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Friday’s Free Practice session, held in variable weather conditions, saw a Ferrari-Red Bull-Ferrari-Red Bull set at the sharp end of the time sheets, with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel doing the honours for teams, teams and Felipe Massa and Mark Webber respectively slotting in.
Thus, when Saturday’s final practice session – again held in wet-dry conditions – saw the same quartet dominate proceedings, albeit with the two Red Bullers alternately leading the Ferraris in a Vettel-Alonso-Webber-Massa sequence order, it was clear the rest of the grid faced a frustrating Saturday afternoon.
So it proved, although, as always in F1, things are not that simple for rain throughout Friday and a wet track on Saturday meant the 24-car field had been unable to properly check tyre degradation, while dry set-ups were still being experimented with well into qualifying as the track dried out and times improved. But, given the topsy-turvy conditions which reigned through the three FP sessions, who would have thought the fight for pole would be won by just two-thousands of a second, with Vettel trouncing Alonso in the dying second of the hour-long session?
With the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael in the morning sandwiching Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren for the next three places things looked promising for the two Mercedes-powered teams, although reigning champion Jenson Button was, as he had been on Friday, well out of the top ten in his McLaren during FP3.
Still, free practice sessions don’t directly affect grid positions or points’ standings, so qualifying was eagerly awaited after a start to the weekend which delivered very little excitement apart from a few spills and spins on the greasy Hockenheim track which last saw F1 action two years ago on account of a rotating deal struck with the Nürburgring.
However, no sooner did the white knuckle hour start than it was interrupted by red flags, for on his second flyer Tonio Liuzzi rode a kerb in his Force India, hit standing water and careered into the pit wall. Carbon fibre shards covered the track, taking six minutes to clear. Come the end of Q1 the usual six suspects, namely the two Lotuses (Loti?), Virgins and HRTs, were out, as was, of course, Liuzzi, who escaped unscathed from seemed, from the outside, a spectacular accident.
Although Q2 ended pretty much as expected, with the Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari bringing up the rear, there were surprises further up. Adrian Sutil, desperate for a good showing at home despite being overshadowed by Vettel, Rosberg and Schumacher in the German performance stakes, posted 14th after a scratchy session, his problems being compounded by a gearbox change, which brings with it a five grid slot penalty. So, P19 it is...
Then, fans of the robust Kamui Kobayashi were disappointed when the Japanese failed to break into the top ten – he lines up 12th – but, really, the Sauber C29 is still a long way from being a regular Q3 contender.
However, the biggest shock came in the dying moments of Q2 when Williams’s Nico Hulkenberg pipped compatriot Schumacher for tenth, meaning the seven-time champion starts as fourth German in the national stakes in Germany, ahead of only Sutil and Timo Glock, who suffered transmission maladies in his Virgin.
‘There isn’t much more to say about qualifying other than the result was what was achievable for us today,’ the Mercedes driver explained afterwards. ‘Clearly it was disappointing because we expected to fight for fifth or sixth place but from the difference between our two cars, you can see our results are what the potential was. If I want to find something positive, it is that at least I will be starting from the better side of the grid and in the end, I prefer 11th to 10th place because of that.’ That, and the fact that Schumi has a free of choice of tyres, for only the top ten have to start on the rubber they qualified with.
Afterwards he blamed a ban on in-season testing for his team’s lack of performance, stating that this factor totally changed the dynamic of Formula 1. It was the only top-line sport in which any form of testing or training was banned between events, he added. However, the irony that the ban was a direct result of the mega-budgets and dedicated test facilities at his disposal during his Ferrari years and led to the partnership’s utter domination was seemingly lost on him. We are now seeing the effects of a level playing field…
However, the big news was, of course, Hulkenberg’s performance, although, as proven by Rubens Barrichello in the other Williams as he slotted in ahead of Rosberg for eighth, Sir Frank’s blue-white cars are again a force.
‘It was positive to get both cars into the top ten; I think there was a bit more there time-wise at around about Rubens’ pace, but I didn’t have the greatest run right at the end of Q3,’ the former A1GP champion and protégé of Willi Weber (Schumacher’s former manager) said modestly. ‘That said, we have a good platform for a strong race tomorrow.’
