Button, Brawn GP take Pole in Qualifying

The 2009 Formula One season began in Melbourne on Saturday, 28 March with Qualifying throwing up some strange results.

The lack of tyre warmers and the new slicks seemed to put everyone off their marks with almost every team taking almost three laps to get the tyres up to temperature and still going wide in turns and looking shaky in straights.

The KERS technology made its debut but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The controversial Diffusers did not play as large a part as it was suggested before the session.

Here is a team-by-team analysis of the Australian GP Qualifying Session.

Brawn GP confirmed all pre-race predictions by taking the Australian GP Qualifying Session by storm with a P1 for Jensen Button (1:26.202) and Rubens Barrichello (1:25.505) in P2.

An exhilarated Barrichello later declared that he felt a thank you was in order for everyone who ever touched or worked on the new car, since it was “fantastic!” The sentiments were echoed by Jensen Button.

The new car, which was actually developed by Honda in 2008, the addition of a Mercedes engine and Ross Brawn's takeover has only increased the ‘muscle’ in Brawn GP.

Wunderkind Sebastian Vettel’s transfer to Red Bull Racing paid dividends as he grabbed P3 with a time of 1:26.830, dispelling the bad memories of Friday testing. But his team-mate Mark Webber finished in P10 with 1:27.246.

BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica (1:26.914) grabbed P4 for the race. He seemed poised to take P3 but lost it to Vettel in the last second. Ironically, Kubica did not use the new KERS technology because he was too tall and too heavy for the unit to be fitted in his car while his team-mate Nick Heidfeld (1:25.504) did use KERS and did not even break into Q3, finishing his session in Q2 and in P11 for the race.

Team Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1:26.973) began the session on a positive note, occasionally being in P1 and P3 but was eventually edged out to P5 for the race. This was the only light for the team, since team-mate Kazuki Nakijima (1:25.607) dropped out in Q1 itself, being placed P13.

Toyota's Timo Glock (1:26.975) came in at P6 and his team-mate Jarno Trulli (1:27.127) is placed at P8. Toyota was perhaps the only car on the track today to perform consistently. They held roughly the same scoring positions as the 2008 season.

P7 saw the first Ferrari on the grid with Felipe Massa (1:27.033) continuing to outperform team-mate Kimi Raikkonen (1:27.127) who ended up in P9. The signs are worrying for Ferrari and much work needs to be done on the F60.

Fernando Alonso (1:25.605) in his Renault got P12 for the race and his team-mate Nelsinho Piquet Jr had been placed at P17. The car can be blamed for Alonso’s flat performance as Red Bulls, who use a Renault engine but have fielded a better car, placed been higher on the grid.

In the dark mirror of Brawn GP, the worst fears and predictions regarding the new McLaren car became starkly evident when both drivers – defending Champion Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen - struggled to even cross Q1. Kovalainen pulled through to Q2 with a margin to be placed P14 but Hamilton barely scraped through at P15.

Hamilton did not appear on the track again. The car was later seen bereft of driver and wheels leading to speculation about if McLaren had simply decided to spare unnecessary wear-and-tear on the engine by attempting a better time. A mechanical problem was later cited as the reason and Hamilton will begin the race in P15 with a time of 1:26.454. Kovalainen, with a time of 1:25.726, had to drop out from Q3.

Toro Rosso’s debutant driver Sebastian Buemi (1:26.503) made an even start to his season with a quiet P16. The team must be rethinking their decision to retain Sebastien Bourdais (1:26.964) who was out in Q1 at P20.

Team Force India has declared that their aim this season is to score points. To do so, they will have to do better than today. Giancarlo Fisichella (1:26.677) led the team with a P18 and was followed by Adrian Sutil (1:26.742) in P19.

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Belgian F1 2008 - Qualifying : Hamilton on pole in Spa

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton oozed confidence after he secured pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix with a dazzling lap in Saturday’s qualifying session.

