October 27, 2012

F1 Quals: India 2012

For a brief instant in Q3, there was a window of opportunity for somebody... anybody... to derail the Seb Vettel Express, as he had a moment of excitement that required him to come into the pits and stake the whole session on one hot lap.  Did any of the other members of the Circus step in and bring his reign of terror to an end?  Here's the provisional grid for the 2012 Grand Prix of India:

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:26.387 1:25.435 1:25.283
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:26.744 1:25.610 1:25.327
3 Shiv Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.516 1:25.816 1:25.544
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.564 1:25.467 1:25.659
5 HWCBN(UCC) Ferrari 1:26.829 1:25.834 1:25.773
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.939 1:26.111 1:25.857
7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:26.740 1:26.101 1:26.236
8 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.179 1:26.076 1:26.360
9 Mahamandaleshwar Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:26.048 1:25.983 1:26.713
10 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.458 1:25.976 No time
11 Lettuce Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:26.897 1:26.136
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:27.185 1:26.241
13 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:26.851 1:26.331
14 Slappy Schumacher Mercedes 1:27.482 1:26.574
15 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:27.006 1:26.777
16 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:27.462 1:26.989
17 Gandalf Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.517 1:27.219
18 Jules Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:27.525

19 The Red Menace
Caterham-Renault 1:28.756

20 Heikki Kovalaineninnie Caterham-Renault 1:29.500

21 Tim O'Glockenspiel Marussia-Cosworth 1:29.613

22 Pete Rose
HRT-Cosworth 1:30.592

23 Narain Kittylitter HRT-Cosworth 1:30.593

24 Charles ToothPic Marussia-Cosworth 1:30.662


Q1 107% Time
1:32.071


Nope.  It's Red Bull's third front-row lockout in a row, and things look good for the young German's fourth race win in a row on Sunday.  Make no mistake, the RB8 is kicking the field's collective diffusers now, and if something doesn't happen quickly, the Driver's Championship is going to be Vettel's again.  There's something eerily telling about the way the first three rows wound up, with the Number One driver from Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari leading their respective Number Twos.  I don't know why I think that's important, I just do.

As far as Qualifying sessions go, this one was.  Not particularly exciting nor dull, it was just there... particularly since the pole-winner was practically preordained, what with the way Sebby's been dominating here all weekend: he was the fastest in P1, P2, P3, second-best in Q1, and fastest in Q2 and Q3.  In point of fact, he's never been below 2nd in any session EVER here at Buddh International Circuit.  Yes, it's a small sample size, but still.

Weather looks hot and clear tomorrow, so it may be all we'll have to deal with is dust.  We'll find out in the morning, see you then for F1Update!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:27 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 445 words, total size 17 kb.

1 I see we have a new acronym. What does it mean?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 27, 2012 05:30 PM (+rSRq)

2 I've given him a promotion of sorts... after many years, the Ferrari driver in question is now He Who Can Be Named (Under Certain Circumstances).  We'll see how it goes.  It won't take much for him to end up back as HWMNBN, but he could end up as Fernando Alonso, too.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 27, 2012 08:01 PM (JTE1l)

3 Isn't Button #3 (red camera T) and Hamilton #4 (yellow camera tee)?  

Posted by: metalshields at October 27, 2012 08:08 PM (etVFe)

4 Yup.  Doesn't mean that Button was the #1 driver in McLaren's eyes (that is, until Shiv decided to leave for Mercedes).

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 27, 2012 11:44 PM (JTE1l)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.
39kb generated in CPU 0.0134, elapsed 0.1064 seconds.
47 queries taking 0.0964 seconds, 237 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.