Mercedes car woes
For the other German Nico, namely Rosberg, the day proved a disappointment after a good Friday. ‘I was hoping for a strong weekend here in Hockenheim in front of our fans,’ said Nico, ‘but I struggled a lot in qualifying today. It’s really disappointing and it seems that we are just not making our developments work as well as we hoped this weekend which we need to look into.’
Having brought the largest update package of all to Germany, Mercedes was obviously baffled by its lack of (relative) pace, as team principal Ross Brawn explained. ‘We obviously had a disappointing qualifying today at one of our home races, particularly considering the promise we showed over the practice sessions. With the changeable weather conditions over the weekend and a new aero package on the car, clearly we haven’t understood how to get the best from it here.’.
For the perennial Rubens Barrichello Hockenheim, where he scored his maiden GP victory with Ferrari in 2000, brought good fortune. ‘ It was a good day all told. In Q2, I set my best time and it was a fantastic lap, and in Q3 for some reason I developed a bit of understeer and lost some balance. So it was a bit of a shame not to be able to repeat the performance as I thought we were capable of P7. That said, we have to be happy with two cars in the top ten and it gives us confidence for good points tomorrow.’
Robert Kubica seems to have a season-long lock on seventh, for, failing drama further up, the Pole is generally the best-placed driver behind the Red Bulls, Ferrari and McLarens. Once again he had a trouble-free day, and bar the unexpected, can look forward to a good points’ haul.
‘I am reasonably happy to be seventh on the grid and I think that, for now, we have to realise that we could not have qualified any higher than this,’ he commented afterwards. ‘My lap could have been better, because I was held up by a Red Bull in the final sector, but I don’t think it would have changed my position. We have had a couple of issues with the car here and in Silverstone, and I have not felt as confident with it, so we know that it’s important to keep working to improve the feeling because that will give us more consistency.’
Webber, on his slow down lap, had (ever so) slightly baulked Robert despite doing everything to move aside – causing the Red Bull driver to post a slower ‘in’ lap than stipulated. Having explained the cause, the Australian escaped with a reprimand rather than penalty, which seemed a sensible solution.
‘Blown floor’ bust?
A measure of the overall superiority of the top three teams is that, despite still not having their ‘blown floor’ working perfectly, McLaren starts sixth and fifth with Button and Hamilton respectively. The MP4-25A is startlingly fast in a straight line – the result of the properly integrated F-duct wing, which device the team invented – posting 317 km/h via Button at the fastest point on the 4,574-kilometre clockwise circuit versus, for example, the 311 and 308 achieved by Vettel and Alonso respectively. Thus the opening could be fun...
‘We have reason to be confident that our race pace will be stronger,’ said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh. ‘Our straight-line speed is impressive – perhaps more than needed for an optimal qualifying set-up – but it’s likely to pay dividends tomorrow.’
The drivers had, though, both endured scratchy weekends, with Button, desperate to at least maintain second in the championship behind leader Hamilton, languishing outside the top ten for most of the weekend, while his team-mate crashed heavily on Friday, ripping off all four corners.
‘It took a little bit of time for us to get used to the balance of the car this weekend. I was pretty happy with my final lap, so I don’t know where the extra seven tenths [to pole] is. And that’s the slightly worrying thing: it was a good lap, and I don’t really think there was anything else I could’ve got out of the car,’ said Jens.
“But we’ve definitely made a step forward with the blown diffuser – it’s still not quite enough in qualifying spec, but, hopefully, we’ll see some more performance tomorrow. “From fifth on the grid, we can still have a good race, and this is a fun place to go racing.’
Hamilton was more low-key: ‘My qualifying pace wasn’t great today – there was definitely a bit more time to be gained somewhere. I did the best job I could – it’s just the two teams in front did a slightly better job.
‘We’re the fastest down the straights, but we don’t have quite enough downforce at the moment. We’ll keep on pushing, but we know we have more work to do.’ Still, that speed advantage on a circuit with a 220 km/h average speed is pretty impressive, and the two silver cars will be difficult to fend off in a straight line come the start of the 67-lap race at 14 00 Sunday.
