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BRITISH GP QUALIFYING: WE TAKE THE HOME FRONT

on Jul 9, 2011

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For the first time in three years Sebastian isn’t on pole at Silverstone. The good news is he’s P2 with Mark Webber taking pole for the first time at a British Grand Prix.

After the debates which raged through the night, the press conferences and the practice sessions, our drivers did what they’ve been doing very well this year: sticking the RB7 on the front row.

But, since 2008, Mark has qualified here well. That year he secured Red Bull Racing’s first-ever front row start, he was P3 on the grid before finishing second in 2009 and was second on the grid in 2010. The year he won.

Conditions here are always tricky and the vagaries of the British weather ensure that it’s never a dull weekend. Which is small consolation for those for whom the weather played too big a part this afternoon. The divide between wet and dry and slicks and intermediates was very fine – which meant teams such as Toro Rosso found themselves the wrong side of the Q1-Q2 divide.

Up at the top end, Ferrari have shown great pace while McLaren will have hoped for better in front of a complete sell-out British crowd.

While the practice sessions were dominated by regulation clarification as much as racing, our team principal, was (unsurprisingly) happy with the final timesheet. Christian said: “After so much off-circuit focus, it was a relief to finally get into the grand prix weekend in very difficult conditions. Both drivers did a great job to navigate though Q1 and Q2 and the first run proved to be crucial in Q3; it was nip and tuck between the drivers and Mark produced an excellent lap to claim his second pole and the team’s ninth of the season.”

We’ve converted those starts to 12 podium places, six of them wins this year, but like the British weather, it would be foolhardy to make a prediction about what tomorrow will bring.

As Silverstone is the closest thing the team has to a home race, it’s been a packed Energy Station which has entertained friends and guests and provided occasional shelter from the occasional shower. Already we’ve seen royalty, motor-racing legends and TV stars in the area. And more are apparently booked to come for tomorrow.

Let’s hope we can reward them with a favourable team result tomorrow.

Credit: Red Bull Racing Formula one Team (www.redbullracing.com)