11/10/2008
NEWS STORY
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Ahead of today's all-important qualifying session, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is also 22 degrees.
Conditions have improved dramatically since this morning, the rain clouds have moved away and the sun is attempting to break through. With no rain expected tomorrow for the race, this means that drivers will not have to make as big a compromise in terms of set-up as expected.
Had it been wet this afternoon, drivers would have to choose whether to go for a wet set-up in order to achieve a good qualifying position, or chance their luck with a dry set up focussed on tomorrow's race. Whatever their decision, once this afternoon's session is over there's no going back.
Anyway, with the threat of rain now diminished it looks as though the choice has been made for them.
While we expect the usual suspects to be at the front end of the grid, keep an eye out for Timo Glock, who has been superb all weekend, Nelson Piquet and Sebastien Bourdais, who both appear to have finally realised that they have only a couple of races in which to secure drives for 2009.
The tyre options this weekend are medium and soft. Despite the fact that the track is still a little damp in patches, nobody will be going out on inters.
The lights go green and Piquet is first out, followed by the Williams duo, Trulli and Button.
Piquet posts the benchmark, crossing the line at 19.286, Rosberg goes second, ahead of Trulli, Button and Nakajima.
Jarno Trulli posts 19.191 but is soon eclipsed by his Toyota teammate who crosses the line at 19.010.
An 18.727 sees Massa go quickest, as Hamilton makes a meal out of getting out of the way of Glock. The Englishman knows that this is no time to get a grid penalty for impeding another driver, or indeed, any other penalty.
Hamilton goes quickest in sectors one and two, crossing the line at 18.232, almost half-a-second quicker than Massa. Elsewhere, Raikkonen, currently eighth, goes quickest in the first sector. The Finn loses pace in the second sector, finally crossing the line at 18.817 to go third.
Halfway through this first phase, all but Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso and Webber have posted times.
As Kovalainen goes third, Kubica posts 19.038 to go sixth.
Piquet goes second with an 18.300, as Alonso goes eighth and Webber goes quickest in the second sector. However, the Australian can a only manage 19.402 and remains in the danger zone along with his Red Bull teammate. That said, DC goes fourth with an 18.540, one of the first drivers to switch to the soft option.
Glock (medium) goes quickest with an 18.138, as countryman Vettel slips into the danger zone. The Toro Rosso driver is unhappy with the handling of his car. Teammate Bourdais is fourteenth.
Just under four minutes remaining, and Kovalainen (mediums) posts personal bests in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 18.220 to go second.
Massa (medium) stakes his claim to pole, crossing the line at 18.110. However, moments later, Hamilton posts 18.071 to reclaim the top spot.
Raikkonen goes quickest in the first sector, as Glock goes quickest of the lot with a 17.945. Raikkonen takes fourth but all eyes are on Alonso who is still in the danger zone.
Rosberg goes fifteenth, as Alonso goes sixth and Nakajima thirteenth. The big surprise is Heidfeld, who finishes sixteenth, and thereby misses the cut. Indeed, teammate Kubica only managed fourteenth.
The top ten were: Glock, Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Alonso, Piquet, Coulthard, Webber and Trulli.
We lose Heidfeld, the Hondas and Force Indias, so, other than Heidfeld, no big surprises.
As phase two gets underway, the sun is shining and the temperature has risen to 24 degrees.
The lights go green but nobody seems eager to get to work, until, two minutes into the phase, Raikkonen breaks the deadlock, followed by his Ferrari teammate. The Finn is on the medium compound, the Brazilian on the soft. Glock is out on the softs, but like yesterday, it is very hard to spot the white stripe in amongst the green. Certainly not the FIA's greatest move.
Raikkonen posts 17.333 but this is almost instantly eclipsed by Massa who posts 17.287. Glock goes third with a 17.952, but he is quickly leapfrogged by his teammate.
Hamilton goes second with a 17.462, as Bourdais goes sixth and Webber seventh. Alonso goes eighth (18.181), despite having crossed the white line as if entering the pits and then appearing to have a change of heart.
Kovalainen goes third (17.563), as Vettel goes sixth, leaving Kubica and Piquet as the only drivers yet to post a time.
