As predicted, everybody on the paddock was running various testing all Friday. Catalunya saw teams like Ferrari and BMW with major updates on their cars. Small parts did come for Force India, Renault and Brawn, but it seems McLaren are not introducing new updates on the MP4-24. The Red Bulls and Toro Rosso are similarly going to be fine tuned, rather than adopting new parts.
Friday practice sessions nowadays is not a definite indication of relative team performances. It's not like a few years back where the practice sessions are not that far off. Saturday session give somewhat a better clue.
PRACTICE 2
Nico Rosberg again topped the second free practice, but this time in style. Nakajima complete a one-two, pressing the fact that they might have got their act together that both cars are showing promising pace.
Alonso, facing a home crowd, is definitely going to monster the car as high of grid position as he could. He clocked the third fastest time in Practice 2.
PRACTICE 3
In Practice 3, the one that might shown the real pecking order of the week, the Ferraris topped the timesheet. Both the F60s clocked under the low 1:21:00, lower than last year's pole.
If previous practice sessions throughout the season are any indication, the Brawn should get a few tenth of a second than the time they set in the last practice. Even half a second slower, if they can find that few tenth, it could mean that they are still in front.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying is a big blunder for Ferrari again, and this time, it involves Raikkonen. He failed to qualify for Q2 and got stuck at 16th. It is a shame because the Ferraris do have the pace - Massa qualify third and have the pace of the Brawns and Red Bulls. Steve Slater insists that Raikkonen still have gremlins on the car but the team chose to hide it via a calculated tactical blunder, a 'smokescreen' to the real problem. A lighter chasis for Raikkonen does not mean anything after an electronic, hydraulic or mechanical malfunction.
The more surprise is that the McLarens are not far off from Raikkonen, and there's nothing or no one at fault. Kovalainen at a low 18th and defending world champion Hamilton is at 14th. If the season evolve like this, we could see the worse defend of a world championship yet. McLaren have finished their upgrade and it doesn't put them anywhere in the point scoring position. When the upgrades kick in for the other teams, they are simply left behind.
A near one-two for the Brawns saw Jenson Button lead the grid tomorrow. The fact that Jenson and Barichello are on the cleaner side of the track tomorrow will probably left the pack lead by the Brawns.
But being the only KERS-equipped car in the top ten, Massa is a big threat to the others, especially upon startup. If things goes okay for him, we could see the Scarlet Car jumping ahead the queue and simply take the lead. And being a little bit slower, he might just hold off the other car behind him.
One more thing, the Ferrari is heavier than the other four car! A delight in the Ferrari camp that without the extra weight, they might be as fast as the pole sitter! Here are the rest of the field at post qualifying weighing :
1. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 646kg
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 651.5
3. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 649.5
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 655
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 651.5
6. Timo Glock, Toyota, 646.5
7. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 645
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 668
10. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 660
11. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 676.6
12. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 677.4
13. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 676.3
14. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 683
15. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673
17. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 669
18. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 657
19. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 675
20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 656
Anybody who took Steve Slater advice regarding the Toyotas to shine at Catalunya, I pity you all. Behind the Toyotas are a group of heavily fuelled cars - some of them might run a one stop strategy and finish in points.
Alonso, fuelled light for the Qualifying, secure eighth. Previous years saw Alonso to have good startup in Catalunya and similar circuit. He might overtake a fer cars in the process and seal a higher point score.
Catalunya have a short pit lane, some of the front running cars might do a three stop strategy as usually done by Ferrari in the Schumacher era. Fast flowing corners emphasize on the benefit of KERS. Only two teams opted to run KERS - Ferrari and McLaren. Renault and BMW chose to abandon the technology for Catalunya.
No comments:
Post a Comment