Sebastian Vettel Takes an Easy Pole in the 2011 European GP

Of course it was going to be hard for anything to be able to beat the phenomenal show that was the Canadian Grand Prix.

So I guess it’s no real surprise that the qualifying for the 2011 European Grand Prix felt so flat. I have to say 2011 qualifying has been some of the worst I’ve ever seen, and frankly even Canada’s qualifying wasn’t exactly heart stopping.

Each session followed an almost pre-written pattern and the final "shootout" felt as exciting as a bowl of oatmeal!

Qualifying One

Nick Heidfeld opened the session with a 1:41:897.

Ferrari had looked good throughout free practice, but something was certainly lacking as soon as qualifying started.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are trying different front wing configurations and although both drivers occupied high spots in Q1, neither really looked like challenging McLaren or Red Bull.

In fact, Massa felt under enough pressure in the first session that he had to fit a set of the precious soft tyres with just two minutes left.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton both looked pretty good for McLaren and although Hamilton finished Q1 ahead, I felt Button was the faster of the two in the session as a whole.

There was some excitement in the Red Bull garage as although Sebastian Vettel made it comfortably through, Mark Webber found himself slowly slipping to P18! Webber fought with traffic and could only manage to make it through in P16.

Jamie Alguersuari joined the ‘new teams’ in the final drop out spot for the third consecutive week. Not good news for Alguersuari, and not a particularly thrilling Q1.

Q1 Top Three

Felipe Massa

Sebastian Vettel

Michael Schumacher

Out

Jamie Alguersuari, Heikki Kovalienen, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jerome D’Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan

Qualifying Two

Massa opened the second session with a 1:38:566, but he was quickly knocked back by Webber, Alonso and Vettel.

Pastor Maldinado added a little bit of variety when he stopped out on track causing a red flag. It looks as if the Williams man had some sort of technical issue.

The session was restarted after a pause of about four minutes, but I’m afraid to say the top eight positions looked locked out by Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

There was some excitement when Adrian Sutil crept up into the top 10 at the expense of Vitaly Petrov with seconds to spare, but that was about all that is worth mentioning from Q2.

Q2 Top Three

Sebastian Vettel

Lewis Hamilton

Jenson Button

Out

Vitaly Petrov, Paul Di Resta, Rubens Barrichallo, Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldinado, Sergio Perez, Sebastian Buemi

Qualifying Three

If you thought Q2 sounded bad, wait until you hear about Q3!

Fernando Alonso opened the account with a pretty mediocre 1:37:454.

Alonso was quickly knocked back by Hamilton, and a slightly rejuvenated Webber. However, we all practically switched off when Vettel crossed the line with a 1:36:975.

In the last few qualifying sessions when this has happened the other drivers basically give up. This time, the top eight all took to the track for what could have been a real showdown. But those damn tyres just ruined the show YET AGAIN!

When the likes of Alonso, Hamilton, and Button all felt that they were unable to beat Vettel they simply retired to the pits to save the precious tyres before even bothering to finish a hot lap!

The two cars in P9 and P10 didn’t even set a time! What the hell!?

I’m not a reactionary. I think F1 acts far too quickly far too often and I think qualifying should be given at least one more year like this before we need to take action. However, if Saturday stays as dull as it has been thus far in 2011 something will have to change or we might as well just give up.

I think I’ll never come around to KERS and DRS, but I can see that the races have been fine this year; qualifying has not been. I don’t know if it’s just a case of the best teams being simply faster, or whether it’s this dam fascination with preserving the tyres, but something has happened to qualifying this year.

As I say, lets give it some time, and I’d like to leave on a positive not so…

As Rubens Barrichello said, "If there was that much overtaking in Monaco…imagine what we’ll get in Valencia."

Fingers firmly crossed Rubens!

Provisional Result

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault 1:36.975

2. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault 1:37.163

3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes 11:37.380

4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari 1:37.454

5. Felipe Massa, Ferrari 1:37.535

6. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes 11:37.645

7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP, 1:38.231

8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP 1:38.240

9. Nick Heidfeld, Renault 1:38.781 (Q2 time)

10. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes 1:39.034 (Q2 time)

11. Vitaly Petrov, Renault 1:39.068

12. Paul Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes 1:39.422

13. Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth 1:39.489

14. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber 1:39.525

15. Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth 1:39.645

16. Sergio Perez, Sauber 1:39.657

17. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:39.711

18. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:40.232

19. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault 1:41.664

20. Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Renault 1:42.234

21. Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth 1:42.553

22. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Hispania-Cosworth 1:43.584

23. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth 1:43.735

24. Narain Karthikeyan, Hispania-Cosworth 1:44.363