Bahrain GP qualifying ***SPOILER***

I'm betting the F-cars are heavy. Even if they aren't, I guess this is a better result than the first few races. Either way, I think the Toyotas have to be lighter than they should be for a good race and Vettel will end up ahead of at least one of them after the race is over tomorrow.

Mark

PS: Also waiting for the fuel loads impatiently.

 

Kimi was in top 5 in Q1 and rosberg slowest in Q2. In Q2 Kimi was 6th IIRC, so he would have been in Q3 whether sutil mucked things up for webber regardless.

 

indeed, look at kimi's sector times compared to trulli and his own in Q2 .

 

Why didn't Button turn another lap? He crossed the line with time left.

 

Adrian Sutil has been handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Mark Webber during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Force India driver had qualified in 16th position, but will now start from 19th after he spoilt Webber's final run in Q1.

The Red Bull Racing driver was knocked out in the first session after the incident.

"I just tried to stay in my position to get a clear start to the lap. It was a misunderstanding and I apologised to Mark after the end of the session," said Sutil.


Carol

 

Fuel loads will be the reality check.

Is Massa faster because he is using KERS and Kimi is not? Anyone?

 

I got the impression from Kimi's comments in Finnish that they are both using KERS. He said that he just ran out of tires in the final Q. He said he personally wanted only one outing in each Q1 and Q2 to save the tires but the team would not go for that.

His bottom line was actually quite surprising:

"- Auto oli muuten ihan hyvän tuntuinen ja yllättävän nopeita oltiin."

in English:

-Otherwise the car felt quite good and we were surprisingly fast.

 

Felipe Massa (8th, Q3 - 1m 34.818s):
"It seems we have made a small step forward, but we know we still have a long way to go. Personally, I'm happy to be back in the top ten in qualifying and I hope I can have a good race and make it into the top eight. This morning, the car was handling very well, but in the afternoon it lost a little bit of performance because of oversteer, probably down to the track conditions. Tomorrow it will be very hot and that will have a considerable effect on reliability and tyre performance. We must try and make it to the finish and bring home some points, maybe making the most of the KERS, especially at the start."

Kimi Raikkonen (10th, Q3 - 1m 35.380s):
"It would have been difficult to do better than tenth. In the first two parts of qualifying, the car handled better than we had expected, but in Q3 I no longer had any new soft tyres, having already used all four sets. The car's performance has improved with KERS. Tomorrow, the race will be very tough because of the high temperatures. Let's see what we manage to do. The aim is to finish in the points."

Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal:
"We were aware of the current situation in terms of the pecking order and how difficult it would be to get into Q3. You only had to look at the times in the second part of the session, with five cars all within half a tenth. The slightest thing and you wouldn't make it. Cleary this is not a Ferrari-style result, but we have to make a virtue out of necessity. Tomorrow, it will be vital to ensure that first and foremost, we make it to the chequered flag. With these high temperatures, car reliability faces a stiff test. Our aim is simple, to wipe the zero off our score card in the championship."

Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer:
"We can't claim to be happy in absolute terms with our performance, but at least for the second time this season, we managed to get both cars into Q3. In the final part of qualifying, Kimi struggled a bit more than his team mate, as he had no more new soft tyres, but all things considered, that's the best we could have expected today. We have a good strategy and hope to bring home both cars in the points tomorrow. Yesterday afternoon we decided to fit the KERS to both cars. We studied carefully the data from free practice and that led us to go for this solution."

 

I think we have a genuine chance to score some points tomoro. However, my guess is, Ferrari is fuelled up rather heavily, and with the tyres getting worned out fast, i wonder how it's gonna affect both drivers tomoro..

Anyhow, i'm happy for Toyota. If they get a win or a decent result tomoro, it will only convince the board more to remain in F1. However, Trulli noted that his car has some brake problems, and it might affect his race tomoro.

 

I know Kimi is. He said that wore out the tires even faster in the final Q.

 

I believe the harder compound was fairly ok this weekend, so hopefully the ferrari's can manage their tyre's and get some bloody points in...

 

Here we go:

1 J. Trulli 648.5 kg
2 T. Glock 643.0 kg
3 S. Vettel 659.0 kg
4 J. Button 652.5 kg
5 L. Hamilton 652.5 kg
6 R. Barrichello 649.0 kg
7 F. Alonso 650.5 kg
8 F. Massa 664.5 kg
9 N. Rosberg 670.5 kg
10 K. Räikkönen 671.5 kg
11 H. Kovalainen 678.5 kg
12 K. Nakajima 680.9 kg
13 R. Kubica 698.6 kg
14 N. Heidfeld 696.3 kg
15 N. Piquet 677.6 kg
16 A. Sutil 679.0 kg
17 S. Buemi 678.5 kg
18 G.Fisichella 652.0 kg
19 M. Webber 656.0 kg
20 S. Bourdais 667.5 kg

So we are quite heavy, not sure is the best strategy but we'll see...

