Matt 'Trumpets' Ragsdale points us in the right direction, as he masterfully guides us through the happenings of qualifying for the 2018 Austrian GP.
Ambient 24° Track 35° Humidity 48% Wind 1.1 m/s
Ambient 24° Track 35° Humidity 48% Wind 1.1 m/s
Prelude
The Styrian hills echoed with the
guttural howls of thoroughly unhinged power units being unwound as
dollops of angry grey clouds bounced off the tops of the mountains
surrounding the Red Bull Ring. Down with a 5 spot penalty were Sauber
and Charles Leclerc, with a fresh new gearbox in the back of his car.
Verstappen, too, was out of FP3 with a suspected electrical problem,
as yet unresolved with just 20 minutes remaining before the start of
qualifying. Also not helping was the fact that he managed to break
his floor yesterday, compromising his and RBR's FP2 data collection
and long runs on a day when neither driver felt they really had the
balance of the car correct. .
In fact, the home race, despite
sporting 3 DRS zones, was looking to be very much a tilt between
Mercedes and Ferrari, with Red Bull very much looking to be in its
own race, the better part of a second off one lap pace, but still
well ahead of the midfield. When the cars are working, of course...
HAAS again looked strong through FP2
and FP3, with Toro Rosso and their new upgrades working well and
making them look to have another surprising underdog performance.
Well, Gasly at any rate. Renault and it's new MGU-K upgrade struggled
more than a bit, as did McLaren, where Alonso took the last of his
penalty free turbos in preparation for qualifying.
Lots of traffic will add some fun to
the first 2 sessions, as will the unfortunate habit of the Ultrasoft
tyre to grain and be difficult to maintain in the window, thanks to
the long stretches of straights that bracket the middle sector,
Ferrari with the slight edge there. The biggest joker, might be the
kerbs outside of T9, which have broken a fair number of cars this
weekend when they went wide on exit. AS the session approached, Red
Bull announced that Verstappen's issue was indeed resolved,
penalty-free.
Summary
Green Light!! Hartley rocked it out the
moment the pitlane opened, then Sirotkin Leclerc and Ericsson
followed suit. Force India weren't far behind and with 16 minutes
left the first of the fast laps were underway. Sirotkin, Stroll,
Leclerc, Ericsson and Hartley was the early order as the top teams
shambled out of the pitlane and lazily began to get their systems up
to temperatures on their outlaps.
Hamilton radioed in a worry with his
seat during his warm up and with 13 minutes to go they were on it, as
Ocon went to the top of the midfield roster. Clean laps all around
and first blood to Hamilton and Mercedes, followed by Vettel, Bottas,
and Raikkonen, Red Bull having waited to get their first efforts
underway. Stroll had an off that briefly brought out the yellows as
Leclerc had a more serious attempt and went P5 as all eyes went to
the timing screens to see how the Bulls would do at their home
circuit.
The reset midfield order, with 10
minutes left, was Grosjean, Magnussen Hulkenberg, Sainz Leclerc and
Gasly, with Grosjean less than a tenth astern of Raikkonen. The early
times for Red Bull were not encouraging, Ricciardo going P8 as
Leclerc ran wide and broke something off his car on the viciously
unforgiving yellow kerbs on the exit of T9.
Bottas opened up and took the candy
away from his teammate, but on his turn, Lewis got the job done and
took it right back. Verstappen put in a rather more representative
time, going P4 and as the times shuffled the sharp end was now
Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Vettel, and Grosjean, with
Ricciardo adrift of the HAAS and 5 minutes left in the session.
On the outside looking in were
Vandoorne, Stroll, Alonso, Perez, and Ericsson, with Perez and Gasly
having the biggest gap to their teammates, in P11 and P12
respectively. 3 minutes to go, and the traffic was building,
including the well placed HAAS and Renault, who were sporting their
brand new party mode. Finally....
Alonso was on a good lap, and as he
crossed the line he jumped up to P10, just ahead of Leclerc who also
had a good go. Vandoorne also made it out of the fire, albeit to P15
and firmly planted in the hot seat.
A bumpy end to Q1 for @Charles_Leclerc but he's through to Q2 for the sixth successive race weekend 👏 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/xSX98h3HR0— Formula 1 (@F1) June 30, 2018
Under a minute to go and Perez,
Sirotkin, Hartley Stroll and Ericsson were on the outside. Perez was
the first to burn his chance and he did NOT get the job done.
Checquers out and Hartley was next to register no improvement with
just the Williams and Ericsson remaining to wreak havoc. Stroll
managed to improve to P15, putting Vandoorne out but a plethora of
yellow flags put paid to the efforts of the rest. Vandoorne, Perez,
Sirotkin, Hartley, Ericsson were off in search of some currywurst as
the rest turned it around for the struggle of Q2.
Tick tock, as it was over a minute
before any of the cars hit the circuit after the pitlane opened,
Leclerc leading the way on the Ultras, but a wild mix of compounds
behind him. Ferrari sticking to the Ultras and Mercedes rocking the
Supers with Alonso on the Softs, because, why not I guess...
Hamilton set a 1:03.577 to bypass his
teammate, who briefly had gone P1, benefitting from being the first
of the sharp end across the line. Vettel and Raikkonen slotted in P3
and P4 and with the absence of Red Bull, it was Grosjean going just a
tenth shy of Raikkonen on the same compound that made everyone sit up
and take notice.
Supers for Red Bull and it was
Verstappen P5, but just 0.05s ahead of Grosjean, but a shocker for
Ricciardo who wound up P11, behind Alonso who completed his run on
the Soft tyres. Baffling turn of form indeed for the home team. AS
the clock dipped below 7 minutes the midfield looked to be Grosjean,
Magnussen, Sainz, Gasly with Ricciardo awkwardly sandwiched in P9,
between Sainz and Gasly.
