Chris
Premium
After all the discussion regarding track limits, radio bans and cockpit halo delays, it was finally time to get down to the important business of setting the grid for Sunday's race. With the hot Summer sun beating down on the track and the relatively empty grandstands, the race for pole looked very much to be a two horse race between the two Silver Arrows, whom have seemingly gapped the rest of the pack yet again in recent races.
Their pace was such that they didn't deem it necessary to use the Super-Soft compound in the first part of qualifying as both cars lapped comfortably fastest on the yellow-marked soft: A warning shot to their rivals if ever there was one.
A sad showing so far from Sauber has resulted in both cars starting from the back of the grid with Nasr taking crumbs of comfort having beaten Ericsson to 21st place. Pascal Wehrlein may not have made it into Q2, but he was one of the stars of the first session as he showed yet again his ability to deliver great results in a car that is designated to the back of the grid by out-qualifying the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and lapping just one thousandth of a second slower than 17th placed Kevin Magnussen (1:16.716 to a 1:16.717, respectively).
When the first session came to a close, the big surprise - or not, depending on how you want to look at it - was the elimination of the aforementioned Kvyat whose season appears to be going from catastrophic to 'absofrigginlutely' calamitous. A sorry situation for the young Russian after being comfortably out-qualified by his even younger teammate, both Renaults and perhaps most embarrassingly, the Manor of Wehrlein at the close of Q1. That boy is in desperate need of a good result... And a hug.
Raikkonen looks to be more comfortable after out-pacing his teammate for the vast majority of the weekend so far.
The second qualifying session got underway with the Mercedes duo being the first out on track with the Super-Soft compound, setting purple sectors and then proceeding to remain their garage for the rest of the session. Q2: Job done.
Daniel Ricciardo was under pressure after a mistake on his first flying lap left him in a position that would not make the cut for Q3. Curiously, he remained out on track to set a second flying lap, rather than pitting for fresh rubber. Having set five total laps on that particular set of tyres and with Q2 being the session which determines the tyres you start the race on, Ricciardo is at a disadvantage for the first stint, despite qualifying third overall.
Felipe Massa was lucky to make it to the final session after his first run was severely impeded by Carlos Sainz Jr. at Turn 2. The Spaniard seemingly wasn't aware that Massa was approaching at speed as he listed lazily in the middle of the braking zone before getting out of the way by running on to the grass on the inside of the corner. He did get out of the way eventually, but it was deemed too late and he would end up taking a three place grid penalty for his indiscretion.
Esteban Gutierrez showed great form by finishing the session in 11th place after a great lap to put him ahead of both McLaren's and more importantly, his more experienced and highly-rated teammate, Grosjean, who has struggled with his Haas car as of late.
Jolyon Palmer somewhat made amends for his spin in Hungary by being the only Renault to feature in Q2.
In the final session, it was Hamilton who took the upper hand after the first runs as he put in a strong lap time of 1:14.486 to take provisional pole. Rosberg however aborted his first flying lap and returned to the pits as, according to Mercedes, he suffered an electrical issue with his throttle. The issue would be resolved for his next run, but he was out of sync relative to his teammate and thus was fueled for two extra laps in case of a mistake on his first lap. He didn't need it however as he put in an incredible lap, beating Hamilton to pole by just over a tenth of a second. The Championship leader tried to respond on his final attempt and was on track to go quicker, however a small lockup under braking at the Turn 6 hairpin saw him relinquish his negative delta.
The two Red Bulls yet again proved that they have overtaken Ferrari as the 'best of the rest' as Ricciardo out-qualified Verstappen by a tenth for third and forth positions respectively. The Ferrari duo of Raikkonen and Vettel will line up in fifth and sixth positions respectively after what can only be described as a disappointing session as they lapped three tenths slower than the slowest Red Bull. Tough times ahead for the Scuderia.
Rounding out the top ten, the Williams and Force India drivers split each other, ruining it for fans of a Noah's Ark top ten.
Here's the grid for tomorrow's German Grand Prix:
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) [One place grid penalty - Wrong tyres]
- Sergio Perez (Force India)
- Felipe Massa (Williams)
- Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
- Jenson Button (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso) [Three place grid penalty - Impeding]
- Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
- Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
- Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
- Rio Haryanto (Manor)
- Romain Grosjean (Haas) [Five place grid penalty - Gearbox]
- Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
The Hockenheim Ring may not be what it used to be, but it still makes for exciting racing, with plenty of places for overtaking and several exciting corners. The German GP is never a dull one... Unless of course it is, in which case disregard what I've just said.
Happy viewing
Images credit of FIA.com
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