The 23-year-old Briton, in a McLaren, claimed his fifth pole of this season and the 11th of his career with a perfectlytimed lap to outpace Ferrari’s Felipe Massa

Hamilton’s supreme lap lifted him clear of Massa by three-tenths of a second and proved he is fully recovered from his sore neck suffered in Spain two weeks ago.

Finland’s Heikki Kovlainen in the second McLaren was third fastest and starts ahead of defending champion and compatriot Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari on row two. German Nick Heidfeld was fifth for BMW Sauber ahead of Spaniard Fernando Alonso in a Renault.

Australian Mark Webber was seventh for Red Bull ahead of Poland's Robert Kubica in the second BMW, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in a Toro Rosso and Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the second Toro Rosso. Hamilton leads Massa by six points going into the penultimate European race of the year and oozed confidence.

After a morning of heavy rain, the afternoon session was run in dry, if cloudy conditions and Hamilton was swiftly out to top the times after Massa and then Raikkonen had laid down good marker laps.

In the final minute, and as the flag fell, both Massa and Hamilton were pushing as hard as possible and the Brazilian went top briefly before the leader took over again to get the prime grid position.

German Adrian Sutil and his Force India team-mate, Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella, were also removed along with the Japanese Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams.

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European F1 2008 - Qualifying : Pole No. 13 for Massa

Brazilian Felipe Massa put Ferrari on pole position for Sunday’s European Grand Prix with McLaren’s championship leader Lewis Hamilton alongside on the front row.

The 27-year-old secured his fourth pole of the season, and the 13th of his Formula One career, with a flying lap in the final seconds of Saturday’s qualifying. Hamilton had already clocked 1:39.199 seconds when Massa roared around Formula One’s newest street circuit with a time of 1:38.989 to push the Briton into second place.

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Hungarian F1 2008 - Qualifying : Lewis’ POLE Dance

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton put himself on course for a third successive Grand Prix victory after grabbing an emphatic pole position for Sunday’s Hungarian race.

The Briton powered around the blisteringly hot Hungaroring track in one minute 20.899 seconds, with teammate Heikki Kovalainen posting the second best time of 1:21.140.

“It’s been a pretty decent weekend for us so far and I feel safe with the position we’re in,” Hamilton said.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa had to settle for third place after finishing his last flying lap in 1:21.191. “I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with my laps in Q3,” said Massa, who trails Brit Hamilton by four points in the standings.

Massa’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen will start in a disappointing sixth place behind BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Toyota’s Timo Glock.

Twice world champion Fernando Alonso will line up on the fourth row of the grid for Renault after finishing qualifying in seventh place ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

Jarno Trulli ensured that both Toyotas qualified in the top 10, finishing the final session in ninth place just in front of Nelson Piquet.

BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, who was a surprise casualty of the first qualifying session, will start Sunday’s race in 16th place ahead of Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Honda’s Rubens Barrichello, with Force India pair German Adrian Sutil and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella bringing up the rear.

STARTING GRID
1st :Lewis Hamilton (McLaren),Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)
2nd: Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)
3rd: Timo Glock (Toyota), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
4th: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Mark Webber (Red Bull)
5th: Jarno Trulli (Toyota) Nelson Piquet (Renault)
6th: Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Jenson Button (Honda)
7th: David Coulthard (Red Bull), Nico Rosberg (Williams)
8th: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Kazuki Nakajima (Williams)
9th: Rubens Barrichello (Honda), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India)
10th: Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), Adrian Sutil (Force India).

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German F1 2008 - Qualifying : Lewis in top gear at Hockenheim practice

Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton put McLaren on pole position for engine partners Mercedes’ home German Grand Prix yesterday. The 23-year-old Briton will share today’s front row with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, the Brazilian who is level on 48 points with Hamilton and his own world champion team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the halfway point in the season.

Raikkonen, on pole at Hockenheim for McLaren in 2005 and 2006, qualified a distant sixth for Ferrari alongside Renault’s Fernando Alonso. McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen will start third, paying the price for some ‘rallycross moments’ in the final session, with Italian Jarno Trulli fourth for Toyota in what amounts to a second home race for the Cologne-based Japanese team.

