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Red Bull racing team grabbed the pole position and locked the front row of the grid yet again. Vettal outclassed him teammate and obviously rest of the field and grabbed his seventh pole of the season. Hamilton and Fernando showed good pace and left a warning that victory will not be easy for the RBR team. Let’s have a look at each team’s performance at the qualifying.
Red BullSebastian Vettel: P1 1m 36.975sMark Webber: P2 1m 37.163s
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Red Bull dominated the qualifying and locked the front row of the grid with Vettal and Webber. It seems that the engine mapping rule has not affected the team very much. Webber was not happy with the car initially in Q3 but the change in the brake balance did it for the Aussie and his late charge put him at the front row.
McLarenLewis Hamilton: P3 1m 37.380sJenson Button: P6 1m 37.645s
Hamilton did a fine job by keeping the Ferrari at bay. He could have qualified a bit higher but for a mistake in the final lap which cost him a pole place. Button was not much happy with the car and suffered over steering because of the change in track conditions. However, both the drivers did a respectable job and the positions are competitive because of McLaren’s good race pace.
FerrariFernando Alonso: P4 1m 37.454sFelipe Massa: P5 1m 37.535s
Ferrari drivers, both Alonso and Massa, did a very respectable job and are in podium contention. Fernando, like many other drivers aboard his final lap run because of slight mistake. However Massa did improve on his last run and pushed Jenson Button further back and qualified on 5th position. Ferrari after qualifying said that they are not too disappointed by not challenging the Red Bull.
MercedesNico Rosberg: P7 1m 38.231sMichael Schumacher: P8 1m 38.240s
Mercedes achieved the best they could have and locked the fourth row of the grid. Nico and Michael were very close to each other and were happy by the overnight changes. Michael said that he might have qualified a bit higher on 7th place but a last corner mistake on last lap cost him that. Nico said that he saved a set of tires for the race.
RenaultNick Heidfeld: P9 no timeVitaly Petrov: P11 1m 39.068s
Renault achieved the best and made the Q3 appearance with Nick Heidfeld. However, Nick didn’t do any lap in Q3 and was qualified ahead of Force India of Adrian Sutil. Petrov wasn’t able to qualify in Q3 and was just outpaced by Adrian at the end of Q2.
Force IndiaAdrian Sutil: P10 no timePaul di Resta: P12 1m 39.422s
Force India was very strong in the qualifying as they were all weekend long. Adrian Sutil drove his Force India to Q3 but didn’t set any time and was classified behind Nick Heidfeld. Paul also drove strongly in the qualifying and just missed out from the Q3 appearance by making a slight mistake in the concluding stages of Q2. With good race pace and good qualifying positions, Force India wll be looking for some good race points.
WilliamsRubens Barrichello: P13 1m 39.489sPastor Maldonado: P15 1m 39.645s
Barrichello did a trouble free qualifying and looked good in both Q1 and Q2 but locked the wheels of Williams at the last corner and missed at some more places. Maldonado also looked good but for some unknown reasons, his Williams stopped at the middle of turn 20. Williams is still investigating the cause and will be targeting some points.
SauberKamui Kobayashi: P14 1m 39.525sSergio Perez: P16 1m 39.657s
Sauber struggled in the qualifying as Kobayashi only managed P14. But because of the strong race pace Sauber will be targeting some points. Perez also looked good after making a comeback and qualified on P16.
Toro RossoSebastien Buemi: P17 1m 39.711sJaime Alguersuari: P18 1m 40.232s
Torro Rosso struggled in qualifying and Jaime wasn’t able to make into the Q2. Buemi also didn’t perform well and qualified on P17 ahead of his teammate. Torro Rosso also suffered overheating and the change in track temperature also affected the team’s both the drivers.
LotusHeikki Kovalainen: P19 1m 41.664sJarno Trulli: P20 1m 42.234s
Lotus was the fastest team among the back markers. Both Lotuses showed a strong pace to out qualify his rivals. Trulli was a bit overambitious and had a spin in the concluding stages of Q1. Kovalainen was happy with the overall performance of his car.
VirginTimo Glock: P21 1m 42.553sJerome D’Ambrosio: P23 1m 43.735s
Glock was happy with the performance of his car, but said that the traffic in the concluding stage cost him a good run on his new set of tyre. Jerome was not so happy with the performance and suffered a suspension problem and only managed P23.
HRTTonio Liuzzi: P22 1m 43.584sNarain Karthikeyan: P24 1m 44.363s
Tonio Liuzzi did a respectable job in his HRT and outpaced his teammate and Virgin’s Jerome. He made the most of his available package and was happy with the car. Narain said that the gearbox problem which he had on Friday cost him some places and compromised his chances.
