Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

lauantai 21. toukokuuta 2011

Spanish GP / Qualifying: Webber broke Vettel´s pole streak!

I have been on a sick leave for the whole week so knowing that it was going to be a Formula 1 weekend just absolutely made my week! I had an awful stomach flu but I guess there´s no bug that watching thrilling Formula 1 action wouldn´t make go away for good... ;D And knowing the race was going to be at Circuit de Catalynya in Spain made me wait for the weekend with a special feeling because I had been there personally in February following the winter tests... So I knew it´s going to be a different feeling to watch it on TV when I could recognise all the curves and straights on the track. And all those wonderful memories!!

After the three practices there was hardly any doubt which team would conquer the pole! Red Bull seems to have increased their pace even more though McLaren has also brought some updates to their car for this weekend. There was close battle for pole between Vettel and Webber and surprisingly -at least for me- it was Webber who snatched the pole this time and with a clear 2-tenth margin to his team-mate! But to Hamilton in 3rd place the gap was almost a second!

At the press conference Vettel told he had had a KERS problem during Q2 and Q3 so he was unable to use the system in his final run. What made a positive impression on me was that he didn´t want to explain his defeat to Webber by accusing the lack of KERS but just said that his team-mate had done a better job this time. I appreciate the German´s words, it gives an image of fair sportsman spirit :) The team-mates may not be good friends but they respect each other on the track.

As a Finn I was absolutely delighted to see Heikki Kovalainen making his way through to Q2 for the first time this season! Team Lotus has brought some promising upgrades to their car this weekend and Lotus´ pace seems to have improved. No matter that Heidfeld was unable to go out due to the fire he suffered in his car in P3 and no matter both Force Indias did their run on the hard tyre Heikki´s achievement is still impressive. He has beaten his team-mate Trulli in every qualifying this year and he always drives flat out and on the very limit! So P15 is a genuinely impressive achievement. The lack of KERS will make the start a real challenge tomorrow but Heikki has the fighting spirit that it needs to even fight for some points maybe :)

If I have to predict the race result tomorrow I´d say it´s going to be another 1 2 for Red Bull! The McLarens and the Ferraris seem to be very close as there was only a 0.001 second that separated Hamilton in P3 from Alonso in P4... Personal wishes? Absolutely: Vettel to win!!!

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