Luckily the qualifying for the Belgian grand prix has filled my head with Formula 1 thoughts because I´ve been very stressed with my new job. Even Formula 1 action hasn´t managed to make me forget all the work stuff completely and that really means I´ve some serious stress, haha! But I´m sure writing about the sports that I adore is the perfect way to cope with the stress so here are my thoughts on today´s qualifying.
Rain had been predicted for the qualifying and indeed, when the Q1 got underway there was some light rain in the air. All the drivers started to the session with the intermediate tyres. The track kept getting drier throughout the first session and in these changing conditions we saw some huge surprises. Caterham´s Giedo Van Der Garde went out on the slick tyres at the end of the first session and the Dutchman managed to jump 3rd in the standings! Both Marussia drivers Bianchi and Chilton had also put the slicks on and Bianchi was 11th fastest whilst his team-mate also made his way through in to the Q2 by being 16th fastest. The absolutely perfect tyre call from both teams really! I think a Caterham driver has never qualified as high as 14th before! On the other hand, Q1 was a huge disappointment for the Williams team as both their drivers were eliminated from Q2: Maldonado qualified 17th and Bottas only 20th. Mixed conditions could have been a chance for them to achieve an excellent qualifying result but they just didn´t manage to get either timing or their tyre choice right this time.
When Q2 got underway the track was dry but there were some very dark clouds lurking in the sky. These dry conditions seemed perfect for Lotus: Kimi was the fastest man on the track in Q2! It really shows that Kimi loves driving on this 7-kilometer track. In Q2 I had high hopes: I was confident that the Iceman had enough pace to challenge the Red Bulls and the Mercedes drivers for pole... If only it was dry in Q3!
Which wasn´t the case unfortunately. At Spa the weather can change in a heartbeat and it´s utterly impossible to predict! All the drivers except Force India´s Di Resta started to the final session on the intermediate tyres -which was clearly the wrong choice. They had to pit for slick tyres and when they all came out again it had started to rain pretty heavily. Di Resta had already completed his flying lap on the drier track so for a moment it seemed that we would have a surprise pole setter: Force India´s Paul Di Resta! The shower, however, lasted only for a short while and it was incredible how fast the track dried up! At the end of the session the track kept improving lap by lap and once again, for the fourth time in a row, Hamilton managed to make it on pole despite the few mistakes that the Briton made on his last flying lap! Hamilton himself was amazed at getting the pole! Sebastian made it in P2 and his team-mate Webber in P3. Rosberg was 4th, Di Resta finally 5th, Button 6th and Grosjean 7th. In the changing conditions Kimi couldn´t make his Lotus fly and the Iceman was only 8th fastest which was a disappointment as I was hoping for a higher grid position. The only good thing is that Alonso will start to the race behind the Iceman in P9.
It seems likely that there will be changing weather conditions in tomorrow´s race as well. But in terms of weather, you can never know at Spa whether it will rain or how long the rain will last if there will be a shower... Red Bull´s pace seems very promising but I know Hamilton won´t be easily beaten. The circumstances might not be the best possible for Kimi and his E21 but I know that at Spa the Iceman is capable of making miracles! He doesn´t need a front row grid position to win the race, that we´ve seen already before. But one thing is for sure: the weather conditions will play a significant role in the race. And that means the teams have to make the right decisions at the right time! I´m sure we´re going to see an entertaining race tomorrow. I´m sure Kimi and Alonso agree on one thing: the blonde-haired guy called Sebastian mustn´t finish the race ahead of them!
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