The pole was Hamilton’s third of the season and ninth in 27 Formula One starts. “My lap was pretty smooth, you know, it was pretty easy going and I’m quite comfortable that we could have gone a little bit quicker if we needed to,” said Hamilton, the runaway winner in Britain two weeks ago.


The changing conditions and swirling wind, with the car buffeted by gusts down the back straight, made life difficult but Hamilton kept it all together to secure his first pole since June.

“I think I just collected all the little pieces that were missing,” he said when asked whether he felt the season had begun to swing his way since the pre-British Grand Prix Silverstone test. “At the test we’ve made a step forward with the car and that’s definitely made us more competitive. I think we’ve improved all round.”

Massa shrugged off his dire Silverstone performance in the wet. “It’s not really a recovery, I know I’m quick,” he said.

“All my career I was quick on the wet, even in go-karts always when it rained I won.” REUTERS

GERMAN GP GRID
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari
3. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren
4. Jarno Trulli Toyota
5. Fernando Alonso Renault
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
7. Robert Kubica BMW
8. Mark Webber Red Bull
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19. Adrian Sutil Force India
20. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India

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Britain F1 2008 - Qualifying : Maiden pole for Kovalainen

MCLAREN have claimed pole position for Sunday's Santander F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but it was Heikki Kovalainen, not Lewis Hamilton who took the honours, with a stunning winning lap in Saturday qualifying.

The Finn, who looked faster than his team-mate throughout practice and qualifying sessions, had to battle against spitting rain and high winds which affected the cars on the exposed circuit during the first part of final qualifying on Saturday afternoon, but secured his first ever pole with a time of one minute 21.049.

Hamilton's car was blown into an oversteer which put him on the gravel at Priory on his first lap in Q3, but his second run put him into second, until Mark Webber snatched a surprise second-place for the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team, and Kimi Raikkonen, for Ferrari, knocked Hamilton down to fourth spot.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.

World championship leader Felipe Massa, for Ferrari, will be desperately disappointed with ninth place, behind Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.

Brackley-based Honda endured another dismal qualifying showing, Jenson Button failing to advance to Q2 at his home GP for the third successive year and managing only 17th on the grid, one spot behind team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Silverstone-based Force India-Ferrari also failed to make it through Q1.

There was much discussion trackside on what fuel loads the teams were running, as there was a relatively big difference in times between the top few drivers. Sunday's race is expected to be wet, and carrying more fuel into a rain-affected grand prix can be a good strategy.

Silverstone Grand Prix Qualifying Results
1. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren one minute 21.049 seconds
2. Mark Webber (Aus) RedBull-Renault 1:21.554
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21.706
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:21.835
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.873
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:22.029
7. Nelson Piquet (Bra) Renault 1:22.491
8. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.251
9. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:23.305
10. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber no time
11. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Renault 1:20.174
12. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:20.274
13. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.531
14. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:20.601
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:21.112
16. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:21.512
17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:21.631
18. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:21.668
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.786
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.885

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France F1 2008 - Qualifying : POLE NO 200 FOR THE REDS

World champion Kimi Raikkonen handed Ferrari their 200th pole position in a front row sweep for the Italian team at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.

His Brazilian teammate, Felipe Massa, who took pole at Magny-Cours last year, was second fastest to secure the Italian team’s third one-two in qualifying this season. The pole, the 16th of Raikkonen’s GP career, left the Finn perfectly placed to repeat his 2007 victory at the circuit.

