This is finally the weekend I´ve impatiently been waiting for many months already! Yesterday it was just wonderful to get up at half past three in the morning and sit down on the couch to watch the first free practice of the year! There´s absolutely no more perfect way to start your morning than by watching thrilling Formula 1 action! :)
Actually I didn´t know what to expect in the qualifying today. Honestly speaking, I had high hopes for Red Bull though common sense kept saying to me that the fairy-tale that took place last year is extremely unlikely to happen again... I kept my fingers crossed for Kimi as well, the winter tests gave a very promising impression on the performance of the E20. I also wished all the best for the Finnish Caterham driver Heikki Kovalainen who has absolutely the most awesome helmet on the grid! But not even the stunning red Angry Bird could make him any quicker than the usual 18th! So my hopes and the reality didn´t quite match this time!
The first shock stroke already in Q1 when Kimi made a mistake on his last flying lap and was therefor knocked out of Q2! I read that Kimi had some communication issues with his team as well and he didn´t know how much time he got left to start a new lap... And he didn´t make it before the chequered flag! Very disappointing indeed because the E20 seems to have huge potential in terms of speed... So Kimi will start in P17 tomorrow due to Perez being penalised for a gear-box change. But I´m sure we´re going to see plenty of aggressive overtaking in the race tomorrow so I wouldn´t be surprised if Kimi scored some points!
On the basis what we saw in the winter tests all the experts said that things didn´t look very bright for Ferrari. And today we can easily say that they are in big trouble! Saying anything else would be lying! Alonso had a spin in Q2 because he went wide to the grass and he was stuck on the gravel and unable to continue the qualifying. It was a clear mistake from him which he didn´t want to admit after the qualifying. But it just shows how difficult the F2012 is to drive! His team-mate Massa was able to finish the Q2 but was only able to reach P16! Despite the spin Alonso got P12. There has been a lot of talk about Massa´s position at Ferrari and if I´m asked I definitely think that he should have got fired a looong time ago! He has had plenty of chances to show what he´s capable of and he has miserably failed almost every time!
It was very interesting to see which teams and which drivers could make their way through to top ten. McLaren drivers seemed even stronger than in the tests! Also Mercedes drivers Nico and Schumi were predicted to be among the ten fastest drivers. And of course the Red Bull duo... Lotus had also been very quick in the tests and Grosjean showed in the qualifying that their performance was real. Also Hulkenberg in his Force India and Ricciardo in Toro Rosso were among the top 10.
No pole for the reigning world champion! Hamilton was able to snatch the pole and his team-mate Button made it a one-two for McLaren. But who would have expected Romain Grosjean to take P3?? So Lotus´s potential is very real, not only an illusion created during the winter tests! Just can´t help speculating how high Kimi would have gone without the mistake of his own... Schumi will start alongside Grosjean and the Red Bull drivers are in P5 (Webber) and P6 (Vettel). Red Bull definitely has some catching up to do! But I do put my confidence in Vettel and I´m sure he has a strong race tomorrow. Despite the two titles he´s hungry to win more :)
I can hardly wait tomorrow morning when the lights go out! I´m sure we´re going to see an epic race. Will the McLarens disappear into the horizon after the start? Will the DRS-activated F-duct system used by Mercedes make them dominant in the race? How high is it realistic for Kimi to reach tomorrow? Will I see Vettel winning the race? We´ll get the answers tomorrow!
P.S. I´m extremely grateful for all the flattering feedback that I have received concerning my blog! I write this mainly for my own pleasure because there´re two things that I love a great deal: Formula 1 racing and writing :) But I do appreciate a lot that some others also find my blog interesting to read! Thanks for giving me extra motivation to continue my writing :):):)
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