 

Both Toyotas probably are very light.
My guess for tomorrow is, BrawnGP 1st place, Vettel 2nd place.

 

Vettel is heavier than the Brawns, so my money is on him.

 

Vettel clearly looking good for tomorrow.

 

Vettel is in the catbird's seat, for certain. The field has caught up to Brawn, at least in terms of lap times. Hamilton out-qualified Barichello in a heavier car and he was right with Button.

Kimi is the interesting story here. He finished Q2 in 2nd, IIRC and he is very heavy. I think Ferrari gets points this race, maybe even an outside chance at a podium. They have pace now, and KERS can make a difference if they have pace. Still, I see Vettel in first and I have no idea after him. Everyone else is bunched together so it's really a crapshoot.

 

I would love to see Vettel being first!

 

Great quali for Ferrari, i'm happy about that at long last good speed.

Ferrari are also happy with their performance.

http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=45703

Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were pleased to see some tangible signs of progress after qualifying in the top 10 in Bahrain.

After failing to make it into Q3 at the past two grands prix, Massa was relieved to have taken eighth on the grid, although he felt he could have been higher had his car not developed some unwelcome oversteer.

“It seems we have made a small step forward, but we know we still have a long way to go,” he said.

“Personally, I’m happy to be back in the top 10 in qualifying and I hope I can have a good race and make it into the top eight.

“This morning, the car was handling very well, but in the afternoon it lost a little bit of performance because of oversteer, probably down to the track conditions.”

Massa reckons he is now well-placed to score his and Ferrari’s first points of the season.

“Tomorrow it will be very hot and that will have a considerable effect on reliability and tyre performance,” he said.

“We must try and make it to the finish and bring home some points, maybe making the most of the KERS, especially at the start.”

Raikkonen was quicker than Massa in the two knockout sessions but paid the price for using up all his new sets of super-soft tyres and had to settle for 10th in Q3.

“We didn’t have any tyres any more, so there was nothing more I could have done,” said Kimi.

“I didn’t want to go out second time but the team wanted to go.

“We wasted another set and it was not really what I was hoping for, but that’s how it went.”

Nevertheless Raikkonen was encouraged by the team’s improved competitiveness.

“The car was surprisingly good in the first and second qualifying; I was quite happy with how it worked,” he said.

“I think if we’d had new tyres in the last qualifying we could have done quite a good job.

“We were surprisingly close to the front guys in [Q2], much closer than in the previous races.”

After only Massa used KERS on Friday, it was fitted to Raikkonen’s car overnight and the Finn said it had “definitely helped”.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali is expecting a tough race in the searing desert heat and says the overriding priority is for Ferrari to open its points account.

“Cleary this is not a Ferrari-style result, but we have to make a virtue out of necessity,” he said.

“Tomorrow it will be vital to ensure that, first and foremost, we make it to the chequered flag.

“With these high temperatures, car reliability faces a stiff test.

“Our aim is simple: to wipe the zero off our score card in the championship.”

 

Predictions on how far back Trulli finishes?

 

LH and Button same weight very interesting

 

Hopefully, Rubens can move in to block Hamilton, and help out Jenson.

He did cross the line with time left on the clock, and was on a hot lap, but he messed it up and went wide towards the end of the lap, hence why he didn't get a time for the last lap.

They did a comparison of Jenson Button's and Lewis Hamilton's racing lines superimposed on each other. Jenson had a smoother entrance and exit into a turn.

 

In which turn?

 

I couldn't see the qualifying today...just saw the results now.

I can't believe I'm happy simply to see the Fcars in the top 10...if we score at least 1 point tomorrow I might have to party by myself

Lets hope...

Forza

 

my money is on 7th.

He will make an OK start with glock quickly taking over before lap 3. Vettel immediatly followed as the moving chicane that is glock has gotten passed trulli. Button and hamilton will be to busy fighting for 4th position and will overtake trulli when he's in the pits and stay ahead of him for the time being.

 

Yes I would imagine he has, he is renowed for being a smooth driver.
However don't forget LH has a KERS advantage at the start, he has closed the gap to non KERS runners.

So I wouldn't think RB will come into play for a holding role for JB, he may even get the jump on JB at the start, very excited about this.

If all goes well for Vettel, I see no reason why he can't win this one.