Poland’s Robert Kubica, the championship leader for BMW-Sauber after his victory in Canada earlier this month, qualified seventh but will start sixth because of a 10-place penalty imposed on McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, who picked up the punishment after crashing into Raikkonen in the Canadian Grand Prix pit lane, qualified third and will start 13th. His demotion left Renault’s double world champion Fernando Alonso sharing the second row with Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen moved up to fifth. Kubica leads Hamilton and Massa by four points in the championship with Raikkonen a further three adrift after seven races. ‘‘It’s the best possible chance to win the race from the first place and the car has been good all weekend, so hopefully we will get some good points here,’’ said Raikkonen. ‘‘It’s going to be a long race. I'm pretty sure we have a good race car but as we’ve seen before, anything can happen.’’ Raikkonen failed to finish in Canada after the pit lane collision and drew a blank in Monaco after running into the back of Adrian Sutil’s Force India while in fifth place. But he has never failed to finish in France.

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Monaco F1 2008 - Qualifying : Massa leads Ferrari 1-2 at Monaco qualifying

Massa by only a hair on his last flier takes pole and Ferrari locks up the front row with Raikkonen second. I must say Ferrari was on a mission to better their cars for Monaco and finally beat McLaren to pole.

Q1 saw the usual strugglers and maybe reality is starting to set in on Force India. After a dream start to the season and maybe some steady improvement, they’ve tailed off and here will start 19th and 20th.Nelson Piquet is looking more and more out of place in an F1 car. Q1 was just too ragged and unorganized to be competitive and he’s starting a flattering 17th. When will it end for Piquet?

Nick Heidfeld was a surprise to me. Both BMW-Saubers started usually late in Q1 and Heidfeld’s times were not particularly impressive. When Q2 came around he remained in the garage until well into it. Knowing he was struggling, I’m not sure why he didn’t take more laps to ensure he’d get into Q3. The result, grid position 13.

David Coulthard on his last flyer in Q2 smacked the wall, big damage and a trip down the run off road. He made it to Q3, but thats all for him and he starts 10th.
Q3 was a great battle between McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren have always been better than Ferrari by a long shot at Monaco, but not today. Hamilton could not do anything about Ferrari speed and loses out to both Ferraris and starts 3rd.

Hey now, look at Felipe Massa. He’s been the best driver since he bombed in the first 2 races of the season and it is starting to look like he is a serious threat to challenge for the championship. Pole in Monaco is gold and he’s got it.

1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:15.787
2. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:15.815
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.839
4. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.165
5. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1:16.171
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1:16.548
7. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:16.852
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:17.203
9. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:17.343
10. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault No Time
11. Timo Glock Germany Toyota 1:15.907
12. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:16.101
13. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1:16.455
14. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1:16.479
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:16.537
16. Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.806
17. Nelson Piquet Brazil Renault 1:16.933
18. Sebastian Vettel Germany Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.955
19. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Ferrari 1:17.225
20. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Ferrari 1:17.823

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Turkey F1 2008 - Qualifying : “I own Istanbul Park” Massa Takes Pole in Turkey

“I own Istanbul Park” is what Felipe Massa says and so far he’s showing it. Mass claimed the pole for the Turkish Grand Prix in fine style after he really did command this weekend. His final lap of 1:27.617 was best and gives him his thrid consecutive pole in Turkey.

Beside him is Heikki Kovalainen who clearly has bounced back from his crash 2 weeks ago. Kovalainen will start 2nd next to team mate Lewis Hamilton who starts 3rd. At first it did seem strange, the tire choices for Lewis Hamilton was the hard compound which had shown up until that point to be the much slower tire. Hamilton wasn’t happy with how his car handled with the softer and chose the hard for his final flying lap. It was 1 10th slower than Kovalainen, but good enough for 3rd on the grid.

The McLaren still seems a bear to drive especially for Hamilton. Ever lap he was sliding and correcting, pushing, and correcting. The car looked all over the track at times, but Hamilton still managed a pretty good result.

Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand couldn’t get it together and never challenged for pole and starts 4th. He’s not going to like starting behind both McLarens and is going to have to push to get past them before Massa runs away.

Neither BMW-Sauber driver could come to grips with the track in qualifying with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld starting behind both McLarens. Kubica couldn’t do better than 5th and Heidfeld 9th. At one point is was tight for Heidfeld to get into Q3 and his last lap in Q2 was the only lap that got hm into Q3.