“I made a mistake”
And so to the top four. Webber admitted to making a hash of his final lap, paying the price for it by failing to qualify on the front row for the first time since the opener in Bahrain. The time delta to team-mate Vettel is also the largest of the season, so all in it was hardly a good day for the Australian, who then suffered the annoyance of the stewards’ enquiry.
‘I made a mistake in Turn 1 on my final lap. I turned in a bit late and cut the kerb, which took me wide so I had to abandon the lap. It was a shame I couldn’t take advantage of improving track conditions at the end of the session; it wasn’t the best day for me. I let the boys down a bit, but Seb (Vettel) did a good lap for pole,’ he said self-effacingly. ‘Fourth is still not too bad – let’s see what we can do from there tomorrow.’
Precisely a year after his horrific accident in Hungary Massa had, though, reason to smile with third on the grid. At times this year the likable Sao Paolista has looked as though he walked under a ladder too many, but yesterday he seemed at peace with his world, for third marked his qualifying position since Bahrain.
‘I am pleased with this third place, as it means I am in a good position for the start of the race,’ he said, echoing the widely-held belief that the ‘odd’ side of the Hockenheim grid offers better traction on account of it being on the racing line, and thus being well rubbered in.
‘It gives us a chance to score a lot of points for the team and that is our objective for tomorrow, as we lost too many in recent races! Therefore, we hope the negative run that dates back to Canada end here in Germany.’
Ferrari team-mate Alonso, too, had one of his best Saturdays of 2010, qualifying on the front row for the first time this year. The combative Spaniard, whose style is more bullfighter than race driver, is clearly relishing the opening lap: ‘ I am happy to be back on the front row after such a long time! We’ve been competitive all weekend, so this result is not a surprise: although perhaps the small gap to the Red Bull is, given that so far, even when we were close in free practice, or in Q1 and Q2, then in Q3, they always seemed to have that little bit extra.
‘For a few races now, the F10 has improved a lot and that has finally led to us being in the fight for pole position. We’ve had a good Saturday, but now we have to do the same again on Sunday, as the points are only given out tomorrow. The start? At Silverstone, the theoretically slower dirty side was actually cleaner and I hope the same will be true here! We will give it our all in trying to win’
Which tells SebVet exactly what to expect. There is, though, a question mark over tyre degradation on account of limited dry running during the weekend. ‘Tyres could be a significant unknown factor tomorrow: the track has improved so much over the past two days and we are using them much more than yesterday, so we could expect some surprises on the strategy front,’ he said pointedly.
Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, too, believes we are in for an unpredictable Sunday. ‘There is still plenty of scope for the track surface to improve with more rubber laid, so the strategy if it stays dry will be interesting as teams react to the lap times and their track positions,’ he said Saturday evening. ‘If any drivers in the top ten have graining on their qualifying set of tyres, they will have to pit earlier than if they did not, so this will be another good aspect of tyre focus.’
However, his analysis of the delta between first and second was even more intriguing: ‘Today we had a beautiful qualifying session. The top two drivers used the potential of the super soft Bridgestone to the maximum and for two different drivers in different cars to qualify just 0.002secs apart is incredible! If both cars started their quickest lap at the same time, Sebastian would have been just 15cm ahead of Fernando at the end of the 4.574 km. Remarkable!’
But, the day – and thus last word - belongs to the best driver on the day, home soil or not: ‘That was extremely exciting, especially in Q3. I knew that both times I went out I only had one timed lap, so I had to get it right. It’s difficult here, there are some places that can easily lead you into a mistake on this track,’ said Vettel after his demon final lap, which he believes could have been even better.
‘If you push too much then you can lose the edge of the tyres and some time. My final lap wasn’t 100%
perfect and there were a couple of places where I went over the limit, which cost me some time. But, in the
end, it was enough – although only just – to stay ahead and get the pole. I am extremely happy – thanks to
the team. It is the first time I am on pole at home, but the main challenge will come tomorrow.’
