Qualifying analysis - Red Bull still on the run?
Sebastian Vettel answered his critics in style on Saturday as he stormed past the on-form McLaren’s to grab pole at the Hungaroring. Whether Red Bull will have the race pace to stay ahead of the silver cars on Sunday, or to withstand the threat from Ferrari, is another matter. We take a team-by-team look at qualifying in Budapest…
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 19.815, P1
Mark Webber, 1m 20.474, P6
Vettel put Red Bull back on top after changes to his RB7 had given him the confidence he had lacked in the car the previous day. He said that he felt much more comfortable in FP3, and that Q1 and Q2 had been all about getting through to the last session. Having been so quick at times all weekend, Webber was very disappointed with a third-row start. He said he didn’t get the best out of the car or the tyres and that his KERS was inconsistent, but blamed himself for not being quick enough.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 19.978s, P2
Jenson Button, 1m 20.024s, P3
Hamilton was fastest after the first runs in Q3 and looked likely to keep the pole until Vettel’s super lap, but he was far from disappointed. He was quicker on his second run until he ran wide in Turn Nine and then lost all of the advantage he had preserved in the final corner, but said he was nevertheless very pleased that McLaren had retained their pace from Germany and will be a strong threat to Red Bull and Ferrari. Button was also in happy mood and feeling very positive about his prospects of victory in what will be his 200th Grand Prix.
Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 20.350s, P4
Fernando Alonso, 1m 20.365s, P5
Alonso was quickest in Q1 and Q2 and third fastest after the first runs in Q3, but then he got bumped down to fifth, with Massa out-qualifying him for the first time this year. The Brazilian had oversteer in the morning but was much happier with his Ferrari in the afternoon after adjustments to the front wing. The Spaniard said he was neither surprised nor disappointed, which sounded unlikely, and that he couldn’t have made the front row anyway. Like all of the front runners, who expect multiple pit stops, he still thinks it will be a very open race.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 1m 21.098s, P7
Michael Schumacher, 1m 21.907s, P9
Mercedes were in their usual place, close to the top six but not close enough. Rosberg saved a set of options for his 100th Grand Prix, while Schumacher cheered himself up with the thought of starting from the clean side of the grid. He admitted that he struggled in the first two sectors on the option tyre.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 21.445s, P8
Paul di Resta, 1m 22.256s, P11
Sutil was again in great form despite a struggle for grip in FP3. The team changed lots of things for qualifying, and the new set-up worked really well. Di Resta did a good job too but admitted he was hoping to be a little bit higher up. He said he had a messy run in Q1 on the super-soft tyre, but that his times on the prime rubber were good.
Sauber
Sergio Perez, No Time, P10
Kamui Kobayashi, 1m 22.435s, P13
Perez felt his Q2 lap was really good, the maximum possible, and deliberately sat out Q3 to conserve tyres. Kobayashi said his C30 was much better after he’d struggled in FP3, but couldn’t quite make Q3.
Renault
Vitaly Petrov, 1m 22.284s, P12
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 22.470s, P14
Petrov complained of problems warming his tyres as the weather changed, and of understeer in Turn Nine which ended his hopes of making Q3. Heidfeld said it was simply tough extracting what he did from his R31.
Williams
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 22.684, P15
Pastor Maldonado, No time, P17
Barrichello was very disappointed by an inability to engage KERS in the first sector of his last lap, but still reckoned it was quite a good one. He’s saved tyres for the race, too, so is feeling more optimistic than he might otherwise have. Maldonado decided not to run in Q2 to save a set of option tyres.
Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 22.979s, P16
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 24.070s, P18, will start P23 after grid penalty
Alguersuari thought he got the maximum from his car, while Buemi decided to save his super-soft Pirellis for a charge through from the back of the grid following the five-place penalty he got for his collision with Heidfeld in Germany last weekend.
Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 24.362s, P19, will start P18
Jarno Trulli, 1m 24.534s, P20, will start P19
Having been behind Trulli all weekend, Kovalainen was delighted to beat him in qualifying even though he didn’t get a clean first run in Q1. Trulli was still happy about his new power steering, despite oversteer on the primes and not getting the best out of the car.
Virgin
Timo Glock, 1m 26.294s, P21, will start P20
Jerome D’Ambrosio, 1m 26.510s, P24
Glock said his MVR-02 was okay but not perfect yesterday, but that it literally got blown off course today as he and his crew tried a lot of different combinations to tame it. They succeeded, and he was happy with his qualifying lap. D'Ambrosio said he was happy with his car’s balance initially, but struggled with understeer when it mattered.
HRT
Vitantonio Liuzzi, 1m 26.323s, P22, will start P21
Daniel Ricciardo, 1m 26.479s, P23, will start P22
Liuzzi said he had a good qualifying session even though a front-wing problem had to be endured throughout his Q1 running. Ricciardo was happy to be so close to his team mate and Glock. Both moved up a place because of Buemi’s penalty.
Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)
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