Red Bull had a great outing with both Webber and Coulthard getting into Q3. Not bad. Webber should be strong starting from 6th and Coulthard in 10th.

It’s still Trulli all the way for Toyota. His usual top qualifying performance has him sitting in 8th to start. Timo Glock not so good barely getting into Q2 where he ended up in 15th.

It wasn’t the outing Fernando Alonso had in Spain although not bad. No front row for Alonso, but 7th isn’t bad. Nelson Piquet looked like an amateur out there today and couldn’t even manage Q2 starting only 17th. To me, this guy is just not up to the task with Renault.

257 (Rubens Barrichello) didn’t sound too disappointed in his interview after bowing out. He starts 12th and said they just couldn’t get the setup right for today. Button out shined again by Barrichello starts behind him in 13th.3 guys found out how tough it would be now without Super Aguri around to take 2 of the bottom spots. Kazuki Nakajima, Nelso Piquet, and Sebastien Bourdais couldn’t get into Q2. They join Fisichella who qualified better than 19th, but after a 3 spot penalty yesterday, that’s where he starts. Team mate Adrian Sutil takes the last spot. Force India can’t be happy with starting in the last 2 spots.

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Spanish F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying : Alonso gives Renault 2nd Position in Spain

First qualifying since all the new aero parts and there certainly is some improvements and changes in the top 10. First is Renault and wow, Alonso 2nd after holding pole until Raikkonen pulls out a last lap to squeeze by Alonso. It’s a good bet that Alonso was light on fuel and will be one of the first to pit in the race. Both Renault in Q3 with Piquet in 10th. Now that’s an improvement for Renault with their new fin and Alonso driving.
BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica looked great throughout, but last laps of Q3 send him to 4th when Raikkonen and Alonso battled for pole. BMW sits 4th with Kubica and 9th with Heidfeld.

It was up and down for McLaren all through qualifying and in the end, they still need some speed from that car. Hamilton finishing 5th with Kovalainen in 6th.
Down the grid a bit and disappointment for Honda who had hoped for at least one car in Q3, but not today. Barrichello just missing in 11th and Button 13th.

Both Williams made it to Q2, but that’s as far as they got. Nakajima out qualified his team mate Nico Rosberg by 3 places and starts 12th with Rosberg in 15th.
Mark Webber did his job well today covering for a David Coulthard who failed miserably. Webber into Q3 and will start 7th ahead of Jarno Trulli in 8th and Heidfeld in 9th. His team mate Coulthard, the fast Coulthard in morning practice didn’t even make Q2 and will start 17th in more crash territory. Coulthard did have trouble with traffic and said he wasn’t able to get his tires up to temperature.

I can’t say Force India are too happy today after looking like Fisichella would at least make Q2, neither he or Sutil finished ahead of anyone but Davidson and Sato. Fisichella will start 19th and Sutil 20th.

Sebastian Vettel’s season just isn’t going well. Today he didn’t manage Q2, but team mate Bourdais did. Neither Toro Rosso cars look good for the race.

1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:21.813
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:21.904
3. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:22.058
4. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1:22.065
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.096
6. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.231
7. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:22.429
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:22.529
9. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1:22.542
10. Nelson Piquet Brazil Renault 1:22.699
11. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:21.049
12. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1:21.117
13. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:21.211
14. Timo Glock Germany Toyota 1:21.230
15. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1:21.349
16. Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.724
17. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault 1:21.810
18. Sebastian Vettel Germany Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.108
19. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Ferrari 1:22.516
20. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Ferrari 1:23.224
21. Anthony Davidson Super Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.318
22. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.496

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Bahrain F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying : Kubica gives BMW Sauber maiden pole in Bahrain

Another great qualifying and this time its BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica grabbing pole on his last flying lap inching ahead of Felipe Massa of Ferrari. As has been the norm lately, BMW-Sauber kept a low profile right up until qualifying and then showed what they really had.

