To steal Vettel’s
brilliant line, it was finally time for the drivers to drop their trousers and
show what they’ve got. After weeks of smoke and mirrors, we were all about to
find out how the pack was going to shake out for the 2012 season. The one thing
everyone was certain about was that they were uncertain where any particular
car or driver would be on the grid for the first Grand Prix (although I would
happily have staked my very small collection of Mulberry handbags on Vettel not
being last).
The main point to note
from Q1 was that Kimi missed the cut (subsequently there was some debate as to
why – in the world of Kimi there was an issue with the car – in the real world,
Kimi clearly made a mistake on exiting turn 12). Both HRT cars failed to
qualify within the 107% limit and ultimately missed the race. Q2 saw the shock
elimination of Alonso and the less shocking elimination of Massa. Clearly
Ferrari is going to have one of ‘those’ seasons. Must be hard for the Tifosi to
remember those halycon years (though they were quite boring for everyone else)
when Ferrari won all the time.
Q3 was an frenzied
see-saw of drivers swapping fastest lap-times and culminated in McLaren’s first
1-2 (Lewis-Jenson) on the grid since the European Grand Prix of 2009 the first
time since Monza in 2010 that a Red Bull wasn’t on the front row and (just to
chuck in another stat) the first time since the Australian GP in 1995 that two
British drivers were on the front row. Blimey.
Schumacher looked set to take 3rd place until a flying lap
from Romain Grosjean in a Lotus pushed Schuey down to 4th place. A
brilliant moment for Grosjean although you did wonder what would be going
through his mind at the start of the race knowing he had two of the
afore-mentioned world champions right behind him. Welcome to the big time
Romain!
We are less than
24 hours away from the First Race of the Season. Scream!
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