelli’s had on the 18-inch tyre concept.
Soon it was time to sit down and cover third practice. Nico Rosberg predictably topped the session from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Temperatures were already baking hot and it was only 11 in the morning.
After grabbing some lunch and working on a few other pieces, it was then time for qualifying. The first segment featured Hamilton dramatically spinning into the wall at turn 13 after a brake problem. It was later confirmed that he had suffered a right-front disc failure.
Adrian Sutil, Jules Bianchi, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson were all eliminated from the opening session. Hamilton obviously was unable to compete in Q2 and finished 16th.
Jenson Button had looked set to just sneak through to the top 10 shoot-out but he fell into the drop-zone thanks to a late improvement from Sergio Perez. This also dropped Kimi Raikkonen to 12th, after the Finn made a few errors on his final lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez (who has a three-place grid penalty for his collision with Maldonado at Silverstone), Romain Grosjean and – of course – Hamilton made up the drop-zone.
It was then on to Q3, which was a relatively straight-forward session with only one Mercedes running in the session. Rosberg took pole with Valtteri Bottas impressing yet again to qualify second, just ahead of Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen. Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Daniil Kvyat, Nico Hulkenberg and Perez rounded out the top 10 on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
After posting my report and completing a piece on Hamilton’s crash, it was then off to the post-qualifying media sessions. I heard from Alonso, Raikkonen, Grosjean, the two McLaren drivers, Hulkenberg, Perez and the Mercedes duo.
Lots of transcribing followed before we then left the circuit and headed back to the hotel. The work didn’t stop there, as I posted a few pieces (including Saturday’s image gallery) and sat down to write this blog post. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s race.
It should be a good one, with a mixed up grid, the fastest car near the back (or possibly starting in the pit lane), the threat of rain and a track that is good for overtaking. I think it will be Rosberg on the top step of the podium, but we will see.
I will try and give you a behind-the-scenes look at race day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as keeping you up to date with what I have been up to in a post on this blog as well. I hope you enjoy the race!
After setting up, I then went for a wander around the paddock, where I saw the F1 team members arriving just after the curfew.
My first piece of the day was writing up the news that the Russian Grand Prix organisers are confident the race will go ahead, despite the horrible plane crash in Ukraine (my thoughts are with all those affected), near the country’s border.
Once that was ready to go, I saved it in drafts and headed to Ferrari’s motorhome for breakfast with Luke Smith (F1 writer for NBCSN and my boss at Richland F1), Phillip Horton (F1 Zone), Mike Seymour (GPUpdate) and Leanne Boon (Octane Photographic).
It was, as always, brilliant and I would definitely recommend the croissants to anyone who visits the F1 paddock.
I then wrote up some quotes from Paul Hembery, who was in Friday’s press conference, on the feedback Pirelli’s had on the 18-inch tyre concept.
Soon it was time to sit down and cover third practice. Nico Rosberg predictably topped the session from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Temperatures were already baking hot and it was only 11 in the morning.
After grabbing some lunch and working on a few other pieces, it was then time for qualifying. The first segment featured Hamilton dramatically spinning into the wall at turn 13 after a brake problem. It was later confirmed that he had suffered a right-front disc failure.
Adrian Sutil, Jules Bianchi, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson were all eliminated from the opening session. Hamilton obviously was unable to compete in Q2 and finished 16th.
Jenson Button had looked set to just sneak through to the top 10 shoot-out but he fell into the drop-zone thanks to a late improvement from Sergio Perez. This also dropped Kimi Raikkonen to 12th, after the Finn made a few errors on his final lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez (who has a three-place grid penalty for his collision with Maldonado at Silverstone), Romain Grosjean and – of course – Hamilton made up the drop-zone.
It was then on to Q3, which was a relatively straight-forward session with only one Mercedes running in the session. Rosberg took pole with Valtteri Bottas impressing yet again to qualify second, just ahead of Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen. Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Daniil Kvyat, Nico Hulkenberg and Perez rounded out the top 10 on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
After posting my report and completing a piece on Hamilton’s crash, it was then off to the post-qualifying media sessions. I heard from Alonso, Raikkonen, Grosjean, the two McLaren drivers, Hulkenberg, Perez and the Mercedes duo.
Lots of transcribing followed before we then left the circuit and headed back to the hotel. The work didn’t stop there, as I posted a few pieces (including Saturday’s image gallery) and sat down to write this blog post. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s race.
It should be a good one, with a mixed up grid, the fastest car near the back (or possibly starting in the pit lane), the threat of rain and a track that is good for overtaking. I think it will be Rosberg on the top step of the podium, but we will see.
I will try and give you a behind-the-scenes look at race day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as keeping you up to date with what I have been up to in a post on this blog as well. I hope you enjoy the race!
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