11/09/2010
NEWS STORY
 |
Ahead of today's all important qualifying session, the air temperature is 26 degrees C and the track temperature is 38 degrees. It remains bright, hot and sunny, almost ideal conditions.
Lewis Hamilton was quickest this morning, however, the Red Bulls and Ferraris are up there, as is his McLaren teammate, albeit with a radically different downforce package. Interestingly, the Woking team is continuing with this strategy this afternoon, Hamilton opting for a lower downforce configuration than his teammate who is running with a different wing and the F-duct.
Mark Webber missed the last seventeen minutes of the session - as he did yesterday afternoon - the problem traced to a small fire in the airbox on his car. The good news is that the Australian doesn't require an engine change.
It would take a brave man - or a very knowledgeable betting syndicate - to put money on who will take pole this afternoon for all the main contenders have looked very good at various stages throughout the weekend. That said, it is clearly between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, with Renault somewhat disappointing here thus far, the same goes for Mercedes and Force India.
Tyres this weekend are hard (prime) and soft (option) with very little obvious difference between the tow thus far - not that Webber will be aware of that since he has hardly had any running on the softer option.
The lights go green and Q1 gets underway, Timo Glock leading the way. Michael Schumacher, who has had a difficult weekend thus far, to put it mildly, waves to the TV cameras, the German unlikely to add to his win tally this weekend or in the foreseeable future.
As Glock is about to start his first flying lap, he is badly blocked at the first chicane by Petrov. The German - who already faces a 5-spot penalty after his team needed to break a seal on his gearbox in order to replace the differential - vents his obvious frustration.
Massive oversteer for Schumacher at Roggia, the German pushing hard despite the obvious limitations of the Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion posts 25.619, leapfrogging Liuzzi and Glock but not good enough to beat Hulkenberg (25.490). That said, Rosberg can only manage 30.151.
Having encountered traffic - a significant problem this weekend - Hamilton can only manage seventh (26.273). Teammate Button however, goes quickest with a 23.693 ahead of Barrichello and Petrov. Webber, Vettel, Massa and Alonso are all on track.
Hulkenberg improves to second having gone quickest in sectors two and three however, moments later teammate Barrichello takes the spot back with a 23.731.
A 23.501 sees Massa go quickest but this is almost instantly beaten by Alonso and then Hamilton (22.830). Button crosses the line at 23.085 to consolidate second while Rosberg goes fifth with a 23.707.
A 22.895 sees Massa move up from fourth to second as Vettel goes eighth (23.872) and Webber ninth. Next time around Vettel fails to improve on eighth while Alonso posts 22.803 to go quickest, subsequently consolidating the position with a 22.646.
Webber leapfrogs his Red Bull teammate with a 23.760 as Kubica goes tenth with a 23.840 before improving with a 23.608 which sees him go sixth.
Massa takes the top spot with a 22.421 while Liuzzi looks to have lost out on further progress due to a problem with his Force India. Other than the Italian, the usual suspects - Lotus, Virgin and Hispania - look set to be facing the chop at the end of this phase of the session.
With 2:55 on the clock, it's: Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Kubica Vettel and Webber.
Buemi improves to twelfth, thereby demoting Schumacher to thirteenth. Of the top ten, all but Kubica, Sutil and Rosberg have settled for their times.
Q1 ends and we lose Trulli, Liuzzi, Kovalainen, Glock, de Grassi, Senna and Yamamoto.
Massa was quickest, ahead of Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Vettel, Webber, Sutil, Hulkenberg and Rosberg.
When the green light comes on signalling the start of Q2, it is Alguersuari who leads the way, followed by Hulkenberg and most of the others, including the Ferrari and McLaren duos. Unlike his rivals, Hamilton is on the softer rubber.
Alguersuari crosses the line at 24.459 however, moments later Hamilton posts a 22.497, Alonso going second (22.731) and Button third (22.950). A very quick lap from the 2008 world champion.
Kubica improves to third with a 22.880 as Webber gores sixth (23.040) and Vettel seventh.
Alonso posts 22.297 to take the top spot as Schumacher seeks to improve on sixteenth. While the German moves up to twelfth (23.553), teammate Rosberg posts 23.135 to go eighth.
Vettel runs wide at the second Lesmo, posting personal bests in the first two sectors. At the line it's 22.833 which sees him go fourth.
With 5:10 on the clock, it's: Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Vettel, Kubica and Button.
Webber heads down the pitlane on a brand new set of option tyres, the Australian currently a frustrating eighth.
As Sutil seeks to improve on a disappointing eleventh, all but Hamilton and Kubica are on track.
Having posted personal bests in sectors one and two, Button goes fourth with a 22.637. Elsewhere, Alonso goes quickest in S2 as Sutil leapfrogs Barrichello to go tenth. A poor final sector sees Alonso fail to improve.
Barrichello takes back tenth from Sutil as Alonso goes quickest in the first sector. Schumacher post personal bests in the first two sectors as he tries to improve on twelfth. He fails, the German missing the cut for the fifth time in the last six races.
A late charge sees Button go second with a 22.354, out-pacing his McLaren teammate by 0.04.
Quickest was Alonso, ahead of Button, Hamilton, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Hulkenberg, Rosberg and Barrichello.
We lose Sutil, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Buemi, Petrov, Alguersuari and de la Rosa. A bad session for Force India, Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Such is his eagerness, Massa is waiting at the end of the pitlane quite some time before the green light signals the start of Q3. As he takes to the track he is followed by his teammate and Mark Webber.
As the seven drivers that are on track begin their first flying lap - all on option tyres - Button and Alonso look to be quickest.
Massa posts 22.547 but this is beaten by Alonso (21.962) while Button (22.259) goes second. Hamilton can only manage fourth with Webber fifth and Vettel sixth.
On the second flying lap, there are no significant improvements, certainly no purples, indeed, most drivers head back to the pits.
Hulkenberg, who is probably only going to have one run, leaves the pits. Barrichello follows shortly afterwards while Rosberg is still to show.
Despite posting personal bests in all three sectors, Massa fails to improve.
As Alonso and Vettel head down the pitlane, along with Rosberg, Hulkenberg posts 23.165 to go eighth. Moments later, Barrichello goes ninth with a 23.557 having made a mistake at the first chicane.
With 1:43 on the clock all ten drivers are on track.
The clock runs down to 0 and there are no improvement, however, everyone has one more lap.
As Alonso abandons his final lap, Button goes quickest in S2, however he can only manage 22.084 which sees him join the Spaniard on the front row.
Massa fails to improve but a 22.433 sees Webber improve to fourth. Hamilton finishes a disappointing fifth ahead of Vettel.
Consequently, Fernando Alonso, in his first appearance at Monza in a Ferrari, takes pole, which is sure to see the local snap up any remaining tickets for tomorrow's race. With his teammate starting from third the tifosi is probably already planning the party.
A great effort, and a brave gamble from Button, pays off, the Englishman taking a surprise second. While the championship had appeared to be a two-horse race after Spa, Jenson, together with Fernando and Sebastian, clearly have other ideas.
Excellent efforts from Massa and Webber while Rosberg also deserves a special mention, especially compared to his illustrious teammate. A great showing from the Williams duo while Robert Kubica and Renault did the best they could under the circumstances.
An interesting session, which really whets the appetite in terms of the run to the Variante del Rettifilio tomorrow afternoon.
To check out our Monza qualifying gallery, click here