06/09/2008
NEWS STORY
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With five minutes to go before today's all-important qualifying session, the air temperature is 17 degrees C, while the track temperature is 17 degrees. Thankfully, there has been no further rain since the drizzle that permeated this morning's free practice session, though further serious downfalls are expected this afternoon and tomorrow.
It's hard to draw any real conclusion from the three practice sessions since all three took place in different conditions, however the aggregate times indicate that Ferrari has the edge. That said, following the engine problems in Hungary and Valencia, there remains a question remark as to reliability, not to mention Kimi Raikkonen's attitude. The Finn has won the last three races here, and having not won a race since Barcelona in April, nothing less than a win will do this weekend, both in terms of his title defence and indeed his future in F1.
Lewis Hamilton looks good and sounds confident, however, let's not forget that if not for that engine failure in Hungary, Felipe Massa would have won the last two races and would now be leading the championship.
The Ferrari favours hot conditions, and although that is virtually guaranteed next week at Monza, it doesn't appear as though it will be a problem this weekend.
The two tyre compound available this weekend are hard and medium, which we will refer to as hard and soft.
The lights go green and Piquet leads the way. A few moments later he is followed by Sutil and Fisichella. Race control believes that there will be no rain during this first phase of the qualifying hour.
Piquet (hards) posts the first time of the afternoon, crossing the line at 48.727. Moments later, Fisichella goes second (49.137).
On his out lap, Hamilton complains of a small vibration, his wheels out of balance.
Glock goes quickest, but this is soon beaten by Massa (47.686), as Hamilton goes quickest in the first and second sectors. No sooner has Vettel gone second (47.978), than Hamilton and Kovalainen go first and second, the Englishman posting 46.887. As Massa goes second, splitting the McLarens, Raikkonen goes fourth with a 47.740.
As Bourdais gets it all wrong at the final chicane, thereby blowing the lap, Trulli goes sixth, just ahead of his Toyota teammate.
A 47.390 sees Raikkonen improve to second, the Finn seemingly having rediscovered his mojo ;-)
With nine minutes remaining, Kubica goes fifth, ahead of Piquet, Heidfeld and Alonso. Elsewhere, Raikkonen improves yet again (46.960) further closing in on Hamilton.
Button is having a nightmare session, despite being on the soft option the Englishman can do no better than nineteenth. Nakajima is struggling also, the Japanese driver seeking to improve on twentieth. His Williams teammate is ninth.
A great lap from Coulthard who goes fifth with a 47.510, however, Kovalainen is on a strong lap, the Finn going quickest with 46.812.
With just over four minutes remaining, Webber and Nakajima are still in the danger zone, with Glock, Bourdais, Vettel and Trulli not exactly what one might call safe.
Surprisingly, Massa is back on track. The Brazilian goes quickest in the first sector, setting a personal best in the second. Another personal best in the final sector sees the Ferrari driver go second with a 46.873.
Sutil improves to fourteenth, but it is unlikely that he's done enough, despite a brave effort.
Coulthard goes quickest in the second sector, as Piquet also looks set to improve. The Brazilian goes fifth, and Webber eighth, as attention shifts to Nakajima and Rosberg.
From out of nowhere, Bourdais produces a 46.777 to go quickest, as his teammate takes ninth, both Toro Rosso through to Q2. However, we lose Nakajima, both the Force India and both the Hondas.
Phase two gets underway, but as ever there is no rush to get to work, which indicates that the teams aren't expecting rain in the next fifteen minutes. That said, Raikkonen (softs) is first out, which suggests that Ferrari, or at least the World Champion, feels that conditions could change. Shortly afterwards, Trulli and Kovalainen are heading down the pitlane also.
As Raikkonen begins his flying lap, all but the BMW drivers are on track.
The World Champion posts 1:46.298, the quickest lap of the weekend as conditions continue to improve.
A 46.037 sees Kovalainen go quickest, however, moments later his teammate posts 46.088 to go second. Alonso runs wide on to the grass, but is still able to go fourth with a 46.653. moments later he is demoted by Massa (46.391).
Kubica (softs) begins his first flying lap of the session, as Vettel goes sixth, ahead of Piquet and Bourdais. The Pole is fighting the car, but is still able to post a 46.839, good enough for sixth.
Heidfeld is the last driver to post a time, the under-fire German going fourth with a 46.311.
With less than four minutes remaining, Glock, Webber, Trulli, Coulthard and Rosberg are all in the danger zone. However, all but the McLarens and Ferraris are on track. Massa, in particular, appearing to be taking a bit of a gamble, especially when one considers the surprise that Bourdais delivered in Q1.
As race control reveals that there will be no further rain during qualifying, Vettel improves his time but remains seventh. Moments later, Bourdais improves to seventh, while Webber goes tenth.
Rosberg fails to improve and therefore misses the cut, as do Coulthard, Glock, Piquet and Trulli, a Toyota failing to make it to Q3 for the first time in some time.
Fastest was Kovalainen, ahead of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Massa, Alonso, Kubica, Bourdais, Vettel and Webber.
Going into Q3, McLaren appear to have the edge over Ferrari, but it's marginal. However, the BMWs and Alonso, not to mention Vettel, are also looking promising for good grid positions.
Once again, a Ferrari gets things underway, only this time it's Massa. The Brazilian is on softs.
As Massa begins his flying lap, all but Vettel are on track, indeed, judging by the way he's playing with his TV monitor's remote control, the German is watching Little Britain on TV… he's a big fan.
Massa gets it wrong at the final chicane, and consequently posts 48.666. Moments later, Raikkonen crosses the line at 48.513, but he too is beaten by Hamilton, who posts 47.973. Kovalainen takes second with a 48.081.
Heidfeld goes fourth (48.603), ahead of Massa, Webber, Alonso, Kubica and Bourdais. Vettel still yet to make an appearance.
With three minutes remaining, the final assault gets underway, everyone on the softer compound.
Massa goes quickest in the first sector, however, Hamilton hits back, going quicker. The Brazilian is quickest again the middle sector, however, again, Hamilton is quicker. Massa takes provisional pole with a 47.678, but it is inevitable that Hamilton will beat him, he does, with a 47.338.
Kovalainen goes third with a 47.815, thereby splitting the Ferraris. Heidfeld takes fifth, ahead of Alonso, Webber, Kubica, Bourdais and Vettel.
A superb performance from Hamilton, who at this stage appears to have it all under control. However, other than the weather, the other question mark tomorrow will be fuel strategy, with Kubica looking to be running a little heavy. Then again, how light was Lewis?
With McLaren and Ferrari filling the first four spaces on tomorrow's grid, it has all the makings of a great race, an epic battle. Let's just hope we get one.