April 29, 2017
F1 Quals: Russia 2017
2008.
We haven't seen this result since 2008. Think about how long it's been since then. Go on, think about it. Okay, that's enough. Now what am I talking about? Let's look at the provisional grid for the 2017 Grand Prix of Mother Russia:
It's Ferraris' first front-row lockout since Raikkonen and Massa did it for Ferrari at Mangy-Curs in 2008, and the first time since Singapore 2015 that there isn't a Mercedes on the front row at all. And know what? It wasn't even particularly close. Sure, Bottas made it look good, but Hamilton couldn't even manage one of his patented 'fast-lap-out-of-his-arse' laps, let alone a pole lap. One never got the impression that the red cars weren't going to have run of the place at the end of the day, not after only being a half-second off the pace in Q1... while on the super-soft tires when everybody else was on the faster ultra-softs. That's a Mercedes thing, being quicker on the harder rubber in quals, and they had it turned on them. Feels good, man.
Race in the morning, see ya then!
We haven't seen this result since 2008. Think about how long it's been since then. Go on, think about it. Okay, that's enough. Now what am I talking about? Let's look at the provisional grid for the 2017 Grand Prix of Mother Russia:
Pos |
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Seb Vettel | Ferrari | 1:34.493 | 1:34.038 | 1:33.194 |
2 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:34.953 | 1:33.663 | 1:33.253 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:34.041 | 1:33.264 | 1:33.289 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.409 | 1:33.760 | 1:33.767 |
5 | Smiley Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing |
1:35.560 | 1:35.483 | 1:34.905 |
6 | Not Retired Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:35.828 | 1:35.049 | 1:35.110 |
7 | Embryo Verstappen | Red Bull Racing |
1:35.301 | 1:35.221 | 1:35.161 |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:35.507 | 1:35.328 | 1:35.285 |
9 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:36.185 | 1:35.513 | 1:35.337 |
10 | False Esteban | Force India Mercedes | 1:35.372 | 1:35.729 | 1:35.430 |
11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:35.827 | 1:35.948 | |
12 | Pleasant Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:36.279 | 1:35.964 | |
13 | Kid Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:35.984 | 1:35.968 | |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:36.408 | 1:36.017 | |
15 | Indy Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:36.353 | 1:36.660 | |
16 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:36.462 | ||
17 | Stoffelwaffel | McLaren Honda | 1:37.070 | ||
18 | Pascal's Wager | Sauber Ferrari | 1:37.332 | ||
19 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:37.507 | ||
20 | Lettuce Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:37.620 |
It's Ferraris' first front-row lockout since Raikkonen and Massa did it for Ferrari at Mangy-Curs in 2008, and the first time since Singapore 2015 that there isn't a Mercedes on the front row at all. And know what? It wasn't even particularly close. Sure, Bottas made it look good, but Hamilton couldn't even manage one of his patented 'fast-lap-out-of-his-arse' laps, let alone a pole lap. One never got the impression that the red cars weren't going to have run of the place at the end of the day, not after only being a half-second off the pace in Q1... while on the super-soft tires when everybody else was on the faster ultra-softs. That's a Mercedes thing, being quicker on the harder rubber in quals, and they had it turned on them. Feels good, man.
Race in the morning, see ya then!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:48 AM
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