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Saturday, April 14, 2018
Ambient 12° Track 14° Humidity 79%
Wind 1.9 m/s
Prelude
When it rains it pours, and in China it
appeared that it might be more than metaphor, the wind whipping
leaden gray skies into an angry visage, foliage dancing in the
violent gusts that coursed through the paddock.
FP3 saw the spectacularly terminal
failure of Daniel Ricciardo’s PU, flames bursting forth from the
rear of the car as his turbo decided it was going to have no more and
lunched itself. A not entirely assembled backup PU sent Renault
scrambling, and as the seconds ticked down his car looked far from
assembled.
Red Bull wasn’t the only garage on
red alert as down at HAAS, all those years of complaining about his
Brembos had caused the brake gods to smite RoGro with an actual
Brake-by-wire failure. At least his car was in fully assembled
condition as the start of qualifying loomed, unlike the Red Bull of
Ricciardo. Iit was Mercedes though, with the most to worry about ,
not merely on the back foot, but apparently flat on its keister at
the savage change in conditions, unable to get the tyres into the
window in FP3 and thoroughly unsettled by the vicious thrusts of wind
howling round the circuit…
Summary
Green Light!! Sirotkin was first out
of the gate, followed by Leclerc and Stroll. Hartley and Ericsson
followed on as little time was going to be wasted with the uncertain
weather hanging overhead, a veritable Sword of Damocles waiting to
smite those unlucky or unfortunate enough not to get a lap time in
the bank.
The tightest race was for Ricciardo
though, whose gearbox still lay on the floor of the paddock as the
rest of the competitors circulated on their outlaps.
Gasly was the early leader of the
midfield, before Raikkonen smashed through timing and scoring, taking
a P1 with a 1:32.474. Neither Bottas nor Hamilton could seriously
worry that time, going P2 and P3 respectively as Vettel was on his
outlap. Mercedes struggle on the Ultra Softs in the cooler conditions
continued from FP3 as Vettel took the top spot, going 0.3s clear of
his teammate.
10 minutes to go and Verstappen peeled
out of the pits, fingers crossed at Red Bull. AS he hotted up his
tyres it was Kmag, best of the rest on the Soft tyre, which he had
found to be faster, despite Bottas wandering well into his way as he
hit the line.
8 minutes to go and the dynamic duo at
Force India stepped up, with Perez and Ocon taking P6 and P7. Not for
long, though, as Hulkenberg split them . Alonso and Kmag rounded the
top 10 out. Leclerc had a viciously lurid slide and it was young Max
going P4 amidst the excitement.
Hartley, Ericsson, Stroll, Leclerc and
the hapless Ricciardo lolled about in the drop zone with 5 minutes to
go, with Sirotkin in the hot seat, as the field turned it around for
the final tilt at glory.
3 minutes to go and bad news for the
back of the field as Ricciardo tore out of the garage, lighting up
the tyres as he rocketed toward the end of the pitlane. Well done to
RBR for getting him out and it was fingers crossed as he plunged
round the track, getting tires and brakes up to temp in preparation
for his only shot at Q2.
Ricciardo was on it, aggressive on the
corners and no quarter given, sparks flashing from under the chassis
as he crossed the start /finish. The lack of preparation showed as
P13 was the best he could do, and Red Bull was left to wait nervously
as the rest of the runners completed their runs after the checquers
had fallen. Stroll, Leclerc, Ericsson all failed to exit the drop
zone and then Hartley went P15, casting Sirotkin into the pit of
despair. Gasly just missed, going P16 a tenth off his teammate and
Sainz, who had been in danger, pulled his chorizos out of the fire
with a P7, just ahead of Kmag, who had wisely opted to switch to the
Ultras for his second go. Sirotkin couldn’t get the job done and
that was that for that. Off for dim sum went Sirotkin, Gasly,
Stroll, Leclerc and Ericsson as the rest got ready for Q2.
Bottas led the way for Q2, followed by
Hamilton, the Mercedes struggling desperately with the low temps. Not
far back were the Ferraris, a study in contrast, lapping up the
change in conditions with aplomb. But it was shod in Softs for both
the top teams, in stark contrast to the rest of the field, a gamble
taken due to the rapid degradation of the UltraSofts.
