March 25, 2017
F1 Quals: Australia 2017
It is a before one can race, you must qualify, and that's why the F1
Circus found themselves in Melbourne this afternoon... to begin the 2017
Formula 1 season! Here's the provisional grid for the Grand Prix of
Australia!
The more things change, the more they don't change. Or something like that. Is anybody really surprised that Lewis Hamilton is on pole? What might be surprising is that the top three cars would break the track lap record if they turned it during the race. These cars are fast. We saw a lot of fishtailing and/or spins during the practice sessions and quals, and in most of those cases it looked like the grip just went away for no reason. It may be more sinister than that... new compound tires and faster cars? Hmm... I wonder.
I think the biggest surprise was the difference in performance between Haas teammates Lettuce Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Lettuce is a good'un, we know that, but KMag is a useful driver too. Nearly 1.5 seconds difference in ostensibly the same car? That's huge, and the difference between Q1 and Q3.
Please note the name at #16, Antonio Giovinazzi, who is pushin' to be called Tony Snazzy. He's the reserve driver for both Ferrari and Sauber, and is filling in for Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein injured his back during preseason testing, and while he's okay, he wasn't able to work on his fitness during that time. After driving in the first two practice sessions, he said to the team "I can't do it... the g-forces are beating the hell out of my soft flabby body." Probably. In any case, he took himself out of the seat for the race and Tony Snazzy stepped in on zero notice. He ran in P3, then went right into Quals... and only just missed out on Q2 at the last moment. Not bad.
So, race late tonight/early morning! See ya afterwards!
Pos |
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:24.191 | 1:23.251 | 1:22.188 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:25.210 | 1:23.401 | 1:22.456 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:24.514 | 1:23.215 | 1:22.481 |
4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:24.352 | 1:23.376 | 1:23.033 |
5 | Embryo Verstappen | Red Bull Racing |
1:24.482 | 1:24.092 | 1:23.485 |
6 | Lettuce Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:25.419 | 1:24.718 | 1:24.074 |
7 | Felipe Not Retired Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:25.099 | 1:24.597 | 1:24.443 |
8 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:25.542 | 1:24.997 | 1:24.487 |
9 | Kid Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:25.970 | 1:24.864 | 1:24.512 |
10 | Smiley Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing |
1:25.383 | 1:23.989 | DNF |
11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:25.064 | 1:25.081 | |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:24.975 | 1:25.091 | |
13 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:25.872 | 1:25.425 | |
14 | False Esteban! | Force India Mercedes | 1:26.009 | 1:25.568 | |
15 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:26.236 | 1:26.465 | |
16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber Ferrari | 1:26.419 | ||
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:26.847 | ||
18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Honda | 1:26.858 | ||
19 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:27.143 | ||
20 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:28.244 |
The more things change, the more they don't change. Or something like that. Is anybody really surprised that Lewis Hamilton is on pole? What might be surprising is that the top three cars would break the track lap record if they turned it during the race. These cars are fast. We saw a lot of fishtailing and/or spins during the practice sessions and quals, and in most of those cases it looked like the grip just went away for no reason. It may be more sinister than that... new compound tires and faster cars? Hmm... I wonder.
I think the biggest surprise was the difference in performance between Haas teammates Lettuce Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Lettuce is a good'un, we know that, but KMag is a useful driver too. Nearly 1.5 seconds difference in ostensibly the same car? That's huge, and the difference between Q1 and Q3.
Please note the name at #16, Antonio Giovinazzi, who is pushin' to be called Tony Snazzy. He's the reserve driver for both Ferrari and Sauber, and is filling in for Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein injured his back during preseason testing, and while he's okay, he wasn't able to work on his fitness during that time. After driving in the first two practice sessions, he said to the team "I can't do it... the g-forces are beating the hell out of my soft flabby body." Probably. In any case, he took himself out of the seat for the race and Tony Snazzy stepped in on zero notice. He ran in P3, then went right into Quals... and only just missed out on Q2 at the last moment. Not bad.
So, race late tonight/early morning! See ya afterwards!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:05 PM
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