So qualis was really exciting. I mean for 5 seconds there, I thought Adrian Sutil's Force India was going to be on pole but then Lewis Hamilton had to spoil it and go quickest. My Ferrari-clad pilot was third so he starts on the second row of the grid.
Considering I was only hoping for a fifth or sixth, this quali result has exceeded my expectations. I'm happy he was able to put the car on a competitive grid position. That should satisfy the rabid Italian tifosi. Despite topping the timesheets in Q1 which was a complete and utterly pleasurable surprise, it was looking a bit shaky there in Q2 where the cars all run lightest.
The weird thing about the Ferrari this season is that when the car is at its lightest, it is too difficult to control which is the opposite of how the second part of qualis should work. The less fuel you have on board, the faster the car should go. Unfortunately for the F60, it's the other way around. Kimi has been finding this an issue in Q2 and always ends up at the higher end of the top 10. Just enough to qualify for Q3.
Q3 started off with Kimi going first. He posted his time than went back to the pits to prepare for the final stretch. He posted less than competitive times his first 2 runs but in his final push, hauled himself up to second place before being dropped a position when Hamilton went faster to go P1.
Looking at the speed of the other cars, I believe Kimi did an astounding job to qualify third. Like I've said in the previous F1-related post, the car is not up to par in terms of speed when compared to the Brawns and McLaren and even Force India so he must have had to extract every drop of performance from that car. The plan is to get a great start and boost himself to second and try to maintain that position. I'm sensing Lewis will be fast and will possibly win tomorrow with Kimi second unless Ferrari and Kimi can come up with a superlative strategy and drive. Perhaps getting the better of McLaren and Lewis in the pits. If he can get up to second by jumping the Force India, I think Lewis and him will be off in front and leave the rest of the pack.
I could be wrong but based on past races, I'd say this is a pretty realistic scenario of how the race can go but F1 racing is usually unpredictable in nature. Anything can happen. You can only put in the maximum effort and hope that things go your way.
Talking about the rest of the grid, Heikki is in fourth and Jenson and Barrichello are fifth and sixth I think. The sister Ferrari being driven by the new addition to the prancing horse team, Giancarlo Fisichella, could only manage 14th spot. Considering that he just jumped into the car on friday and has to learn a completely different machine from the one he was driving 14 days ago, I would say it was a good effort from him. I was rooting for him to get into Q3 but perhaps this first race is still too early for him to completely get to grips with the car. I hope he manages to finish in the points though so we can hold on to the third spot in the constructors championship. It's of course looking fragile now because McLaren who is behind Ferrari in the constructors are in a great position for maximum points haul.
I know I said no more pre-race posts but I won't be able to watch the race tomorrow since I have a business dinner I can't get out of. Here's hoping Kimi and Ferrari continue their current good form and have another podium finish. Forza Ferrari! Forza Kimi! Forza Giancarlo!
UPDATE:
Just saw the fuel weights for tomorrow. Looks like the first three drivers will be two-stopping while everybody behind them will do one run into the pits. Under normal weather conditions, of course. Anyways, seems even more important now for Kimi to get in front of Sutil and try to build a gap from the rest of the pack. Pit stop predictions estimate he will be in around about lap 21 for his first stop because he is the heaviest fueled among the three top runners but I'm thinking he'll be in on lap 19, just a lap after Sutil and Hamilton. I guess this is cos the Ferrari doesn't perform as well at its lightest and I think they've been calling Kimi into the pits with still quite some fuel on board, always earlier than the predicted stops. Another reason could also be that the Ferrari engine is a gas guzzler and doesn't effectively use the fuel as well as the other cars around. So, it's pretty much more imperative than a couple of hours ago that he get a great start and push to get a good gap. Because of the high speed nature of the track, doing 2 pit stop runs will hinder the front runners more so than at any other track. A pit stop usually last about 23-25 seconds since cars have to be on the pit lane speed limiter and when you're in the pits and the other cars are doing the maximum speed around the track, you lose your advantage more than in other circuits. Anyways, we'll just have to see :)
Hehehe, I can REALLY go on endlessly about Kimi, can't I?