Again a terrible lap for Hamilton,
viciously understeering through T9, losing massive chunks of time to
Bottas in S2. Neither was in the same league as the Ferraris, with
Vettel going P2 and Raikkonen P1 by 0.6s over Bottas and over a
second over Hamilton.
Red Bull, meanwhile, had managed to
dial in Ricciardo’s car and it was P3 for him, on the Ultra’s
though as Hamilton dropped like a stone down the order. P7 as
Hulkenberg took P6, only to be displaced by the flying Viking from
HAAS, Kmag. P8 and counting for Lewis, now on his second run on the
Softs. Verstappen rocked in a P5, on Ultras like his teammate and
then Hamilton slammed it home, P6 and bringing it home to get ready
for one last charge for the promised land of Q3.
On the outside looking in were Sainz,
Vandoorne, Hartley, Grosjean and Alonso. 3 minutes to go and off
they went, Lewis leading the way, having doubled down on the Soft
gambit. Raikkonen trailed him then Vettel , both on the Ultras.
Bottas was a ways back, also on the Softs, and again the strategic
die was cast for the race tomorrow. Early advantage to Hamilton, as
he set a Personal Best followed by purpling S2 and then S3, to the
top and P1. Both Ferraris were giving chase on the softer compound
though, and one after the other they dove into the pits.
Hulkenberg to P5, Grosjean to P6 but it
was nothing doing for Kmag, who was in the hot seat P10. Ocon was in
as Bottas went P2, then out he went, displaced by Perez. Sainz
knocked out Kmag by 0.01s seconds and as the dust settled, Kmag,
Ocon, Alonso, Vandoorne and Hartley were done like a dinner, off in
search of some Tsingtao as the top 10 got ready to joust for the
ultimate glory of Q3. Ominously for Ferrari it looked that Mercedes
managed to crack the code on getting the tyres into the window, none
too soon as the track opened for Q3.
Hulkenberg was out first, chased up
the track by Grosjean. Raikkonen and Vettel were next, then Sainz,
Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen and Hamilton bringing up the rear.
Raikkonen had the early advantage on
Vettel, purpling the first 2 sectors, and then BOOM! Trifecta for the
Finn going 1:31.2, Vettel 0.2 seconds off. Bottas rocked through P3
and Hamilton followed P4, both 0.4 seconds back of the bar Kimi had
set. Verstappen and then Ricciardo made it a Noah’s Ark, 2x2, with
Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Sainz and Perez rounding out the order as the
field retired to the pits to look for those last missing tenths.
3 minutes to go and Bottas was first
out, trailed by Hamilton. Hulk and RoGro were next, then Raikkonen
and Vettel. Ricciardo , Verstappen and Sainz completed the order.
Bottas led the way early days, Lewis
unable to match his teammate, but further back, Raikkonen was
purpling the board. Vettel was fractionally behind him as Bottas
rocked across the line but failed to improve his position. Lewis,
too, could do no more and bailed for the pits after a mistake in his
very ordinary lap. Then it was Kimi across the line, with a 1:31.182,
even faster than his first go-round. Breaths held around the circuit
as Vettel came into the final turn and it was a purple S3 that put
him to the top at the very last moment. Verstappen and Ricciardo
maintained the status quo and it was Hulkenberg, Perez, Sainz and
Grosjean rounding out the top 10.
With the weather hotting up tomorrow,
race pace could be more equal as conditions will be similar to that
of FP2. Still, Ferrari have dealt themselves quite the hole card by
locking out the front row, as despite the record of overtakes, pole
position has been good for 9 out of 14 wins at this circuit.
Perez in a post-race interview added
that the wind was equally confounding. Nevertheless, today’s
session has revealed the inner diva once more at Mercedes and the
vicious undercurrents will soon be stirring if tomorrow’s race
brings no improvement. As with last year, the Ferrari appears to set
up more easily over a wider set of circumstances, even if the
Mercedes is flat out faster. It’s only the third event of the
season but the rhythm of the championship chase appears to be
establishing itself. Mercedes has the pace but lacks the adaptability
of the Ferrari. Once again, the Silver Arrows will be looking to
limit the damage while fending off harassment from Red Bull behind
and it must be said at the moment that the racing gods appear to be
favoring the Scuderia.
Discuss!!
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