19/07/2014
NEWS STORY
It's hard to tell whether yesterday's session were a false dawn or whether this morning's final practice was the true indication of where we're at.
Yesterday, the gap between Mercedes and its rivals was narrower than we can remember, while this morning the closest driver to pace-setter Nico Rosberg, other than his teammate, was Fernando Alonso, who was 0.605s off the pace.
FRIC or no FRIC the Silver Arrows appear to be handling the situation perfectly in which case, if we are to avoid season-long domination of the kind not seen since 1988, Charlie Whiting and the boys had better come up with some fresh ideas.
While the software upgrade at Renault hasn't (yet) delivered the improved performance - officially reliability - we had hoped for, we can only hope that Red Bull can rediscover some of the pace it appeared to have found yesterday.
Judging by the offs and lock-ups, FRIC, or rather the lack of it, is making a difference, with some teams losing out and others gaining, but for how long?
Williams is looking good, possibly best of the rest, as is Ferrari, though Kimi Raikkonen has suffered reliability issues in two of the three sessions. McLaren, possibly the car sporting the most updates this weekend, has also seen an improvement, while Force India and Lotus have lost ground.
McLaren has also played its 'joker' in terms of the gear ratio rule, the Woking outfit thereby changing the ratios on both cars without penalty.
Whilst much will be made of pole today, as ever, the fact is that if we merely consider the most recent races reliability rather than where one finds oneself on the grid is the major factor. At Silverstone, Rosberg finally discovered that the F1 W05 Hybrid is not bulletproof.
Also, whilst Pirelli warns that heat is going to be a major factor this weekend, all week the weather forecasters have been predicting stormy weather for Sunday. And as anyone in southern England will tell you, after two days of high temperatures and nights of heavy thunder and lightning, they may have a point.
As we await the start of Q1, the air temperature is 32 degrees C, whilst the track temperature is 55 degrees.
Vettel is deep in thought, headphones in place, listening to the latest from Cheryl Cole... or whatever her name is these days.
In the Caterham garage the mechanics are still working on Ericsson's car following a hydraulics problem this morning. A nightmare weekend for Christijan Albers and his team thus far.
"There's a cut-off point just after halfway through Q1, after which we have to concede and turn our attention for car #10 to tomorrow..." tweets the Leafield team.
The lights go green and Bianchi is at the end of the pitlane waiting. Unlike Silverstone two weeks ago there is no threat of rain (we wish!) and consequently no need for a 'banker lap'.
That said, Button, Massa and Hulkenberg are also early risers.
In fact, having passed Bianchi and a few others, Button is the first driver to post a time, the McLaren driver crossing the line at 20.264, within moments Hulkenberg and Massa (19.389) go quicker.
Rosberg is told to take it easy in order to accommodate his tyres on his first lap.
A 19.379 sees Magnussen go quickest.
While everyone is on primes, the Lotus duo are already on options, as are the Caterhams and Marussias. Desperate times for the Enstone team.
Hamilton and Alonso trade fastest sector times, the Briton going quickest (18.683), while teammate Rosberg can only mange 24.449 following a massive lock-up at T8. Alonso goes third with a 19.112.
Bottas goes quickest in all three sectors, stopping the clock at 18.215, 0.468s quicker than Hamilton.
As Vettel struggles, finally crossing the line at 19.145 to go fifth, Ricciardo posts 19.343.
Hamilton runs wide in T1 but on his subsequent lap goes quickest in S1. Another mistake by Rosberg, this time at T2, sees him fail to improve.
Game over for Hamilton who spins off and crashes into the barriers at the hairpin (T13). For the third successive race weekend the Briton's qualifying session falls to pieces.
Asked if he's OK, the Mercedes driver, clearly winded, replies: "I'm OK. I hit the brakes and something... the brakes failed". The session is red flagged as the car is removed.
Replay shows the front brakes locked and then the rear end comes out sending him into a spin, subsequently hitting the barriers at the front but at an angle.
Under the red flag, with 7:21 remaining, it's: Bottas, Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Grosjean.
With a time of 18.683, it remains to be seen how many of the lower ranked drivers can eclipse Hamilton. Currently, if there are no improvements, he would start 16th.
With Rosberg still on 24.089, and outside the 107% limit, the pressure is on Mercedes.
And in the Ferrari garage it looks like Bunga Bunga time.
The lights go green and Rosberg is like a greyhound out of the trap, now running on the option rubber. Countryman Hulkenberg is the only other driver on track.
On his first flying lap Rosberg goes quickest in S1. He's strong again in S2, finally crossing the line at 18.449 to go quickest by 0.584s.
Ericsson watches from the garage Caterham admitting that he will not be making an appearance this afternoon.