In the deep stuff were Hulkenberg,
Ocon, Leclerc, Alonso and Stroll. Stroll in particular was 0.7
seconds off the pace, unused to the heady air of Q2 presumably. The
field retired to the pits to reset for their last runs and Ricciardo
blamed his time on a total lack of front grip, which seemed not to
surprise his engineer. In addition, the track temps were dropping,
down 3C as the first runners emerged from the pitlane.
Ocon, then Raikkonen were first out of
the gate with 2:30 left in the session. Vettel, Alonso, Bottas were
next and within the next 45 seconds the track was full, Mercedes on
the Ultras this time around as an insurance policy.
Leclerc hit the line with 45 seconds to
go, kicking off the train while Alonso set a time just before the
chequers, no improvement and breaking his front wing in the last
corner and generally making a hash of the last 2 turns. Ricciardo was
through, P8 the best he could do, and it was Hulkenberg, reaching up
and claiming P10. Both Mercedes failed to complete their laps, but
Vettel kept his foot in and managed to take P1 away from Mercedes, by
a stunningly tiny 0.033 seconds, on the softer compound. But giveth
with one hand and taketh with another, and he was dinged as being
under investigation for impeding Sainz on his final run.
Off in search of some weissbiers were
Ocon, Gasly, Leclerc, Alonso and Stroll, who at least had managed a
more respectable P15 effort. The continuing struggles of Ricciardo
were holding out the prospect of a promotion for HAAS in Q3. Replays
showed at least some of Ricky Danny's problems were down to getting
stuck behind Stroll on his first run.
Ricciardo and Verstappen were first
out, but Ricciardo immediately allowed his teammate by before
continuing on their was, as the leaders got ready to tilt for all the
marbles. This was confusing for everyone and shortly the positions re
reversed, and Danny Ricky led the way into the hot laps.
It was not good news for the Red Bull
Runners, with Ricciardo a full half second off in the first sector
alone and Verstappen 3 tenths back. Raikkonen shot to the top as
Bottas was all over it. Hamilton, trailing, made a mess of T3 and
behind him, Vettel did the same for T4 and as the dust settled, it
was Bottas, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Vettel.
With 7 minutes left, Raikkonen was on
it again as HAAS went for their first runs. Kimi just killed it,
going P2 and Grosjean took P4, yes, P freakin' 4... In a HAAS!!! Kmag
could only answer with a P8 and suddenly, the order that seemed so
clear through the first 2 sessions was looking decidedly less
obvious.
Wow, 5 minutes to go, and Ricciardo
complained about being sent out as a rabbit for Verstappen,
essentially giving him a slipstream and sacrificing his own chances.
P5 for Verstappen, and neither could bypass the stunning lap from
Grosjean, even with the team tactics. Perhaps the first effects of
ditching the Renault PU being seen at their home race...
2 minutes to go, Hulkenberg led the way
with Hamilton dead last guaranteeing maximum tension, at least until
T3 which had very much been his nemesis throughout the weekend. 1
minute to go and off went Vettel, followed by Bottas who again set a
purple sector Sector 1 . This time, though, Hamilton just about
matched him and it was thousandths between them as they hit the last
Sector. Purple for Bottas and not Hamilton made it pole position for
Valterri with just 0.019 seconds the final margin between them.
P3 for Vettel, meanwhile, nearly 0.3
seconds back followed by Raikkonen, Verstappen and Grosjean. The real
story of course, aside from the fact that Grosjean was so quick, was
the open internecine warfare at Red Bull, with Ricciardo
uncharacteristically, exceedingly, unhappy, for reasons as yet
unknown. Related to his unsettled contract? About to relate to his
unsettled contract?? Impossible to say, but what WAS clear was the
fact he felt he was being treated unfairly by the team, not something
we've heard directly from him during his tenure at Milton Keynes.
Most impressive, though, was the fact
that Bottas trimmed a full tenth off his lap on the second go, not
something that has happened with regularity for the provisional pole
sitters this season. Carlos Sainz, too, finally managed to outqualify
Hulkenberg when they've both reached Q3 so more kudos in order. In a
post race interview, some clarification of the issues at Red Bull, as
Ricciardo basically admitted that he felt the team sent them out in a
manner that was unfair, never giving him the opportunity to grab a
slipstream in Q3. No smiles at all from the Aussie, as he finds the
limit of teamwork with his Dutch teammate, who refused to take the
lead after the team asked him to ... Certainly not a problem we've
ever seen at Red Bull before *coff* Mult-21 *coff*. No words from the
team yet, though in the normal course of things it was Ricciardo's
turn to go first. And with a late update, it was Christian Horner
coming down firmly on the side of Verstappen in a post session
interview, stating that it was the agreement that they take turns and
it was Max's turn. Which, if it was so cut and dried, doesn't really
address why Ricciardo thought it might be otherwise. Curiouser and
curiouser...
Tomorrow's race features the top teams
starting on different compounds, which, well if we think about the
last time that happened could promise some T1 chaos and destruction,
but with not much between the compounds in terms of degradation, it's
very much on Ferrari to get the job done into T1 as otherwise, it's
looking to be another lockout party for the Silver Arrows. Warmer
temperatures might also play a part, but only in forcing Ferrari into
an earlier stop as higher temps should But the real intrigue will be
the dance between Red Bull and HAAS, as without the slipstream, both
Red Bulls look slower than Grosjean and, potentially, Kmag, who
admitted some minor errors were behind the tenth of second he wound
up behind his teammate. If the top 4 rock off into the distance, the
Bulls look mighty vulnerable on this track with this DRS
configuration...
Discuss!!
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