Jenson Button seals his fourth pole of the season while Kimi Raikkonen shows how much the Ferraris have improved by securing front row alongside the championship leader.
In a too close, too tight qualifying, Ferrari and Brawn GP gave it their all to top the timesheet.
QUALIFYING
Barichello nearly grabbed the second spot if not for a flying performance by Kimi. All weekend long, Barichello seems to be the faster Brawn as Jenson Button continue having problem setting up his car to maximise the downforce and tyre grip.
If the practice times are any indication, it seems Button have the problem solved by Practice 3 where he was faster than Barichello, which earlier topped Practice 1. Moreover, Practice 3 is usually the time where teams started to run short race simulations and qualifying setup. The time clocked in Practice 3 is never far from the car's top performance.
PRACTICE 1
PRACTICE 2
PRACTICE 3
Nico Rosberg again topped one of the Practice sessions. The last practice session was dominated by Alonso, clocking the fastest time all week at 1:15:164.
Although starting at sixth spot tomorrow, Nico Rosberg did topped the first qualifying session, promising a step forward by the WIlliams. But to the dismay of his fans, the other cars on the grid got faster and faster, noticeably the Brawns and Ferrari, leaving Rosberg settled at sixth. Teammate Kazuki Nakajima made it to the top ten as well.
Both Force Indias made it to Q2, making it an interesting midfield runner while the Toyotas and BMWs never made it past Q1. Alonso is frequenting Q3 as Nelson Piquet struggled to match him.
Red Bull made an upgrade to their B-specs car with new rear wings and carbon-fibre gearbox. The wings are also spotted on Toro Rosso.
McLaren made a similar change to their rear wings as well, making them running near the pace of the frontrunners. But the ever-lucky Hamilton is not lucky this time as he smashed the tyre barrier at the Sainte Devote corner and broke his rear suspension in Q1. A further change to his gearbox made him starting from the last spot tomorrow. Heikki Kovalainen meanwhile made it to Q3 and secured seventh. Hopefully he won't be facing another technical glitch that cost him his list of DNFs.
The frontrunners seems to be having a similar strategy although Vettel will be the first to pit, followed by the Ferraris and the Brawns. Here are the provisional weights of the cars after Qualifying:
1. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 647.5 kg
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 644
3. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 648
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 631.5
5. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 643.5
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 642
7. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 644
8. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 646.5
9. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 654
10. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 668
11. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 670
12. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 673.1
13. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 693
14. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 699.5
15. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 670
16. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 680
17. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 696
18. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 688.3
19. Timo Glock, Toyota, 700.8
20. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 645.5
Felipe Massa looked like the faster Ferrari earlier in Q1, but as the track got better Raikkonen steals the show with blazing laps and topped Q2. When he stole P1 from Vettel in Q3 and even Barichello could not better him, it seems finally a Scuderia will get to pole. Out of nowhere comes Button with 25/1000 a second faster.
Alex Yoong put it in the best sentence when he said "Button will start tomorrow's race and think, I believe I'm seeing a Ferrari besides me -- with KERS".
At Catalunya Massa managed to overtake a few cars before settling at third in the first lap. Kimi Raikkonen might be able to pull the same stunt starting at second. The fight to that first corner will be interesting tomorrow.
Cross your fingers, we might see a Scarlett Car leading the field when the camera pan to the Sainte Devote corner tomorrow !
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