Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

sunnuntai 10. toukokuuta 2015

Spanish GP / Qualifying: Rosberg grabbed his first pole of 2015!

Yesterday was an exceptional Saturday for me as I was unable to watch the qualifying live on TV. But there was a zumba marathon event taking place in the town and since there have been no such events for a long time I really wanted to attend. I took close care that I didn´t check my Facebook or Twitter so I didn´t get to know who had taken pole until I watched the qualifying later on in the evening.

The Force Indias, the Saubers and the Marussias started to Q1 on the softer compound of the Pirelli tyres whilst the top teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams made their first runs on the hard tyres. The Mercedes duo Hamilton and Rosberg and Vettel in the Ferrari were the only drivers not having to use the option tyres in the first session. Those three made their second runs also on the orange-marked hard tyres. Kimi on the other hand was in P11 after his first flying lap so the Iceman had to use a set of option tyres on his second run. Hamilton and Rosberg topped the time sheets in spite of their tyre choice. What caught my eye was the fact that Sebastian was a second off Hamilton´s pace in spite of the fact that they had set their times on the same rubber! Ericsson in the Sauber was the first man to miss out on Q2. Both Force Indias and Marussias were also out of the second phase.

After Q1 the ball was in Rosberg´s court. After the first attempts the top five drivers were Rosberg, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas. Rosberg had clearly found his self-confidence again as the German had a 6-tenth margin over his team-mate! The top five stayed in their pit garages as the rest of the field headed out for their second runs. The top three remained the same but Massa in the Williams made 4th. The Toro Rosso rookies Verstappen and Sainz made remarkable job and definitely stood out of the pack: Verstappen made P7 and Sainz P8 whilst the Red Bull duo was left in 9th and 10th places. Both Lotus drivers were out of Q3, so were the re-liveried McLarens of Alonso and Button.

The decisive final session involved five top teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Kimi in his SF15-T and Verstappen in the Toro Rosso were the only drivers to make their first run on the used set of option tyres. Rosberg claimed provisional pole by a 3-tenth margin over his team-mate. Massa, Sainz and the Red Bull duo Kvyat and Ricciardo settled for one attempt only. Rosberg maintained his edge over his team-mate and grabbed his first pole of 2015 by a quarter of a second. The Ferrari team-mates enjoyed differing fortunes: the German was third but the Finn was bumped down to 7th. The team ran Sebastian with the new configuration of the aero package and Kimi with the old. Bottas at the wheel of his FW37 made excellent job by making it P4. Even both Toro Rossos made it ahead of Kimi in the Ferrari with Sainz in P5 and Verstappen in P6! Toro Rosso´s single-lap pace was impressive and both drivers delivered when it mattered. Who says Verstappen is too young for F1? The Dutchman has definitely justified his place in F1 by his performance. Kvyat had to settle for P8, Massa qualified disappointing P9 and Kvyat´s team-mate Ricciardo was left 10th.

I don´t know what happened to Kimi in the final session. In Q2 the Iceman had still been ahead of his team-mate but at the end of Q3 Kimi was a second slower than his team-mate Sebastian! Kimi has been struggling with grip all weekend and the upgrades haven´t turned out to be a clear advantage in terms of the car´s performance. P7 is definitely a difficult place to start to the race today as Circuit de Catalunya isn´t known for lots of chances for overtaking. But Ferrari have strong race pace, that´s for sure. Williams have been struggling with tyre management so in that sense Ferrari have an advantage over Williams. And in spite of the glorious single-lap pace I don´t expect Toro Rosso to be that strong in the race. Kimi just have to take a phenomenal start and make his way past the Toro Rossos and Bottas on the opening lap! Which of course is more easily said than done!

I´m afraid Mercedes are so quick that they will disappear in the horizon in no time unless they face some technical issues. Ferrari have an advantage over Mercedes in terms of tyre degradation but it won´t help if the Mercedes are a second per lap quicker than the Ferraris... But I´m definitely looking forward to a thrilling fight! I have a hunch that Rosberg will win today.

P.S. Right before the start of the race I heard Kimi had had problems with one of the tyre heating blankets in the qualifying. The issue had ruined Kimi´s set of new option tyres, which meant that Kimi had to make his last attempt in Q3 on a used set of medium tyres! No wonder the Finn ended up in P7! What a shame! And not Kimi´s fault in any way! So gutted for Kimi!

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