October 11, 2014

F1 Quals: Russia 2014

SO close... so close indeed.  Here's the provisional grid for the 2014 Grand Prix of All The Russias:

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.759 1:38.338 1:38.513
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.076 1:38.606 1:38.713
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:39.125 1:38.971 1:38.920
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.560 1:39.381 1:39.121
5 Kid Kvyat STR-Renault 1:40.074 1:39.296 1:39.277
6 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:39.735 1:39.022 1:39.629
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:40.519 1:39.666 1:39.635
8 HWMNBN Ferrari 1:40.255 1:39.786 1:39.709
9 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.098 1:39.838 1:39.771
10 Jules Vergne STR-Renault 1:40.354 1:39.929 1:40.020
11 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:40.382 1:40.052
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:40.273 1:40.058
13 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:40.723 1:40.163
14 Esteban! Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.159 1:40.536
15 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.766 1:40.984
16 Lettuce Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:42.526 1:41.397
17 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:42.648

18 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:43.064

19 Gandalf Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:43.166

20 Crashtor Maldozer Lotus-Renault 1:43.205

21 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:43.649


Yesterday, I said that "I fully expect that Mercedes will be the class of the field (as usual), but it'll be whichever one of them that's running last that'll get the pole."  That's exactly what happened, but I didn't say "whoever is on track last will have a shot."  Because that, too, is exactly what happened as Valtteri Bottas went purple (aka "fastest of the session") in the first two sectors.  Only a lockup going into Turn 17 and a fuzzy exit from the last turn cost him pole. 

His teammate, Felipe Massa, had a fuel feed problem and couldn't make it out of Q1.  Expect to see quite the melee going into the first real turn as it's quite possible that Bottas, who has started very well this year, could insert himself into the argument for the lead.

Race in the morning... might be boring, might not!  We'll find out together!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 What's up with Kvyat's 5th? Beaten two Ferraris in a Toro Rosso with a Renault engine. FIA would not allow any kind of home-field advantage from the stewards, I would think. Besides Marussia is the last.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at October 11, 2014 08:21 PM (RqRa5)

2 There has been some thought that they snuck Putin into the car for Quals.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 11, 2014 09:38 PM (BCjxQ)

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