Replay shows Rosberg with all four wheels off track in the final corner however, unlike Austria and Britain, Charlie Whiting will not be taking any action as he says drivers are not gaining an advantage by running wide. So why do it?
Button improves to fourth, as Massa opts not to run again.
As Gutierrez goes ninth, Massa may yet come to rue his gamble.
Ricciardo goes second (18.117) as Rosberg posts 17.631. Massa has second thoughts and heads down the pitlane.
Vettel goes third (18.194) as Alonso goes sixth, Hamilton slipping down to eleventh.
A late charge sees Grosjean go 13th, thereby dropping Sutil into the drop zone. No such luck for Maldonado however, the Lotus driver only managing 19th (20.195).
Rosberg is quickest, ahead of Ricciardo, Vettel, Bottas, Magnussen, Massa, Alonso, Button, Vergne and Kvyat.
We lose Sutil, Bianchi, Maldonado, Kobayashi, Chilton and Ericsson. Hamilton will start 16th... maybe higher if there are any penalties. Indeed, Gutierrez has a ten place penalty following his unsafe release at Silverstone.
The good news is that Hamilton is back from the Medical Centre seemingly none the worse for his crash.
Q2 gets underway, but as ever there is no mad scramble to get to work.
Eventually Hulkenberg gets things underway, followed by Perez, the Williams duo, Raikkonen and Rosberg.
Hulkenberg crosses the line at 18.270, with Massa posting 17.790 moments later.
Bottas makes it a Williams 1-2 with a 17.353 only to be demoted when Rosberg bangs in a 17.109. Nonetheless, impressive stuff from Williams.
Alonso fourth, ahead of Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Gutierrez as the Red Bulls finally leave the pits.
Ricciardo goes fifth with a 17.989 however, a strong final sector sees teammate Vettel post 17.646 to go third.
Button (ninth) complains he lost time behind Grosjean. Teammate Magnussen is currently fourth.
With 4:30 on the clock, Raikkonen (18.273) is still in the drop zone.
Kvyat takes a long, long, very bumpy ride over the kerbs at T1.
Perez, who has not yet posted a time, looks to be relying on one run. Teammate Hulkenberg is currently tenth.
The Hulk improves to eighth with an 18.017, but will it be enough? Elsewhere, Perez finally leaves the pits.
Massa improves (17.370) but remains third, whilst a lock-up by Raikkonen looks likely to be very costly. Indeed, the Finn fails to improve and remains eleventh.
Button fails to improve and remains tenth. Moments later, on his sole run, posts 18.161 to take tenth and thereby demote Button to the drop zone. A late improvement also sees Kvyat live to fight another day (in Q3).
Rosberg quickest, ahead of Bottas, Massa, Vettel, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Perez.
We lose Button, Raikkonen, Vergne, Gutierrez, Grosjean and Hamilton.
With teammate Hamilton out, one might assume that Rosberg can take things a little easy in Q3 however, the Williams duo appear to have other ideas.
The lights go green and after almost half-a-minute Perez breaks the deadlock.
On the pitwall Toto Wolff appears to be staring at a couple of Windows XP screens. XP??? Caterham must be on Vista or 8.
Perez is joined on track by Hulkenberg, Bottas, Massa, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Alonso. Vettel and Kvyat appear to be relying on a sole run.
Perez posts a tardy 19.395, Hulkenberg posting an equally tardy 19.389 moment later.
Rosberg is quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 16.540, the fastest lap of the weekend thus far.
Bottas can only manage 17.057 and Massa 17.306, with Ricciardo going fourth on 18.234.
A 17.604 sees Magnussen go fourth ahead of Ricciardo and Alonso, whilst Vettel finally leaves the pits.
Vettel goes fourth with a 17.577, pole seemingly a battle (of sorts) between Rosberg and the Williams duo.
With 3:40 remaining, Perez is the first out for a final run. Massa is also out early.
As Perez posts 18.035 to go sixth, Vettel is the last driver to leave the pits.
Massa and Ricciardo posts PBs in S1. As does Bottas.
Massa maintains the pace in S2 whilst teammate Bottas goes quickest.
Massa improves but remains third (17.078), while teammate Bottas also improves but remains second (16.759).
Rosberg fails to improve but remains quickest and thereby takes pole.
Magnussen improves to fourth with a 17.214 whilst Ricciardo leapfrogs teammate Vettel with a late charge.
Consequently, Nico Rosberg starts his home race from pole ahead of Bottas, Massa, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Kvyat, Hulkenberg and Perez.
Button qualifies eleventh, ahead of Raikkonen, Vergne, Gutierrez, Grosjean, Hamilton, Sutil, Bianchi, Maldonado, Kobayashi, Chilton and Ericsson.
However, the weathermen are still predicting rain for tomorrow, no doubt Lewis Hamilton will be hoping they've got it right.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.
Chris Balfe