Sunday, May 07, 2006
# posted by Rich @ 4:15 AM
Europe qualifying: report
Fernando alonso took his first pole position of the 2006 season, beating Michael and Ferrari team mate Massa to the top spot. As expected, it was going to come down to a fight between the current champion and the former champion, and Alonso came out on top with a time of 1:29.819 - 2 tenths faster than Michael. Massa was a further 4 tenths behind.
Alonso and Michael had played a game of cat and mouse (or possibly tit-for-tat) in the morning practice session, and that time Michael posted the best time. Alonso pulled out all the stop in qualifying however, and according to Peter Windsor, Renault are using a very aggressive fuel strategy (probably a three-stopper). I can' help but feel that this is a somewhat kneejerk reaction by Renault to their defeat in San Marino, and that they are determined to stamp their mark on the championship - a move that could very well be their undiong this weekend.
Q1 was a fairly timid affair (except for a red flag with about 4 minutes left of the session, which appears to have been brought out when one of the Midland cars stopped in the pit lane), and the usual suspects were the first to be eliminated - Klein, Albers, Speed, Monteiro, Sato, Montagny. Liuzzi slotted his way into Q2 by virtue of being 3 tenths faster than his "super teammate" Klein.
Q2 was quite exciting, and towards the end of the session it was a real dice-roller. In the end, most of the usual crew were elimintated, but not without some surprises. Villeneuve was surprisingly quick and got himself into Q3. Ralf was surprisingly slow, and was eliminated. The biggest shock was the elimination of Fisichella for the second race in a row. Fisichella thought that he was baulked badly by Villeneuve, and signalled his frustration by "swearing with his arms" as David Hobbs put it. The fireworks really started after Q2 as Fisichella marched down the pit lane and tried to confront Villeneuve, who was strapped in his car. Lots of fast paced and emotional Italian ensued, during which he apparently called Villeneuve a bastard, which prompted a visit to the Stewards.
So, on to Q3 - the first 15 minutes were boring as hell as usual, but after the pitstops, things livened up, and the game of tit-for-tat between the drivers started. In the end, it was Alonso on top, and we can infer from his lap time that he is starting on a light fuel load.
The top ten is as follows: Alonso, Michael, Massa, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Button, Trulli, Villeneuve, Montoya, Webber. Alonso looks strong for the victory, but it remains to be seen what strategy the Ferraris are on.
Alonso and Michael had played a game of cat and mouse (or possibly tit-for-tat) in the morning practice session, and that time Michael posted the best time. Alonso pulled out all the stop in qualifying however, and according to Peter Windsor, Renault are using a very aggressive fuel strategy (probably a three-stopper). I can' help but feel that this is a somewhat kneejerk reaction by Renault to their defeat in San Marino, and that they are determined to stamp their mark on the championship - a move that could very well be their undiong this weekend.
Q1 was a fairly timid affair (except for a red flag with about 4 minutes left of the session, which appears to have been brought out when one of the Midland cars stopped in the pit lane), and the usual suspects were the first to be eliminated - Klein, Albers, Speed, Monteiro, Sato, Montagny. Liuzzi slotted his way into Q2 by virtue of being 3 tenths faster than his "super teammate" Klein.
Q2 was quite exciting, and towards the end of the session it was a real dice-roller. In the end, most of the usual crew were elimintated, but not without some surprises. Villeneuve was surprisingly quick and got himself into Q3. Ralf was surprisingly slow, and was eliminated. The biggest shock was the elimination of Fisichella for the second race in a row. Fisichella thought that he was baulked badly by Villeneuve, and signalled his frustration by "swearing with his arms" as David Hobbs put it. The fireworks really started after Q2 as Fisichella marched down the pit lane and tried to confront Villeneuve, who was strapped in his car. Lots of fast paced and emotional Italian ensued, during which he apparently called Villeneuve a bastard, which prompted a visit to the Stewards.
So, on to Q3 - the first 15 minutes were boring as hell as usual, but after the pitstops, things livened up, and the game of tit-for-tat between the drivers started. In the end, it was Alonso on top, and we can infer from his lap time that he is starting on a light fuel load.
The top ten is as follows: Alonso, Michael, Massa, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Button, Trulli, Villeneuve, Montoya, Webber. Alonso looks strong for the victory, but it remains to be seen what strategy the Ferraris are on.
Labels: Europe, Formula 1, Grand Prix
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