May 14, 2016

F1 Quals: Spain 2016

A beeee-yootiful day greeted the Circus in Barcalounger, perfect weather to go fast in: sunny and warm.  Throw in the anticipated upgrades to the cars, and excitement was in the air... or are those the smells coming from the Stop 'n' Chicken booth?  Either way, we need to look at the provisional grid for the 2016 Grand Prix of Spain:

Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.214 1:22.159 1:22.000
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.002 1:22.759 1:22.280
3 Smiley Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:23.749 1:23.585 1:22.680
4 Embryo Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:23.578 1:23.178 1:23.087
5 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.796 1:23.504 1:23.113
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:24.124 1:23.688 1:23.334
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.251 1:24.023 1:23.522
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:24.496 1:24.077 1:23.643
9 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.698 1:24.003 1:23.782
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:24.578 1:24.192 1:23.981
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:24.463 1:24.203
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:24.583 1:24.348
13 Kid Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:24.696 1:24.445
14 Lettuce Grosjean Haas 1:24.716 1:24.480
15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:24.669 1:24.625
16 Esteban! Haas 1:24.406 1:24.778
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:24.903

18 Felipe Not Nasr Massa Williams 1:24.941

19 Sony Ericsson Sauber 1:25.202

20 Felipe Not Massa Nasr Sauber 1:25.579

21 Pascal's Wager Manor 1:25.745

22 Rio Rainbow Gate Manor 1:25.939


If Lewis Hamilton is going to make a run at points leader Nico Rosberg, this is where he needs to start, and Barcalounger's propensity of giving the win to the polesitter seems to bode well for the Brit.  The surprise isn't that he's on pole, though... it's that Ferrari isn't on the second row.  Instead, it's the new Red Bull combination of Smiley Ricciardo and Embryo Verstappen that poses the nearest "threat" to the Silver Arrows.

And yes, I said Verstappen is driving for Red Bull.  Earlier this week it was announced that Kid Kvyat was being moved to Toro Rosso, with The Embryo moving to the Grownup's Team.  Allegedly this was going to happen in 2017 anyway, but it seems much more likely to be due to Kvyat's ham-fisted mauling of Seb Vettel last race. 

In any case, I have my doubts as to whether Red Bull can mount a legit challenge to the Mercs, but I guess we'll see.  I suspect a Mercedes 1-2 is in the offing... oh wait.  That's almost every race, isn't it?

Haas seems poised for points again, with Lettuce is 14th.  Maybe the biggest shocker is Fernando Alonso dragging his McLaren kicking and screaming into Q3 for the first time since the team took on Honda engines.

Race is in the morning... see ya then!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:29 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 440 words, total size 27 kb.

1 Unless one of the other teams pulls a miracle out of its hat before too much longer, this season is going to be like last season where Mercedes totally trounces everyone else. Snore.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 12:30 AM (+rSRq)

2 By the way, which qualification system are we using now?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 01:07 AM (+rSRq)

3 Holy Moley!!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 07:10 AM (+rSRq)

4 Steven, we're back to the "old" knockout-style of Quals, not the new elimination-style.

Posted by: Wonderduck at May 15, 2016 07:16 AM (XQ5ac)

5

"Knock-out", eh? heh heh heh

(Damn; I'm bursting with smartass comments I want to make about today's race and I'm holding them in waiting for your writeup.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 12:31 PM (+rSRq)

6 Steven, your comment at 710am was already pushing my "no spoilers" rule.  As it was, it managed to take away the element of surprise for me... I knew something was going to happen... so please, control yourself.

Posted by: Wonderduck at May 15, 2016 03:23 PM (XQ5ac)

7 I'm very sorry. I thought you were watching live.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 03:31 PM (+rSRq)

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