Considering I was only hoping for a fifth or sixth, this quali result has exceeded my expectations. I'm happy he was able to put the car on a competitive grid position. That should satisfy the rabid Italian tifosi. Despite topping the timesheets in Q1 which was a complete and utterly pleasurable surprise, it was looking a bit shaky there in Q2 where the cars all run lightest.
The weird thing about the Ferrari this season is that when the car is at its lightest, it is too difficult to control which is the opposite of how the second part of qualis should work. The less fuel you have on board, the faster the car should go. Unfortunately for the F60, it's the other way around. Kimi has been finding this an issue in Q2 and always ends up at the higher end of the top 10. Just enough to qualify for Q3.
Q3 started off with Kimi going first. He posted his time than went back to the pits to prepare for the final stretch. He posted less than competitive times his first 2 runs but in his final push, hauled himself up to second place before being dropped a position when Hamilton went faster to go P1.
Looking at the speed of the other cars, I believe Kimi did an astounding job to qualify third. Like I've said in the previous F1-related post, the car is not up to par in terms of speed when compared to the Brawns and McLaren and even Force India so he must have had to extract every drop of performance from that car. The plan is to get a great start and boost himself to second and try to maintain that position. I'm sensing Lewis will be fast and will possibly win tomorrow with Kimi second unless Ferrari and Kimi can come up with a superlative strategy and drive. Perhaps getting the better of McLaren and Lewis in the pits. If he can get up to second by jumping the Force India, I think Lewis and him will be off in front and leave the rest of the pack.
I could be wrong but based on past races, I'd say this is a pretty realistic scenario of how the race can go but F1 racing is usually unpredictable in nature. Anything can happen. You can only put in the maximum effort and hope that things go your way.
Talking about the rest of the grid, Heikki is in fourth and Jenson and Barrichello are fifth and sixth I think. The sister Ferrari being driven by the new addition to the prancing horse team, Giancarlo Fisichella, could only manage 14th spot. Considering that he just jumped into the car on friday and has to learn a completely different machine from the one he was driving 14 days ago, I would say it was a good effort from him. I was rooting for him to get into Q3 but perhaps this first race is still too early for him to completely get to grips with the car. I hope he manages to finish in the points though so we can hold on to the third spot in the constructors championship. It's of course looking fragile now because McLaren who is behind Ferrari in the constructors are in a great position for maximum points haul.
I know I said no more pre-race posts but I won't be able to watch the race tomorrow since I have a business dinner I can't get out of. Here's hoping Kimi and Ferrari continue their current good form and have another podium finish. Forza Ferrari! Forza Kimi! Forza Giancarlo!
UPDATE:
Just saw the fuel weights for tomorrow. Looks like the first three drivers will be two-stopping while everybody behind them will do one run into the pits. Under normal weather conditions, of course. Anyways, seems even more important now for Kimi to get in front of Sutil and try to build a gap from the rest of the pack. Pit stop predictions estimate he will be in around about lap 21 for his first stop because he is the heaviest fueled among the three top runners but I'm thinking he'll be in on lap 19, just a lap after Sutil and Hamilton. I guess this is cos the Ferrari doesn't perform as well at its lightest and I think they've been calling Kimi into the pits with still quite some fuel on board, always earlier than the predicted stops. Another reason could also be that the Ferrari engine is a gas guzzler and doesn't effectively use the fuel as well as the other cars around. So, it's pretty much more imperative than a couple of hours ago that he get a great start and push to get a good gap. Because of the high speed nature of the track, doing 2 pit stop runs will hinder the front runners more so than at any other track. A pit stop usually last about 23-25 seconds since cars have to be on the pit lane speed limiter and when you're in the pits and the other cars are doing the maximum speed around the track, you lose your advantage more than in other circuits. Anyways, we'll just have to see :)
Hehehe, I can REALLY go on endlessly about Kimi, can't I?
