25/06/2011
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's all important- certainly in terms of the nature of the circuit - qualifying session, the air temperature is 27 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees. It remains bright and sunny.
In spite of attempts to slow down Red Bull's runaway domination this season, and with due respect to Charlie Whiting's denial, Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets this morning, eclipsing Fernando Alonso's best time by 0.420s.
However, that was this morning, and now, in light of the FIA's new directive that teams cannot change their engine mapping between qualifying and the race, all eyes are on Red Bull to see how this new rule will effect the Austrian outfit's dominance, particularly in qualifying.
The pace of the Ferraris suggests that the Austrian outfit won't have it all its own way while the McLarens are there or thereabouts. Mercedes continues to make progress, while Renault is also looking quite good here.
The Saubers and Force Indias seem evenly matched, Paul di Resta doing well to finish thirteenth this morning despite his lack of track time here. The Toro Rossos are mixing it with the Williams, while Lotus continues to be best of the rest, albeit over a second off the pace of the back of the midfielders.
Tyre options this weekend are medium - making their debut - and soft, with the softer compound over a second-and-a-half quicker than the harder option and also good for several hot laps.
Q1 gets underway and Heidfeld and di Resta lead the way, followed, shortly after, by Barrichello, di Resta and Liuzzi. Alonso and the Mercedes are also among those eager to get to work… perhaps with an eye on the traffic situation and also the possibility of a yellow flag should there be an incident.
Heidfeld gets things underway with a 41.897 but Alonso and Schumacher are on hot laps. The Mercedes driver posts 42.161 while moments later the Spaniard stops the clocks at 43.458 having slowed right down in the final corner when he comes up behind Kovalainen.
On his first flying lap Webber goes quickest (40.429), ahead of Massa and Petrov, as Alonso seeks to improve.
Vettel goes straight to the top of the timesheets with a 39.965 as Alonso goes second with a 40.254, the Spaniard really struggling with the F150th.
Hamilton and Button are both on hot laps, the Montreal winner posting 39.605 to leapfrog Vettel while Barrichello complains that his car is "definitely worse" in terms of grip.
Hamilton goes fifth (40.258), ahead of Webber and Sutil as Vettel re-takes the top spot with a 39.356.
With 9:34 on the clock Perez finally leaves the pits, still no sign of the Toro Rossos.
Button goes quickest in S1 as Webber goes quickest in S2. The Englishman improves but remains second only to be demoted when his teammate takes the top spot with a 39.244.
The Toro Rossos finally leave the pits, both on softs, taking advantage of the fact that most of their rivals are in their garages. Elsewhere, Vettel posts a 39.116 to leapfrog Hamilton for the top spot.
Perez goes fourth (39.754), the Mexican making good use of his option tyres. Schumacher also opts to switch to the softer rubber.
Buemi goes fourth (39.679) and his teammate ninth (40.498), thereby dropping Kobayashi into the danger zone. Moments later, a 39.690 drops di Resta into the danger zone also.
Rosberg and Schumacher are both o track with 2:01 on the clock, both on softs. Di Resta improves to eleventh with a 39.852 only to be demoted when Rosberg goes fourth (39.266).
With just over a minute remaining there are 20 cars on track and Webber is in the danger zone and stuck in traffic. Elsewhere, Schumacher goes second with a 39.198.
Webber improves to fourteenth but several other drivers are still on track. Massa goes quickest in the first two sectors as he seeks to improve on seventeenth. The Brazilian goes quickest overall (38.413) as all eyes are on Alguersuari. However, the Spaniard fails to improve while Trulli spins in the final corner.
Therefore, we lose Alguersuari, Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, Liuzzi, d'Ambrosio and Karthikeyan.
Quickest was Massa, ahead of Vettel, Schumacher, Hamilton, Rosberg, Sutil, Button, Perez, Barrichello and Buemi.
Surprisingly the drivers are just as eager to get to work in Q2, with the Ferraris, Webber and Button among the first out.
Most drivers are on softs, some on new and some on softs.
Massa posts the first time of the phase, the Brazilian crossing the line at 38.566, moments later however, Webber posts 38.058 and Alonso 37.930.
All eyes on Vettel who goes quickest in all three sectors, crossing the timing beam at 37.305. Button goes second but is almost immediately leapfrogged by his McLaren teammate with a 37.727.
A 38.373 sees Rosberg go sixth, and while Schumacher begins his first flying lap Massa goes quickest in S1. The seven-time champion goes eighth (39.026) as Maldonado is stranded in the middle of the track at Turn 19. The session is subsequently red-flagged (at 7:59) which is bad news for the Ferrari duo who were both on hot laps.
At 14:38 the session resumes as the replay shows that Maldonado suffered some sort of technical failure though it unclear why he didn't park the car a corner or two earlier.
Petrov and Buemi, neither of whom have posted a time thus far, go ninth and seventeenth respectively.
Barrichello gets the last corner all wrong badly flat-spotting his tyre. Meanwhile, Kobayashi can only manage thirteenth. The top six - Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Webber and Rosberg - watch from their garages - as Schumacher posts PBs in all three sectors, crossing the line at 38.365 to go sixth.
Heidfeld can only manage ninth (38.781) as both Force Indias seek to improve. The Williams and Sauber pairings also.
A mammoth final effort sees Sutil go tenth with a 39.034, thereby dropping Petrov into the danger zone. Mistakes see Barrichello and di Resta fail to improve.
Therefore, at the second hurdle we lose Petrov, di Resta, Barrichello, Kobayashi, Maldonado, Perez and Buemi.
Quickest was Vettel (as ever!), ahead of Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Webber, Schumacher, Rosberg, Massa, Heidfeld and Sutil.
The lights go green for Q3 and local hero (national hero?) Alonso leads the way, followed by Button and Hamilton. The Spaniard is on a new set of options his teammate using the set he used in Q2.
In moments, all but the Mercedes, Heidfeld and Sutil are on track, most likely settling for one run as opposed to a full assault on pole.
Alonso goes quickest in S1 but moments later Vettel is 0.4s quicker. The Spaniard crosses the line at 37.454 while teammate Massa posts 37.815.
Hamilton takes the top spot with a 37.380 but all eyes are on Vettel who is absolutely flying, the German taking provisional pole with a 36.975. A stupendous lap.
Webber is fourth (37.539), ahead of Button and Massa as Rosberg looks to be the seventh driver to post a time. The German posts 38.231 but remains seventh.
With 2:39 on the clock, Heidfeld finally comes out to play, with Schumacher following a moment or two later. Indeed, all but Sutil are on track, even Vettel, who surely has done enough for pole.
Heidfeld returns to the pits having failed to post a time and with just 37s on the clock it looks like his session is run. Rosberg also.
The seven drivers on track begin their final run, Vettel will be the last driver to post a time, melodrama rules.
Lots of PBs in various sectors but no significant improvements and no purples. That said, a massive effort in the final sector sees Webber post 37.183 to go second.
Alonso aborts his lap and dives into the pits, as does Hamilton, and while Vettel is on a hot lap - having gone quickest in S2 - he too is told to back off and save his tyres.
Therefore, Sebastian Vettel will start from pole for the seventh time this season - despite the best efforts of the FIA. Having climbed from his car, and given the traditional 'finger' to the cameras, the youngster inspects the cockpits of Hamilton's McLaren and Alonso's Ferrari.
Mark Webber will start alongside his Red Bull teammate, ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher, Heidfeld and Sutil.
To check out our Valencia qualifying gallery, click here.