Indeed – with dry weather and coolish skies promised throughout, we could have a repeat of that thriller in Canada. If not, the German Grand Prix still promises to be thrilling.
Thus, when Saturday’s final practice session – again held in wet-dry conditions – saw the same quartet dominate proceedings, albeit with the two Red Bullers alternately leading the Ferraris in a Vettel-Alonso-Webber-Massa sequence order, it was clear the rest of the grid faced a frustrating Saturday afternoon.
So it proved, although, as always in F1, things are not that simple for rain throughout Friday and a wet track on Saturday meant the 24-car field had been unable to properly check tyre degradation, while dry set-ups were still being experimented with well into qualifying as the track dried out and times improved. But, given the topsy-turvy conditions which reigned through the three FP sessions, who would have thought the fight for pole would be won by just two-thousands of a second, with Vettel trouncing Alonso in the dying second of the hour-long session?
With the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael in the morning sandwiching Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren for the next three places things looked promising for the two Mercedes-powered teams, although reigning champion Jenson Button was, as he had been on Friday, well out of the top ten in his McLaren during FP3.
Still, free practice sessions don’t directly affect grid positions or points’ standings, so qualifying was eagerly awaited after a start to the weekend which delivered very little excitement apart from a few spills and spins on the greasy Hockenheim track which last saw F1 action two years ago on account of a rotating deal struck with the Nürburgring.
However, no sooner did the white knuckle hour start than it was interrupted by red flags, for on his second flyer Tonio Liuzzi rode a kerb in his Force India, hit standing water and careered into the pit wall. Carbon fibre shards covered the track, taking six minutes to clear. Come the end of Q1 the usual six suspects, namely the two Lotuses (Loti?), Virgins and HRTs, were out, as was, of course, Liuzzi, who escaped unscathed from seemed, from the outside, a spectacular accident.
Although Q2 ended pretty much as expected, with the Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari bringing up the rear, there were surprises further up. Adrian Sutil, desperate for a good showing at home despite being overshadowed by Vettel, Rosberg and Schumacher in the German performance stakes, posted 14th after a scratchy session, his problems being compounded by a gearbox change, which brings with it a five grid slot penalty. So, P19 it is...
Then, fans of the robust Kamui Kobayashi were disappointed when the Japanese failed to break into the top ten – he lines up 12th – but, really, the Sauber C29 is still a long way from being a regular Q3 contender.
However, the biggest shock came in the dying moments of Q2 when Williams’s Nico Hulkenberg pipped compatriot Schumacher for tenth, meaning the seven-time champion starts as fourth German in the national stakes in Germany, ahead of only Sutil and Timo Glock, who suffered transmission maladies in his Virgin.
‘There isn’t much more to say about qualifying other than the result was what was achievable for us today,’ the Mercedes driver explained afterwards. ‘Clearly it was disappointing because we expected to fight for fifth or sixth place but from the difference between our two cars, you can see our results are what the potential was. If I want to find something positive, it is that at least I will be starting from the better side of the grid and in the end, I prefer 11th to 10th place because of that.’ That, and the fact that Schumi has a free of choice of tyres, for only the top ten have to start on the rubber they qualified with.
Afterwards he blamed a ban on in-season testing for his team’s lack of performance, stating that this factor totally changed the dynamic of Formula 1. It was the only top-line sport in which any form of testing or training was banned between events, he added. However, the irony that the ban was a direct result of the mega-budgets and dedicated test facilities at his disposal during his Ferrari years and led to the partnership’s utter domination was seemingly lost on him. We are now seeing the effects of a level playing field…
However, the big news was, of course, Hulkenberg’s performance, although, as proven by Rubens Barrichello in the other Williams as he slotted in ahead of Rosberg for eighth, Sir Frank’s blue-white cars are again a force.
‘It was positive to get both cars into the top ten; I think there was a bit more there time-wise at around about Rubens’ pace, but I didn’t have the greatest run right at the end of Q3,’ the former A1GP champion and protégé of Willi Weber (Schumacher’s former manager) said modestly. ‘That said, we have a good platform for a strong race tomorrow.’
