Abu Dhabi GP 2011 - Yas Marina

[Gerhard Berger]

Hamilton sets a new precedent by driving the fastest lap around the track and failing to get pole. A question of 'when it matters' ? I personally think he could've repeated his Q2 time had he been the first driver to start the final lap instead of 3rd. Alonso was a few seconds up the road, it might've affected his concentration a bit, if not cause any aero loss. Looked like he was far away so as not to cause any aero loss though.

I always found it quite silly how the Ferraris and Mclarens are almost always the first to cross the line and are jostling for position amongst each other in order to get a clean lap, whilst Vettel is always last over the line and avoids the traffic in front of him.

[lebesset]

I noticed this and wondered....maybe on this track a lower 2nd gear make this a possibility with the merc engine torque band so they tried it

notice vettel used 1st

[scotty86]

The slight oddity of the current qualifying system is that the fastest lap in qualifying was in Q2, not Q3.

Surely a product of the changing track temp?


This is all getting TOO predictable now. Vettel to cruise off to a 5 second lead tomorrow and just hold station til the flag...

[ell66]

As the drivers said, the conditions changed as qually went on, and by his own admission lewis didnt quite hook it up in q3, would be nice to see him in free air at the front or last to cross the line like seb allways is.
Good job by button to find some extra pace.

For the start tomorrow with it being a very short run to the first corner i expect that everyone will maintain position unless someone gets a very poor start.

Also from watching the race pace times yday, its not clear how strong the bulls are compared to mclaren, they seemed to be running less fuel, well at least i hope they were.

[ringo]

Hamilton sets a new precedent by driving the fastest lap around the track and failing to get pole. A question of 'when it matters' ? I personally think he could've repeated his Q2 time had he been the first driver to start the final lap instead of 3rd. Alonso was a few seconds up the road, it might've affected his concentration a bit, if not cause any aero loss. Looked like he was far away so as not to cause any aero loss though.

Using button as a yard stick, Hamilton could have beaten Vettel by 2 tenths if he held his form.
But that's how it is with Vettel, he may not be the absolute fastest, but i think he is the best when it comes to qaulifying composure.

[tok-tokkie]

Both Virgins & HRTs are outside the 107% rule. Does Charlie Whiting just ignore the rule nowdays?

[Sean H]

Both Virgins & HRTs are outside the 107% rule. Does Charlie Whiting just ignore the rule nowdays?

actually, they are not outside the 107%, so Charlie is doing just fine.

[scotty86]

Both Virgins & HRTs are outside the 107% rule. Does Charlie Whiting just ignore the rule nowdays?

107% time: 1m46.766s

20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.515s + 4.733
21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m44.641s + 4.859
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.699s + 4.917
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.159s + 5.377

107% is determined by the best Q1 time...

[PlatinumZealot]

Hamilton sets a new precedent by driving the fastest lap around the track and failing to get pole. A question of 'when it matters' ? I personally think he could've repeated his Q2 time had he been the first driver to start the final lap instead of 3rd. Alonso was a few seconds up the road, it might've affected his concentration a bit, if not cause any aero loss. Looked like he was far away so as not to cause any aero loss though.

Using button as a yard stick, Hamilton could have beaten Vettel by 2 tenths if he held his form.
But that's how it is with Vettel, he may not be the absolute fastest, but i think he is the best when it comes to qaulifying composure.

Yes, vettel is consistent. Hamilton should have beat him to pole by about 2 tenths, but the conditions were not right for the two Mclaren drivers.

From the conference, Vettel said his car balance got better, while the mclaren's said their car got worse as the night came down.

Vettel deserves it. Still raises the question if the RBR being the most consistent car too.

Nip and tuck.. but i am expecting a close race tomorrow. All Hamilton has to do is stay behind Vettel by about 1.5 seconds for all but 3 laps in the first stint.. then pile on the qually laps for the undercut.

[simieski]

I know it's important to Button's driving style to have the car set exactly how he wants it, but does anyone else get bored of every Fri/Sat interview with him moaning and whinging about the balance of the car. I can't help but think the guy sometimes is in need of a nice warm mug of harden the hell up.

[raymondu999]

Yes, vettel is consistent. Hamilton should have beat him to pole by about 2 tenths, but the conditions were not right for the two Mclaren drivers.

From the conference, Vettel said his car balance got better, while the mclaren's said their car got worse as the night came down.

Button actually enjoyed his balance better

[ell66]

I know it's important to Button's driving style to have the car set exactly how he wants it, but does anyone else get bored of every Fri/Sat interview with him moaning and whinging about the balance of the car. I can't help but think the guy sometimes is in need of a nice warm mug of harden the hell up.

Extremely boring, its the only thing he ever mentions, casual fans dont really get it, and hes the only one who always brings it up.

btw has anyone seen the latest bbc video interviews? was quite interesting listening to what hamilton had to say about the start, could be interesting lol.

[WhiteBlue]

Amazing qualifying for me. I did not think that Seb would be able to turn it around after the first and second qualifying sessions went to the McLarens and particularly Hamilton. But the Vettel factor interfered once again. Seb is so enormously focussed on the technical side that he anticipated the changing track conditions and had his setup prepared for the very last run. Bloody marvellous, I say.

[raymondu999]

Post quali pieces!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmuuEVypdmc[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3B0golA31E[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TannPt8I0kM[/youtube]

[Gerhard Berger]

Amazing qualifying for me. I did not think that Seb would be able to turn it around after the first and second qualifying sessions went to the McLarens and particularly Hamilton. But the Vettel factor interfered once again. Seb is so enormously focussed on the technical side that he anticipated the changing track conditions and had his setup prepared for the very last run. Bloody marvellous, I say.

Do you have a source on that? I know he touched on the changing conditions in the post qualifying press conference, but I wasn't aware of any setup changes he made to compensate for that. Would be interested to hear about it.