04/04/2009
NEWS STORY
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Ahead of qualifying, the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 40 degrees. Humidity is 76%. The black clouds that threatened earlier on appear to have moved on, with the fading sun now shining. That said, as if on cue, a few dark clouds appear in the distance.
Whatever the outcome of this session, two drivers face penalties. Sebastian Vettel will forfeit ten places for the incident in Melbourne, while Rubens Barrichello forfeits five after his team opted to change the gearbox in his Brawn BGP 001.
As in Australia, only McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and Nick Heidfeld are running KERS this weekend, while the two tyre options are soft and hard.
Toyota is back in the news this afternoon, after Timo Glock was fined 4,000 euros after being clocked at 79.1 kph in the pitlane.
As the lights go green, Nakajima leads Bourdais, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Buemi and ,Sutil out to work. Clearly some teams feel that there will be rain in the next twenty minutes while others don't.
Nakajima posts the benchmark, crossing the line at 38.014, however, teammate Rosberg goes quicker with a 36.596. Raikkonen goes wide, thereby running his first lap.
Trulli goes second ahead of Fisichella, as Raikkonen and Rosberg look set to improve. The German has a poor final sector and fails to improve, while the Finn posts 35.746 to go quickest and Hamilton second.
Eighteen cars on track as Button goes second ahead of Trulli, Glock and Hamilton. However, Massa takes third with a 35.892.
"You can improve," Hamilton is told, "main time loss is in the second sector". The McLaren driver responds with a 36.010 to go fifth.
Button takes the top spot with a 35.173, as teammate Barrichello goes third. Kovalainen, Webber and Alonso yet to post a time.
Webber goes fourteenth, as Alonso finally leaves the pits with eleven minutes of this phase remaining.
Kovalainen goes sixth with a 35.981, however, he's bumped down to seventh when Vettel posts 35.889 to go fifth.
It's a Brawn 1-2 as Barrichello improves with a 35.439. Elsewhere, Bourdais goes twelfth with a 36.313.
Alonso, who has yet to post a time, gets it all wrong at Turn 9, taking a trip on to the grass. The Spaniard still suffering from an ear infection. Nonetheless, the two-time World Champion subsequently goes tenth with a 36.015.
A 35.341 sees Nakajima go second splitting the Brawns. Meanwhile, Piquet goes quickest in the first sector, finally crossing the line at 35.708 to go seventh. A good lap.
With five minutes remaining, the Force Indias, Rosberg Heidfeld and Bourdais are in the danger zone, with Buemi, Kubica and Glock hovering just above.
Trulli goes quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 34.745, the first driver to break the 1:34s barrier this weekend. A great lap from the Italian.
Trulli, Button, Rosberg, Nakajima and Glock with just over two minutes remaining. All but Button, Nakajima, Raikkonen and Massa on track.
Vettel moves up to third with a 35.059, bumped down moments later when Webber takes second with a 35.027.
With seconds remaining, Heidfeld goes quickest in the first sector, as Barrichello goes quickest overall with a 34.681.
Kubica goes eighth but all eyes are on Hamilton and Heidfeld. The German goes eighth, and Hamilton eleventh, however, this means that Massa, who had clearly settled for his time and didn't go out again, is out at the first hurdle.
Buemi , who looked set to improve on last, goes off into the gravel; "I was three-tenths up," he cries in to his radio.
The order is: Barrichello, Trulli, Glock, Vettel, Kovalainen, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Heidfeld and Kubica.
We lose Massa, Piquet, Fisichella, Sutil and Buemi.
Until we hear from the team it's hard to say whether Massa's failure is down to a lack of pace, or, more likely, poor strategy from the team. Then again, Raikkonen finished fourteenth, only just above the 'drop zone'.
The second phase gets underway with Raikkonen among the first to go out, though, as in the first phase, it is Nakajima who leads the way.
A 35.118 is the benchmark, as Nakajima crosses the line. Moments later, Kubica goes quicker (34.926) and Raikkonen third.
Heidfeld momentarily goes quickest only to be bumped off the top spot by Button who in turn is demoted by Trulli who posts 34.250. The pace is furious, we're getting close to 1:33.
Barrichello goes second, and Alonso sixth as Hamilton, Kovalainen, Webber, Vettel and Rosberg begin their first flying laps of this phase.
Vettel goes second (34.276), Rosberg fifth and Hamilton ninth, just ahead of his McLaren teammate. Webber then goes fifth with a 34.403.
With six minutes remaining, Kovalainen, Kubica, Nakajima, Glock and Bourdais are in the danger zone. Raikkonen and Kovalainen are the only drivers on track.
Kovalainen fails to improve, the Finn remains eleventh, in the drop zone. Raikkonen, on the other hand, goes sixth with 34.456.
Even though he doesn't need to, Trulli goes out again, indeed, all but Vettel are on track.
Button goes quickest with a 33.784, as Glock improves to sixth. All eyes on Hamilton who is currently eleventh. The McLaren driver fails to improve and consequently is out of contention.
A late improvement sees Alonso go tenth, which is bad news for Heidfeld. Trulli and Webber both improve, taking top three places, while Kovalainen also fails to improve meaning we lose both McLarens.
Quickest was Button, ahead of Trulli, Webber, Glock, Vettel, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Kubica and Alonso.
We lose Heidfeld, Nakajima, Hamilton, Kovalainen and Bourdais.
Bearing in mind those grid penalties, this final phase will be all about damage limitation for both Vettel and Barrichello.
The lights go green and Raikkonen is first out, followed by Glock, Rosberg and Barrichello.
The 2007 World Champion crosses the line at 37.020, however, Button and Rosberg are both on hot laps.
The German goes quickest with a 36.681, but Barrichello goes quicker (36.420), only for Button to go even quicker before Button goes top of the heap with a 35.773.
Webber goes third (36.312) only to be demoted by his Red Bull teammate who posts 35.969.
Trulli does a second flying lap on his softs, improving with a 35.769, thereby consolidating his top spot.
With just under three minutes remaining, Raikkonen makes his second run, only Trulli, Vettel and Glock are not on track. Has the Italian settled for his time, impressive though it is. The answer is no, he leave the pits with two minutes remaining.
Raikkonen improves to fourth with a 36.170, however, both Brawn driver are on hot laps. Despite a mistake, Barrichello goes quickest with a 35.651, as Button and Vettel both look set to improve.
Button takes provisional pole with a 35.181, but all eyes are on Vettel and Trulli. Rosberg goes third behind the Brawns, only to be demoted by Vettel who posts 5.518.
Trulli goes quickest in the second sector, however, despite a strong final sector he can only manage 5.273, thereby giving Button his second successive pole position.
To clarify, Button finishes quickest, ahead of Trulli, Vettel, Barrichello, Glock, Rosberg, Webber, Kubica, Raikkonen and Alonso.
Vettel's penalty means the German drops to thirteenth, while Barrichello drops to eighth. That said, there will no doubt be further protests and appeals in order to confuse the issue.
Another strong performance from Brawn, with Button looking set to continue where he left off in Melbourne. Barrichello's job tomorrow will be that little bit harder, however, all is not lost for the Brazilian, especially when one considers how he turned last week's race around.
A magnificent performance from Trulli, as Toyota continues to impress, a fact underlined by Timo Glock's fifth best time in the final phase.
Raikkonen will be disappointed with ninth, however, not as disappointed as his teammate or, indeed, the McLaren duo.
Then again, will gain a bit more insight into the true form here once the car weights are issued… and let's not forget the unpredictability of the weather.
It looks like we could be in for another intriguing race tomorrow.