Mercedes car woes
For the other German Nico, namely Rosberg, the day proved a disappointment after a good Friday. ‘I was hoping for a strong weekend here in Hockenheim in front of our fans,’ said Nico, ‘but I struggled a lot in qualifying today. It’s really disappointing and it seems that we are just not making our developments work as well as we hoped this weekend which we need to look into.’
Having brought the largest update package of all to Germany, Mercedes was obviously baffled by its lack of (relative) pace, as team principal Ross Brawn explained. ‘We obviously had a disappointing qualifying today at one of our home races, particularly considering the promise we showed over the practice sessions. With the changeable weather conditions over the weekend and a new aero package on the car, clearly we haven’t understood how to get the best from it here.’.
For the perennial Rubens Barrichello Hockenheim, where he scored his maiden GP victory with Ferrari in 2000, brought good fortune. ‘ It was a good day all told. In Q2, I set my best time and it was a fantastic lap, and in Q3 for some reason I developed a bit of understeer and lost some balance. So it was a bit of a shame not to be able to repeat the performance as I thought we were capable of P7. That said, we have to be happy with two cars in the top ten and it gives us confidence for good points tomorrow.’
Robert Kubica seems to have a season-long lock on seventh, for, failing drama further up, the Pole is generally the best-placed driver behind the Red Bulls, Ferrari and McLarens. Once again he had a trouble-free day, and bar the unexpected, can look forward to a good points’ haul.
‘I am reasonably happy to be seventh on the grid and I think that, for now, we have to realise that we could not have qualified any higher than this,’ he commented afterwards. ‘My lap could have been better, because I was held up by a Red Bull in the final sector, but I don’t think it would have changed my position. We have had a couple of issues with the car here and in Silverstone, and I have not felt as confident with it, so we know that it’s important to keep working to improve the feeling because that will give us more consistency.’
Webber, on his slow down lap, had (ever so) slightly baulked Robert despite doing everything to move aside – causing the Red Bull driver to post a slower ‘in’ lap than stipulated. Having explained the cause, the Australian escaped with a reprimand rather than penalty, which seemed a sensible solution.
‘Blown floor’ bust?
A measure of the overall superiority of the top three teams is that, despite still not having their ‘blown floor’ working perfectly, McLaren starts sixth and fifth with Button and Hamilton respectively. The MP4-25A is startlingly fast in a straight line – the result of the properly integrated F-duct wing, which device the team invented – posting 317 km/h via Button at the fastest point on the 4,574-kilometre clockwise circuit versus, for example, the 311 and 308 achieved by Vettel and Alonso respectively. Thus the opening could be fun...
‘We have reason to be confident that our race pace will be stronger,’ said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh. ‘Our straight-line speed is impressive – perhaps more than needed for an optimal qualifying set-up – but it’s likely to pay dividends tomorrow.’
The drivers had, though, both endured scratchy weekends, with Button, desperate to at least maintain second in the championship behind leader Hamilton, languishing outside the top ten for most of the weekend, while his team-mate crashed heavily on Friday, ripping off all four corners.
‘It took a little bit of time for us to get used to the balance of the car this weekend. I was pretty happy with my final lap, so I don’t know where the extra seven tenths [to pole] is. And that’s the slightly worrying thing: it was a good lap, and I don’t really think there was anything else I could’ve got out of the car,’ said Jens.
“But we’ve definitely made a step forward with the blown diffuser – it’s still not quite enough in qualifying spec, but, hopefully, we’ll see some more performance tomorrow. “From fifth on the grid, we can still have a good race, and this is a fun place to go racing.’
Hamilton was more low-key: ‘My qualifying pace wasn’t great today – there was definitely a bit more time to be gained somewhere. I did the best job I could – it’s just the two teams in front did a slightly better job.
‘We’re the fastest down the straights, but we don’t have quite enough downforce at the moment. We’ll keep on pushing, but we know we have more work to do.’ Still, that speed advantage on a circuit with a 220 km/h average speed is pretty impressive, and the two silver cars will be difficult to fend off in a straight line come the start of the 67-lap race at 14 00 Sunday.
