April 13, 2019

F1 Quals: China 2019

Formula 1 believes this weekend to be the 1000th official Grand Prix.  And it is, if you take into account the 11 Indianapolis 500 that were considered as part of the calendar.  If you don't, stop being a Eurosnob and realize the FIA disagrees with you.  So China becomes the 1000th race, and I'm sure that wasn't intentional in the least.  Here's the provisional grid for the 2019 Grand Prix of China:

Pos
Driver
Car Q1 Q2 Q3
1
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 
1:32.658          
1:31.728         
1:31.547
2
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.115 1:31.637 1:31.570
3
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.557 1:32.232 1:31.848
4
Charles AMX-30      Ferrari 1:32.712 1:32.324 1:31.865
5
DH Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:33.274 1:32.369 1:32.089
6
Pierre Ghastly Red Bull Racing
1:33.863 1:32.948 1:32.930
7
Smiley Ricciardo Renault 1:33.709 1:33.214 1:32.958
8
Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:33.644 1:32.968 1:32.962
9
DP Magnussen
Haas Ferrari 1:34.036 1:33.150 DNF
10
Lettuce Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:33.752 1:33.156 DNF
11
Torpedo Kvyat Toro Rosso
1:33.783 1:33.236

12
Sergio Perez Racing Point
1:34.026 1:33.299

13
Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing       
1:34.125 1:33.419

14
Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault 1:33.686 1:33.523

15
Lando Calrissian  McLaren Renault 1:34.148 1:33.967

16
Pleasant Stroll Racing Point
1:34.292


17
George Russell Williams Mercedes 1:35.253


18
Dumbass Kubica Williams Mercedes 1:35.281


NC
Tony Snazzy Alfa Romeo Racing
DNF



Sharp-eyed readers will notice that there's only 19 names listed.  Good call!  Mitch Albon managed to comprehensively destroy his Toro Rosso with only a couple minutes of Practice 3 remaining, and the team wasn't able to build up a new one for him in the couple of hours between then and Quals.  While he didn't destroy his car, Alfa Romeo's Tony Snazzy had a serious power unit problem that the team couldn't repair in time to send him forth.  What this means is that Williams avoided being on the last row for the first time this season!

You've also probably noticed that both Haas drivers DNF'd in Q3.  That's because they got caught in a kerfluffle between Vettel and Verstappen right at the end of the session.  The two "V" drivers were doing a "After you Alphonse, after you Gaston" routine, behaving in accordance to the the "unwritten rules" that state that drivers don't pass each other on track at in quals.  After essentially blocking the track, Vettel decided that the Dutchman was going too slowly, charged past the Red Bull driver and raced around to the line in time to be able to take one more flying lap.  Verstappen, for his part, has said that he had backed off to give himself room to the car ahead and Vettel prevented him from taking a final shot at pole.  Meanwhile, both Haas drivers were blaming the "V" drivers for not being able to do their runs.  The "good" news is that at most they'd likely be only able to move up a single spot on the grid.  So probably no harm done.  Verstappen would disagree, bitching that he could have improved on 5th.

So the race is tonight, at midnight here at The Pond... I'm unsure as to what the quality will be, there's been a lot of Mercedes running away so far.  It's been a dusty track so far... apparently a huge cement plant is upwind of the complex... and that's made it a little hard on the tires so far.  We shall see!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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