June 09, 2012

F1 Quals: Canada 2012

First let me extend apologies for the delay.  F1U! Central has been without internet since 11am and it's only just come back.  There was a brief power outage, presumably caused by the heat, and while everything else restarted (or was off for so little time that the outage wasn't noticed), some vital piece of electronica did not.

Now then, to the joys of F1.  Here's the provisional grid for the 2012 Grand Prix of Canada:

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:14.661 1:14.187 1:13.784
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.891 1:14.371 1:14.087
3 HWMNBN Ferrari 1:14.916 1:14.314 1:14.151
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:14.956 1:14.479 1:14.346
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.098 1:14.568 1:14.411
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:15.194 1:14.641 1:14.465
7 Lettuce Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:15.163 1:14.627 1:14.645
8 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:15.019 1:14.639 1:14.705
9 Slappy Schumacher Mercedes 1:14.892 1:14.480 1:14.812
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.799 1:14.680 1:15.182
11 Gandalf Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.101 1:14.688
12 Mumbles Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:14.995 1:14.734
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:15.106 1:14.748
14 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:15.552 1:15.078
15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.326 1:15.156
16 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:14.995 1:15.170
17 Mar Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:14.979 1:15.231
18 Heikki Kovalaineninnie Caterham-Renault 1:16.263

19 The Red Menace Caterham-Renault 1:16.482

20 Jules Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:16.602

21 Pete Rose HRT-Cosworth 1:17.492

22 Tim O'Glockenspiel Marussia-Cosworth 1:17.901

23 Charles ToothPic Marussia-Cosworth 1:18.255

24 Narain Kittylitter HRT-Cosworth 1:18.330


Q1 107% Time
1:19.887

Fastest in all three sessions of Qualifying, it's clear Mr Vettel was on something of a mission today.  Accomplished, I presume, though I suspect he has plans for Sunday as well.  One gets the feeling that the team needed this.  They had been receiving flak for the past week as the RB8's floor had been ruled illegal after Monaco (no penalty, change before Montreal), and just the other day their wheel hubs had been found to be against the rules (something about them being aerodynamic aids and helping to cool the brakes, change immediately or risk exclusion).  One could imagine Red Bull was feeling somewhat... abused... going into today. 

Other than that, Jenson Button used all his super-soft tires just to get into Q3, including one set that he flat-spotted so badly they're completely unusable.  Expect him to go forever on the soft tires he's currently on.  He got to Q3 only by the (lack-of-)grace of Mer Maldonado.  The Williams driver was on a very hot lap at the end of Q2... indeed, he looked to be faster than Vettel... until he reached the Wall of Champions.  What followed was a broken rear suspension and a looping, spinning save of the highest level, bringing the FW34 to a halt without any more damage. 

As much as it pains me to admit, Ferrari looks very quick this weekend.  I don't know if they'll have anything for Vettel or not, but I'd expect to see HWMNBN on the podium at the end of the race.

F1U!, as mentioned before, will be delayed while I am attending a birthday party in Chicago.  Again, if someone wants to volunteer to do the Update! this race, let me know in the comments.  Otherwise, the Update! will be along when it's done... probably Monday night.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Let's all root for Hamilton, so that we can have seven different winners in the first seven races! Vettel's already had his; he doesn't need another!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 09, 2012 07:29 PM (+rSRq)

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