“I made a mistake”
And so to the top four. Webber admitted to making a hash of his final lap, paying the price for it by failing to qualify on the front row for the first time since the opener in Bahrain. The time delta to team-mate Vettel is also the largest of the season, so all in it was hardly a good day for the Australian, who then suffered the annoyance of the stewards’ enquiry.
‘I made a mistake in Turn 1 on my final lap. I turned in a bit late and cut the kerb, which took me wide so I had to abandon the lap. It was a shame I couldn’t take advantage of improving track conditions at the end of the session; it wasn’t the best day for me. I let the boys down a bit, but Seb (Vettel) did a good lap for pole,’ he said self-effacingly. ‘Fourth is still not too bad – let’s see what we can do from there tomorrow.’
Precisely a year after his horrific accident in Hungary Massa had, though, reason to smile with third on the grid. At times this year the likable Sao Paolista has looked as though he walked under a ladder too many, but yesterday he seemed at peace with his world, for third marked his qualifying position since Bahrain.
‘I am pleased with this third place, as it means I am in a good position for the start of the race,’ he said, echoing the widely-held belief that the ‘odd’ side of the Hockenheim grid offers better traction on account of it being on the racing line, and thus being well rubbered in.
‘It gives us a chance to score a lot of points for the team and that is our objective for tomorrow, as we lost too many in recent races! Therefore, we hope the negative run that dates back to Canada end here in Germany.’
Ferrari team-mate Alonso, too, had one of his best Saturdays of 2010, qualifying on the front row for the first time this year. The combative Spaniard, whose style is more bullfighter than race driver, is clearly relishing the opening lap: ‘ I am happy to be back on the front row after such a long time! We’ve been competitive all weekend, so this result is not a surprise: although perhaps the small gap to the Red Bull is, given that so far, even when we were close in free practice, or in Q1 and Q2, then in Q3, they always seemed to have that little bit extra.
‘For a few races now, the F10 has improved a lot and that has finally led to us being in the fight for pole position. We’ve had a good Saturday, but now we have to do the same again on Sunday, as the points are only given out tomorrow. The start? At Silverstone, the theoretically slower dirty side was actually cleaner and I hope the same will be true here! We will give it our all in trying to win’
Which tells SebVet exactly what to expect. There is, though, a question mark over tyre degradation on account of limited dry running during the weekend. ‘Tyres could be a significant unknown factor tomorrow: the track has improved so much over the past two days and we are using them much more than yesterday, so we could expect some surprises on the strategy front,’ he said pointedly.
Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, too, believes we are in for an unpredictable Sunday. ‘There is still plenty of scope for the track surface to improve with more rubber laid, so the strategy if it stays dry will be interesting as teams react to the lap times and their track positions,’ he said Saturday evening. ‘If any drivers in the top ten have graining on their qualifying set of tyres, they will have to pit earlier than if they did not, so this will be another good aspect of tyre focus.’
However, his analysis of the delta between first and second was even more intriguing: ‘Today we had a beautiful qualifying session. The top two drivers used the potential of the super soft Bridgestone to the maximum and for two different drivers in different cars to qualify just 0.002secs apart is incredible! If both cars started their quickest lap at the same time, Sebastian would have been just 15cm ahead of Fernando at the end of the 4.574 km. Remarkable!’
But, the day – and thus last word - belongs to the best driver on the day, home soil or not: ‘That was extremely exciting, especially in Q3. I knew that both times I went out I only had one timed lap, so I had to get it right. It’s difficult here, there are some places that can easily lead you into a mistake on this track,’ said Vettel after his demon final lap, which he believes could have been even better.
‘If you push too much then you can lose the edge of the tyres and some time. My final lap wasn’t 100%
perfect and there were a couple of places where I went over the limit, which cost me some time. But, in the
end, it was enough – although only just – to stay ahead and get the pole. I am extremely happy – thanks to
the team. It is the first time I am on pole at home, but the main challenge will come tomorrow.’
Indeed – with dry weather and coolish skies promised throughout, we could have a repeat of that thriller in Canada. If not, the German Grand Prix still promises to be thrilling.