A 17.931 sees Kubica go seventh, ahead of Glock and Bourdais.
Less than four minutes remaining and Piquet has yet to post a time. Kovalainen goes quickest in the final sector, going second overall. However, Piquet can only manage twelfth, leaving him in the danger zone with Coulthard, Webber, Nakajima and Rosberg.
As Piquet heads back to the pits, clearly having given up, all but Massa, Kovalainen and Hamilton are on track.
All eleven drivers posts personal bests, but four of the drivers are going to join Piquet in failing to make the cut.
After the joy of Singapore, it's back to earth with a bump for Williams as Rosberg and Nakajima fail to make the cut, as do the two Red Bull drivers.
Quickest was Massa, ahead of Kovalainen, Hamilton, Trulli, Glock, Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso, Kubica and Bourdais.
The lights go green and the final phase gets underway. That said, as in phase two, nobody seems eager to get things started.
Eventually, Raikkonen and Glock get things underway, followed by Bourdais and Glock. Some drivers are on medium, others on soft.
Glock sets the benchmark with a 19.623, but Raikkonen almost instantly beats it with an 18.890.
Massa goes second (19.137) as Hamilton goes quickest in the second sector, eventually going third 19.163.
Alonso momentarily goes fifth, behind Kovalainen, before being bumped by Kubica.
With just over three minutes remaining they all pit for fresh rubber, most drivers now running on softs.
As Raikkonen begins his flying lap, Kovalainen is only just leaving the pits. The Worlds Champion goes quickest in the first sector, as Massa goes quickest in the final sector of his out lap.
As Raikkonen goes quickest in sector two, Hamilton goes quickest in sector one.
Raikkonen consolidates his position with an 18.644, as Massa consolidates second. However, Hamilton isn't finished, crossing the line at 18.404 to take provisional pole.
Glock goes fourth, but is demoted by his teammate and then Alonso who takes third with an 18.852. However, all eyes are on Kovalainen, who crosses the line at 18.821 to take third, thereby splitting the Ferraris.
Hamilton takes pole, his sixth of the season, and (seemingly) another step towards the title, particularly as Massa is down in fourth. While McLaren and Hamilton have said that thy will not be taking any unnecessary chances, few would have believed, with three minutes of the session remaining, that the English youngster would be able to produce the goods, not when Ferrari appeared to have it in the bag.
Despite having what he admits is a nightmare season, Kimi Raikkonen takes second, however, it's too little too late, and now that his title hopes are at an end, he, like Heikki Kovalainen, who will start third, must put his team first and support his teammate. Thing is, it's a role that will not suit the reigning champion.
An excellent performance from Alonso, who despite Nick Fry's fantasies, must be looking at the two Hondas already on the way to parc ferme and smiling to himself. Renault might not be able to give him a (regular) race winner but he can at least fight for points.
Make no mistake, Massa will be disappointed. However, following some of his more recent qualifying performances we cannot help but think that the Brazilian is running just that little bit lighter, as Ferrari concentrates on race strategy. That said, surely, if Massa is heavy, the name of the game was to have Raikkonen on pole.
Robert Kubica takes sixth for BMW but it is little compensation considering that Heidfeld failed to make it through to phase two. While the Pole will no doubt add to his points tally tomorrow, it is highly unlikely that Heidfeld will have much of an impact.
Despite having been the quicker of the two Toyota drivers for much of the weekend, indeed, one of the quickest of all the drivers, Glock lost out to Trulli when it really mattered. That said, we have a feeling that the German, providing he can get past his teammate at the start of tomorrow's race, could add a few more points to his tally.
Finally, yet again, both Toro Rossos make it into the top ten, further frustrating the guys at Red Bull. Despite a few hiccoughs, Vettel finally got it together, and will surely be up there taking a few more points tomorrow.
The good thing is that despite his seven point advantage, and his team's declaration that it won't be taking risks, Hamilton is still clearly up for the fight, indeed relishing it. With both titles up for grabs, and all four drivers in the top five tomorrow, we could be in for an epic battle.
Let's hope so.