Webber kicks off 2nd half of Formula 1 season with pole at Spa
2010-08-29 00:45:39 Author: admin Source:
Mark Webber picked up his fifth pole of the season and resumed his first championship charge into the second half of the 2010 Formula One World Championship in a rain-affected qualifying session at Spa.
Prior to the Practice and qualifying sessions for the Round 13 Belgium Grand Prix, Webber who won the Hungary Grand Prix last time out was already confident about resuming his consistency at the Belgium GP weekend. “I’m quietly confident that we’ll have enough because the RB6 has been fast at every racetrack this year. At Valencia, which has several long straights like Spa, my team-mate Sebastian Vettel and I locked out the front row of the grid, and if we can replicate that level of performance here we can aim to spray more champagne on Sunday," he commented.
The Australian, although fully pumped, remained realistic, “After my victory in Hungary, I’m leading the championship again. It’s a great place to be, but I’m not getting carried away because it’s very tight at the top and there are still seven races to go. Of the five drivers still in with a shout of the title – me, Vettel, Hamilton, Button and Alonso – three of them are champions and one of them is my team-mate, so it’s going to be flat-out all the way to Abu Dhabi."
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Renault's Robert Kubica managed to split the Red Bulls in second and third respectively, while holding off Sebastian Vettel in fourth overall. Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button could only salvaged a fifth place as his best effort at the circuit famous for the "Eau Rouge" chicane.
Hamilton quoted, “We’ve looked very fast all weekend, and the car’s felt great. On my first run in Q3, I was the first driver into Turn 14, and the track was drying but still a bit wet, so I didn’t push hard enough and lost ground – maybe half a second. I thought we could have got pole, but I went a bit wide at La Source on my final run. There’s a very long straight from Eau Rouge to the top of the hill, and it’s quite tricky to stay ahead of a chasing car, even if you’re on pole. I’m hopeful of getting a good start in the race, and we’ll take it from there.
Button added, "In qualifying, you obviously want to push the car to the limit, but it’s very tricky with this asphalt to see which parts of the surface are wet or dry. And, when you’re pushing as hard as you can, it’s very difficult to find the limit of the tyre in the wet. If you hit a wet patch, you’re off. Still, I’m fifth – on the good side of the grid – and in this sort of weather, anything can happen, so it’s pretty exciting.”
Felipe Massa, who will start alongside Button, was the highest placed Ferrari at Spa in sixth overall. The Brazilian admittted that the Ferraris simply did not have the pace to the Red Bulls and McLarens, and of course, the rain at several sections of the track didn't help Ferrari much during qualifying. Fernando Alonso, too, had a session to forget as the Spaniard struggled to a tenth place grid position. But, the double F1 champion remains optimistic, and will be counting on the track characteristics and changeable weather to favor their chances for the race.
AT&T Williams team performed well to place both cars in the top ten with Rubens Barrichello in seventh and Nico Hiulkenberg in ninth. A different tyre selection in Q3 with Hulkenberg running on the option tyre and Barrichello on the prime, will dictate a split strategy for the cars in the race, with both drivers highly capable in the wets should conditions alter.
Force India's Adrian Sutil made return to the top ten since the Canadian GP, having negotiated the thrilling rain-punctuated qualifying session. Team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi will start from P12. Sutil made only a run in Q3 and timed his lap to coincide with the very last seconds of dry running before another rain shower arrived. He got in one lap, the eighth quickest of the session, and will line up alongside Barrichello for the Belgian Grand Prix.
For the first time this season, both Mercedes GP drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher have missed the top ten. Both MGP-W01s were off-pace through the practice runs, with Schumacher serving his 10-place drop penalty from the last GP where he squeezed Barrichello against the pitwall. Schumacher qualified in 11th (+10), while Rosberg 12th (+5, gearbox change) for the race.
Elsewhere, the rather chaotic condition at Spa allowed Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock to make it through into qualifying two for Lotus Racing and Virgin Racing respectively. It was the second Q2 for Kovalainen since the Malaysian GP, while Glock got the first for Richard Branson's team this season.
Results
1 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:45.778
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:45.863
3 Robert Kubica Renault 1:46.100
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:46.127
5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:46.206
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:46.314
7 Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:46.602 19
8 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:46.659
9 Nico Hulkenberg Williams 1:47.053
10 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:47.441
