May 14, 2016
F1 Quals: Spain 2016
A beeee-yootiful day greeted the Circus in Barcalounger, perfect weather to go fast in: sunny and warm. Throw in the anticipated upgrades to the cars, and excitement was in the air... or are those the smells coming from the Stop 'n' Chicken booth? Either way, we need to look at the provisional grid for the 2016 Grand Prix of Spain:
If Lewis Hamilton is going to make a run at points leader Nico Rosberg, this is where he needs to start, and Barcalounger's propensity of giving the win to the polesitter seems to bode well for the Brit. The surprise isn't that he's on pole, though... it's that Ferrari isn't on the second row. Instead, it's the new Red Bull combination of Smiley Ricciardo and Embryo Verstappen that poses the nearest "threat" to the Silver Arrows.
And yes, I said Verstappen is driving for Red Bull. Earlier this week it was announced that Kid Kvyat was being moved to Toro Rosso, with The Embryo moving to the Grownup's Team. Allegedly this was going to happen in 2017 anyway, but it seems much more likely to be due to Kvyat's ham-fisted mauling of Seb Vettel last race.
In any case, I have my doubts as to whether Red Bull can mount a legit challenge to the Mercs, but I guess we'll see. I suspect a Mercedes 1-2 is in the offing... oh wait. That's almost every race, isn't it?
Haas seems poised for points again, with Lettuce is 14th. Maybe the biggest shocker is Fernando Alonso dragging his McLaren kicking and screaming into Q3 for the first time since the team took on Honda engines.
Race is in the morning... see ya then!
Pos. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.214 | 1:22.159 | 1:22.000 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.002 | 1:22.759 | 1:22.280 |
3 | Smiley Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:23.749 | 1:23.585 | 1:22.680 |
4 | Embryo Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:23.578 | 1:23.178 | 1:23.087 |
5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:23.796 | 1:23.504 | 1:23.113 |
6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:24.124 | 1:23.688 | 1:23.334 |
7 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:24.251 | 1:24.023 | 1:23.522 |
8 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:24.496 | 1:24.077 | 1:23.643 |
9 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:24.698 | 1:24.003 | 1:23.782 |
10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:24.578 | 1:24.192 | 1:23.981 |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:24.463 | 1:24.203 | |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:24.583 | 1:24.348 | |
13 | Kid Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:24.696 | 1:24.445 | |
14 | Lettuce Grosjean | Haas | 1:24.716 | 1:24.480 | |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:24.669 | 1:24.625 | |
16 | Esteban! | Haas | 1:24.406 | 1:24.778 | |
17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:24.903 | ||
18 | Felipe Not Nasr Massa | Williams | 1:24.941 | ||
19 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber | 1:25.202 | ||
20 | Felipe Not Massa Nasr | Sauber | 1:25.579 | ||
21 | Pascal's Wager | Manor | 1:25.745 | ||
22 | Rio Rainbow Gate | Manor | 1:25.939 |
If Lewis Hamilton is going to make a run at points leader Nico Rosberg, this is where he needs to start, and Barcalounger's propensity of giving the win to the polesitter seems to bode well for the Brit. The surprise isn't that he's on pole, though... it's that Ferrari isn't on the second row. Instead, it's the new Red Bull combination of Smiley Ricciardo and Embryo Verstappen that poses the nearest "threat" to the Silver Arrows.
And yes, I said Verstappen is driving for Red Bull. Earlier this week it was announced that Kid Kvyat was being moved to Toro Rosso, with The Embryo moving to the Grownup's Team. Allegedly this was going to happen in 2017 anyway, but it seems much more likely to be due to Kvyat's ham-fisted mauling of Seb Vettel last race.
In any case, I have my doubts as to whether Red Bull can mount a legit challenge to the Mercs, but I guess we'll see. I suspect a Mercedes 1-2 is in the offing... oh wait. That's almost every race, isn't it?
Haas seems poised for points again, with Lettuce is 14th. Maybe the biggest shocker is Fernando Alonso dragging his McLaren kicking and screaming into Q3 for the first time since the team took on Honda engines.
Race is in the morning... see ya then!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:29 AM
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1
Unless one of the other teams pulls a miracle out of its hat before too much longer, this season is going to be like last season where Mercedes totally trounces everyone else. Snore.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 12:30 AM (+rSRq)
2
By the way, which qualification system are we using now?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 01:07 AM (+rSRq)
3
Holy Moley!!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 07:10 AM (+rSRq)
4
Steven, we're back to the "old" knockout-style of Quals, not the new elimination-style.
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 15, 2016 07:16 AM (XQ5ac)
5
"Knock-out", eh? heh heh heh
(Damn; I'm bursting with smartass comments I want to make about today's race and I'm holding them in waiting for your writeup.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 12:31 PM (+rSRq)
6
Steven, your comment at 710am was already pushing my "no spoilers" rule. As it was, it managed to take away the element of surprise for me... I knew something was going to happen... so please, control yourself.
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 15, 2016 03:23 PM (XQ5ac)
7
I'm very sorry. I thought you were watching live.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 15, 2016 03:31 PM (+rSRq)
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