For most of the weekend, Felipe Massa was the story as he topped the time charts just about everywhere he could including in qualifying right up to the end only to lose pole to Robert Kubica. So far Kimi Raikkonen is flying under the wire and finishes in 4th outside second row and watching Massa take all the Ferrari glory.

Lewis Hamilton showed no ill effects from yesterdays shunt and managed 3rd best time just over a tenth off Massa. Topping the top 5 is Heikki Kovalainen who still needs to find something extra from himself and his MP4-23 to challenge the new 3 team competition now including BMW-Sauber. However, Nick Heidfeld is frustrated with his car or shall I say his inability to get comfortable with it. He’s not liking the tight and twitchy car as much as Robert Kubica and it showed today with his 6th grid spot behind Kovalainen.

Honda continues to slowly improve as Jenson Button climbed into Q3 for the first time this season. Great drive for him especially since his position is one ahead of Fernando Alonso who will start 10th. For Fernando, that’s got to hurt especially when he was very hopeful of a Q3. Rubens Barichello drove well, but was bumped in the dying seconds of Q2 and will start 12th.

Jarno Trulli for Toyota really outpaced his teammate Timo Glock. Trulli who of course can qualify with the best of them ended up 7th and Timo struggled to only 13th. I think maybe a top 10 for Jarno is achievable.

The same for Williams with Nico Rosberg qualifying in 8th, miles ahead of Kazuki Nakajima who could only manage 16th. Nakajima should be able to do much better than 16th and has a lot of work ahead of him this year. I don’t know about him.

What to say about Red Bull. David Coulthard has got to be making it very difficult for his team as he is never short of criticism of the RB4. It was the same today as he couldn’t get speed out of the corners and wasn’t shy about letting everyone know. He wasn’t even able to get out of Q1 and will start 17th. Mark Webber did much better and just missed Q3 on the last flying laps and starts 11th. Clearly he can handle the car.

Force India still trying for Q2. Giancarlo Fisichella muffed his first flyer and could only grab 18th with Adrian Sutil 20th. Not a good weekend so far for Force India.

The last 2 spots are of course taken by Super Aguri. Anthony Davidson 21st and Takuma Sato who spun into the end of the pit wall 22nd.

Here’s how they stand:

1. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW 1:33.096
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari 1:33.123
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 1:33.292
4. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari 1:33.418
5. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 1:33.488
6. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW 1:33.737
7. Jarno Trulli Italy Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota 1:33.994
8. Nico Rosberg Germany AT&T Williams-Toyota 1:34.015
9. Jenson Button Britain Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda 1:35.057
10. Fernando Alonso Spain ING Renault F1 Team-Renault 1:35.115
11. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:32.371
12. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda 1:32.508
13. Timo Glock Germany Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota 1:32.528
14. Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil ING Renault F1 Team-Renault 1:32.790
15. Sebastien Bourdais France Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:32.915
16. Kazuki Nakajima Japan AT&T Williams-Toyota 1:32.943
17. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:33.433
18. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India F1 Team-Ferrari 1:33.501
19. Sebastian Vettel Germany Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.562
20. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India F1 Team-Ferrari 1:33.845
21. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda 1:34.140
22. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda 1:35.725

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Malaysian F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying :Malaysia Mighty Massa heads Ferrari front row at Sepang

Today in the Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying, it was Ferrari’s turn to shine in qualifying as they claimed the first row of the grid. It was Felipe Massa who grabbed pole with a 1:35.748 and Kimi Raikkonen behind.

Heikki Kovalainen out qualified Lewis Hamilton for the 3rd spot with Hamilton grabbing 4th on the grid. So an all Ferrari front row, and an all McLaren Mercedes second row is what will start the Malaysian Grand Prix.

During Q3, and after flying laps, both McLaren drivers were ordered to slow down on their way back to the pits to conserve fuel. While doing this, Both Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso, on flying laps seemed to be impeded by the slow MP4-23s. In particular you could easily see Nick Heidfeld having to weave through them because they remained on the racing line.

