[Official] Round 5: Spanish Grand Prix

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I voted for Steven because he's from.....

Lewisham?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Lewisham?

Got it! Nice one

[Greem]

Croydon. They're still angry about that, you know.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Lewisham?

That's a nasty part of London.

Vettel is quickest in second practice.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Vettel is quickest in second practice.

Oh joy.

[frostie]

Originally Posted by frostie

Also guys I have a competition running for this weekend's race. If you can predict the top three finishers of the Spanish Grand Prix (answers only until the start of qualifying will be used) you can win yourself a print of Maldonado's historic win last year! I've selected this as my favourite shot of Pastor from that race:

Just post in the thread or PM me your entry. Also if you want a different photo look through my library and select something else!

Just a reminder for anyone interested in my competition for this weekend

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by frostie

Just a reminder for anyone interested in my competition for this weekend

I suspect they we are waiting to find out who has thrashed their gearbox, run out of fuel etc!

Thanks for the great intro Frostie.

[JeremySmith]

Nico Rosberg takes the pole....

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Nico Rosberg takes the pole....

Dr Z needs to go to more races!

[JeremySmith]

Who is that Adam?

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Who is that Adam?

Dr Zetsche the boss of Daimler was in the Mercedes garage in Q. Looked like he enjoyed it.

[JeremySmith]

I see thank you I was not able to watch Q....

[ottostreet]

Nico Rosberg has taken pole position for tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix, lining up ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.


Qualifying was a slow burner, with few drivers heading out in the first ten minutes of Q1. Finally, Ricciardo & last years winner Pastor Maldonado took to the track to set their initial Q1 laps, and it quickly became apparent that the Williams was nowhere near as competitive as it had been at last years event, with Maldonado lapping slower than Ricciardo, who hadn't set a stellar lap himself. Shortly after, Kimi Raikkonen became the first of the big guns to hit the track and went quickest, followed by Grosjean, who continued his improvement in 2013.

The Ferraris, though, were on track and quickly set about overhauling the Lotuses, with both Ferrari times over half a second quicker than the quickest Lotus. Rosberg then popped up with the quickest time, with the first indication that Mercedes had unlocked some pace since Friday, while behind him, Jenson Button got baulked by a Williams which was beginning a flying lap. The McLaren was heard complaining on the radio about the block, and saying 'it's got to be a penalty'. Blocking seemed to be an issue out on track today, as shortly after, Kimi Raikkonen got blocked at the chicane by Estaban Gutierrez, ruining his fastest lap. The chequered flag dropped with the two Williams, Caterham & Marussia drivers eliminated, while up front, Hamilton lead Rosberg, ahead of Vettel, Raikkonen & Alonso. Lotus & Ferrari looked very confident, being the only teams to get through Q1 without using a set of option tyres.

Starting Q2, the action got going relatively quickly, with the track temperatures rising, it was the Saubers who lead the way after a few minutes, with Hulkenberg ahead of Gutierrez. Raikkonen, again, was the first frontrunner to set a time, and went comfortably fastest. Alonso promptly took over at the top, while Romain Grosjean popped into fourth place. The McLarens looked very poor in Q2, with Button visibly slow. He ultimately qualified outside the top ten, while Perez managed to pop in a great final lap to snatch a place in Q3. It marks the first time that Perez has outqualified Jenson while they have been team-mates. Vettel went quickest then, less than a tenth ahead of Alonso, who, in turn, was less than a tenth faster than Raikkonen. That was until Lewis Hamilton smashed the fastest time to take top spot, a massive 6 tenths ahead of Alonso. He was to keep that spot until the end of Q2. Gutierrez, Hulkenberg, Sutil, Vergne, Button & Ricciardo were the drivers to fall by the wayside in Q2.

Starting Q3, Kimi Raikkonen immediately took to the track to be the first to set a laptime. While he improved marginally on his Q2 time, it was a scrappy lap with a lockup at the hairpin. This meant that he went the slowest of the initial first runs. Rosberg was the first into the 1.20s with a 1.20.8 to take provisional pole, while Alonso took 2nd place, on a 1.21.2. Vettel & Hamilton decided to only do one run each. Vettel put in a clean lap to take third place, but it appeared Hamilton could have used another run to get fully warmed up, lapping slower in the first two sectors to line up behind his team-mate. Raikkonen improved on his final run to take 4th place, while Webber put in a poor final run to take 8th place. Home town hero Alonso starts from 5th, ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Another pole for Nico and an all Mercedes front row to boot.

[Bononi]

Williams is doomed.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Williams is doomed.

It doesn't look good does it and McLaren/Button are well off the pace.

[garcon]

For once I agreed with Eddie's synopsis of McLaren's situation. It runs much deeper than a flawed car. If they don't recognise and deal with that they'll soon be fighting with Williams at the back.

[Peter Mallett]

Whitmarsh certainly didn't look himself today when he was interviewed. And, they are fighting with Williams at the back.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Whitmarsh certainly didn't look himself today when he was interviewed. And, they are fighting with Williams at the back.

Almost, Button's 14th and the two Williams are 17th and 18th, though Perez is 9th.

[Peter Mallett]

Yes, I was using a bit of poetic licence but you get my drift.

[Knowlesy]

Hamilton must be gutted he moved teams.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Hamilton must be gutted he moved teams.

He's probably gutted he didn't get Pole.

[jedrinck]

Feels like Hamilton is the new Button, not faster than Rosberg but with a lot more points!

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Williams is doomed.

Poor poor Williams, I love that team..

[IceMan_PJN]

Originally Posted by jedrinck

Feels like Hamilton is the new Button, not faster than Rosberg but with a lot more points!

He actually is faster than Rosberg. In early races, Rosberg kept being slightly faster, but in Bahrain Hamilton moved up the field while Rosberg fell like a stone. This weekend, Hamilton was faster than Rosberg in the first two of the three qualifying sessions. Yes, it's the last one that's most important in that it sets the top ten grid spots, but the point is that Hamilton topped two of the three; up most of a second over Rosberg in Q2 as I recall. Rosberg pulled a single faster lap out of his butt when it really counted, but in general was slower than Hamilton in qualifying.