Formula One: Vettel Pole Yet Again in 2011, This Time in Turkey

Qualifying in China a few weeks ago was great. Since 2010, Saturday afternoons have been pretty dull really for F1 fans.

I’m afraid to say that the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix qualifying was one to forget.

I mean, how excited can you get about qualifying when the two drivers in first and second get out of their cars before the session is even over?!

Qualifying 1

Lotus came tantalisingly close to making it into the second round of qualifying, but when Kamui Kobayashi was forced to retire just a few minutes into the session with hydraulics failure, the bottom seven drivers were effectively decided.

The first time of the session was set by Vitantonio Liuzzi (1:32:524).

We would have needed a real shock from the big teams to change the probable outcome of the first session, but despite a few jittery moments from Felipe Massa, and a very confident single run from the Renaults, it wasn’t long before the ‘new teams of 2010’ occupied the drop-out zone.

Massa found himself struggling down in P15 with a few minutes to go and worryingly felt the need to use a set of precious soft tyres to survive, but when all was said and done, Q1 was a bust.

Q1 Results

Top Three:

Felipe Massa
Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber

Out:

Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Jerome d'Ambrosio, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Timo Glock, Narain Karthikeyan, Kamui Kobayashi.

Qualifying 2

Michael Schumacher set the first time of 1:27:458, but quickly found himself beaten by Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

The top three teams quickly established themselves as top dogs in the second session and remained in the top six for almost the entire session.

Fernando Alonso had been significantly faster than Massa in the first session and continued to look good in Q2, whilst at McLaren it was Lewis Hamilton who had the upper hand on Jenson Button.

Renault again left it a bit late, but comfortably made it through. The Mercedes team had shown great promise in free practice but looked a little off the pace initially in Q2.

We at least got some entertainment when Schumacher was told by his team to engage the ‘Magic paddle’. I can’t tell you what this paddle was but I expect Nico Rosberg had it too as both Mercedes drivers shot up the standings and comfortably made it into the final shoot out.

Rubens Barrichello looked as if he might just squeeze into Q3 until a good lap from Nick Heidfeld relegated the William’s veteran to P11.

Q2 was certainly better than the first round, but again, nothing special.

Top Three:

Sebastian Vettel
Nico Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton

Out:

Rubens Barrichello, Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta, Pastor Maldinado, Sergio Perez, Sebastien Buemi, Jamie Alguersuari.

Qualifying 3

As I said in the intro, it’s really difficult to write passionately about a final session in which the top two drivers felt confident enough to jump out of their cars before qualifying had even ended!

Vitaly Petrov set the first time of 1:26:411, but he was quickly toppled by Jenson Button, who was then beaten by Fernando Alonso.

Mark Webber shot straight to P1 on his first attempt but he was quickly deposed by Sebastian Vettel who was half a second faster!

Lewis Hamilton tried his best, but could only manage P4, Jenson Button wasn’t happy with his set up and could only manage P6, and Fernando Alosno led the charge for Ferrari doing a great job to finish P4.

There was at least some excitement when Nico Rosberg managed to stick his car in P3. This was a great achievement for Rosberg and I hope his presence in between Red Bull and McLaren will spice things up tomorrow.

The Turkish Grand Prix has only ever been won by the man in first or second so I can’t say I’m frantic about tomorrow’s prospects.

I think Ferrari’s fortunes depend on their less than predictable tactics, and I think the race will boil down to McLaren vrs Red Bull.

The big question is, how much of an impact can Nico Rosberg make on the race? For the sake of the fans, let’s hope the Mercedes man can make a significant contribution!

Provisional Result:

1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.049

2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:25.454

3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:25.574

4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.595

5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.851

6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.982

7 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:26.296

8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.646

9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:26.659

10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.395

11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:26.764

12 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:27.027

13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:27.145

14 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:27.236

15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.244

16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:27.255

17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:27.572

18 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:28.780

19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:29.673

20 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.445

21 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:30.692

22 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.813

23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:31.564

24 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari No time