Nick Heidfeld described the McLarens as:
“cruising on the racing line”.

After being summoned by the race stewards to explain their actions on track, both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have been penalized 5 grid positions. This puts Kovalainen starting 8th and Hamilton starting 9th.

Back to qualifying. Next was the usually fast qualifier Jarno Trulli in his Toyota followed by Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld in that order.
It was Williams Toyota who suffered terribly with the new track surface with Nico Rosberg not able to advance from Q2 and finished 16th. Kazuki (crash) Nakajima, who everybody now wants to stay clear of managed a disappointing 18th on the grid. Nico Rosberg said the Williams is not coping with the new track surface well and cannot find enough grip to keep from sliding around everywhere.

Honda continue to gain ground with a fairly solid qualifying round and the team are especially pleased with Rubens Barichello’s result considering that after a gearbox change in final practice had to run with Jenson Button’s setup.

Initial Grid (Before Penalty)

1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.748
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.230
3 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613
4 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709
5 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
6 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
7 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753
8 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.009
9 F. Alonso Renault 1:38.450
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.656
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.208
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.408
13 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:35.562
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.622
15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.670
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.240
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.388
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.087
21 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.101
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.481


Revised Grid (After Penalty)

1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.748
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.230
3 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
4 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
5 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753
6 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.009
7 F. Alonso Renault 1:38.450
8 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613
9 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.656
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.208
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.408
13 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:35.562
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.622
15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.670
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.240
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.388
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.087
21 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.101
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.481

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Australian F1 GP 2008 - Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for the season opening Australian Grand Prix, while reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen will begin his title defence from a disastrous 16th on the grid after suffering from fuel pressure problems in the first part of qualifying. The Finn's Ferrari slowed dramatically after its first flying lap of the session, and although Raikkonen tried to keep it rolling as far as the team's garage, it came to a halt at the start of the pitlane entry. The Ferrari crew pushed the car back to their pit, but Raikkonen could take no further part in the session.

But the rest of qualifying was an exciting start to the season! A scene of better things to come from BMW, Toyota and the Red Bull/Torro Rossa family. Robert Kubica continues his strong form in only his second visit to Melbourne this year, managing to line up next to Lewis on the front row - although he could have possibly taken pole but for a mistake on his lap. Kimi was on his outlap when the BMW of Heidfeld was roaring up behind him and the Finn had to make way - quite a worrying sight seeing as 2008 looks like an even more competitive year. Sebastien Vettel, another young gun who joined F1 last year, looks in great shape making the top 10, despite his ex-ChampCar teammate Bourdais left far behind in 18th.

Obviously, for Kimi the day was short and bitter. Ferrari seemed to be relaxed heading into Q1 rather late, but I think this wasn't due to being confident but because of sensitivity - since Friday practise, they've fallen back against rivals McLaren. Of what seems to be a pure technical issue, Kimi's fuel pressure regulator caused him to almost stop on track, rolling down to the start of the pit-lane (Nurburgring 2007 anyone? At least it happened during qualifying.) . TO add fuel to fire, the billion people watchin back in India could witness the dismal performance of both Force India cars with Fisi on 17th and Sutil on 19th. Relax guys, khel toh abhi shuru hua hain(the games' just started)

Tomorrow, the Iceman will start 16th - similar to teammate Massa last year who suffered a gearbox problem in qualifying. This time however, Ferrari don't have a strong driver on pole position. It's going to be a long day tomorrow - but it should be interesting for Kimi as he'll have to work extra hard and study how his car will cope through what will be a very competitive race. Plus, Mark Webber had a bad day on his home grand prix with a car problem so Kimi has to watch out for that Red Bull in front of him tomorrow. Oh yes, and that guy Alonso doesn't seem to be having a good time either! The Ferrari needs to improve qualifying set ups as the speed is there, but the race pace is competitive. So, keep flying Kimi and heads up! It's only just getting started.

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