September 30, 2017
F1 Quals: Malaysia 2017
It's rare that you can look at a particular moment in time as it's happening and say "there. Right there is the point everything changed." I am of the opinion that we experienced that today during Quals. Here's the provisional grid for the 2017 Grand Prix of Malaysia:
The moment came, not during Practice 3 when Seb Vettel's engine started making unfortunate noises, nor when Ferrari decided to replace the entire power unit between sessions. No, it came whenever it was that a Ferrari mechanic neglected to feed the hamster in the new turbo unit just before Vettel went out with just a couple of minutes to go in Q1. The team had done an amazing job just to get his car to this point (you try changing your car's engine in two hours!), but during his out lap the German's turbo actually made an audible "foop" sound and stopped working. And right there, right at that moment, we saw Lewis Hamilton clinch the World Championship.
| Pos |
Driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:31.605 | 1:30.977 | 1:30.076 | |
| 2 | 1:32.259 | 1:30.926 | 1:30.121 | |
| 3 | 1:31.920 | 1:30.931 | 1:30.541 | |
| 4 | 1:32.416 | 1:31.061 | 1:30.595 | |
| 5 | 1:32.254 | 1:30.803 | 1:30.758 | |
| 6 | 1:32.527 | 1:31.651 | 1:31.478 | |
| 7 | waffle | 1:32.838 | 1:31.848 | 1:31.582 |
| 8 | 1:32.586 | 1:31.778 | 1:31.607 | |
| 9 | 1:32.768 | 1:31.484 | 1:31.658 | |
| 10 | 1:33.049 | 1:32.010 | 1:31.704 | |
| 11 | Not Nasr | 1:32.267 | 1:32.034 | |
| 12 | 1:32.576 | 1:32.100 | ||
| 13 | 1:33.000 | 1:32.307 | ||
| 14 | 1:32.650 | 1:32.402 | ||
| 15 | 1:32.547 | 1:32.558 | ||
| 16 | 1:33.308 | |||
| 17 | 1:33.434 | |||
| 18 | 1:33.483 | |||
| 19 | 1:33.970 | |||
| NC | No Time |
The moment came, not during Practice 3 when Seb Vettel's engine started making unfortunate noises, nor when Ferrari decided to replace the entire power unit between sessions. No, it came whenever it was that a Ferrari mechanic neglected to feed the hamster in the new turbo unit just before Vettel went out with just a couple of minutes to go in Q1. The team had done an amazing job just to get his car to this point (you try changing your car's engine in two hours!), but during his out lap the German's turbo actually made an audible "foop" sound and stopped working. And right there, right at that moment, we saw Lewis Hamilton clinch the World Championship.
Oh, to be sure, there's plenty of races left. I just don't think they're going to matter after tomorrow... assuming no rain or stuff like that. Hamilton will increase his already large points lead, and among the remaining five races only Japan and Brazil could be considered the sort of tracks that the Ferrari likes. It was looking like a good fight, but... oh well.
I find it curious that the final five places on the grid are held by Ferrari-powered cars. Hm.
Race at 2am Sunday morning. I don't think I'll be staying up that late. See ya tomorrow!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:45 AM
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1
All the Ferraris...interesting. <strokes beard, looking wise and introspective>
Nope. I got nothing. What does it mean?
Nope. I got nothing. What does it mean?
Posted by: Ben at September 30, 2017 08:29 PM (ee6LA)
2
It means that a weird combination of events occurred. Sauber is usually down in the final five positions anyway. Haas has been seen in the Q1 knockout zone in the past (and having to rebuild Lettuce Grosjean's car after the circuit came up and bit him on Friday couldn't have helped). And... well, shucks, I got nothin' either.
Posted by: Wonderduck at September 30, 2017 09:16 PM (Mxu+F)
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