Yesterday was a very exceptional and emotionally hard Saturday for me. I went to a relative´s funeral, which took place in another town so I got home when qualifying had already got underway. I missed Q1 and Q2 but got to see the most decisive moments of the qualifying. After such a difficult day I was happy that it was F1 weekend but to be honest, it was quite hard to concentrate on the qualifying and to prevent my thoughts from wandering else where...
I heard there had been no surprises in the first two sessions. Once again McLaren had told Alonso to stop the car immediately in Q1. Alonso seems to be so familiar with all the disappointments and technical issues that this time the Spaniard had had no rush back into the pits but he sat down on a chair enjoying the sun! His team-mate Button was expectedly out of Q2 as well. The McLaren duo obviously haven´t lost their sense of humour in spite of the highly difficult year as they got an idea to go onto the podium in the middle of the qualifying as they though it was their only chance to get up there during this season!
There were familiar faces in the last segment: both Mercedes drivers, both Ferraris, both Williams drivers, both Red Bulls and Hulkenberg in his Force India and Verstappen in his Toro Rosso. Verstappen was the only driver to make only one attempt in Q3. Rosberg took provisional pole with his team-mate Hamilton second only 88 thousandths of a second behind the German. Sebastian was third, Bottas fourth and Kimi fifth. On his second run Rosberg managed to improve his time and Hamilton couldn´t quite match his team-mate! So it was fifth consecutive pole for Rosberg, who seems to have found his qualifying pace again. Sebastian also managed to improve his time but he had no real chance to challenge the Mercedes drivers for a front row grid slot. Bottas managed to keep Kimi at bay so Bottas was 4th and Kimi 5th. Hulkenberg made an excellent job by qualifying 6th ahead of Kvyat in the older-spec Renault-engined Red Bull. Massa had problems with finding pace at his home circuit and the Brazilian could only make it 8th on the grid. Ricciardo in his Red Bull had the new-spec Renault engine but couldn´t make it higher than P9. Verstappen in his STR10 rounded out the top 10.
However, there have been a few penalties given for the Brazilian grand prix. Bottas has been given a 3-place grid penalty due to overtaking Nasr under red flags in Friday free practice so the Finn will drop down to P7 on the grid. Red Bull´s Ricciardo suffers a 10-place grid drop due to an engine change and the Australian will drop down to disappointing P19. Sauber´s Nasr has also been handed a 3-place grid penalty due to impeding his countryman Massa in the qualifying and with all the penalties taken into account the Brazilian will drop to P13.
I don´t have any clue what the weather forecast predicts for the Brazilian grand prix. But I´m pretty sure it will be a colourful race once again. This time I really really hope that the Finns will stay away from each other! ;) Now that the world championship has already been resolved Rosberg has found his hidden pace again. I think Hamilton will have it hard trying to beat his team-mate today! Ferrari´s long-run pace seems competitive so I hope Sebastian and Kimi are able to take the battle to the Mercedes duo. But Bottas and Kimi are scaringly close each other on the grid... Hope it will be a clean fight for a podium finish. Today I feel I really need the F1 action more than ever to cheer me up. Sebastian and Kimi, I put my faith in you that you´ll make my day! Forza Ferrari! (All the best for Max Verstappen as well!)
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