Mark Webber took his second straight pole with a superb performance during the qualifying session for the German Grand Prix. The Australian lapped the Nurburgring circuit at a storming pace to fend off stiff opposition from his surprise closest challenger, Lewis Hamilton, by less than a tenth of a second. Sebastian Vettel will start third, his lowest grid slot of the season so far, at his home race.
Q1
Home drivers Nick Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher briefly led the timesheets at the start of the session, as did Jaime Alguersauri who demonstrated the performance gulf between the soft and medium tyres by going fastest on a 1'34.2 using the former. Using the mediums, Webber quickly deprived the young Spaniard of this glory with a 1'34.1, but Hamilton's over-a-second-quicker lap set using the same rubber suggested that he could well be in contention for pole position despite his earlier misgivings. Not even twenty-two time polesitter Vettel could answer that particular effort to begin with, and it remained the fastest time until Fernando Alonso posted a time less than a tenth quicker. Subsequent times from both the Red Bull boys were insufficient to topple that, but once the midfield runners began to resort to the soft tyres, a slew of new faces appeared in the top 10. Sergio Perez went sixth for Sauber, Vitaly Petrov fifth for Renault and Pastor Maldonado fourth for Williams, and Heidfeld re-took the first place he had fleetingly enjoyed fifteen minutes on a 1'32.5. Such was the extent by which the times were tumbling, even Schumacher and Felipe Massa felt the urge to post times on soft rubber to safeguard their places, slotting either side of Heidfeld with a 1'32.6 and a 1'32.1 respectively. One midfield runner was always going to be caught out when the music stopped, and on this occasion it was the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi who joined the established bottom six runners, which features Indian driver Karun Chandhok amongst its ranks for this weekend only, who steps in at Team Lotus in place of Jarno Trulli.
Eliminated – Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Timo Glock (Virgin), Karun Chandhok (Lotus), Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania)
Q2
The Ferrari duo of Massa and Alonso were the first major contenders out of the pits, and with both using soft tyres, it was the British Grand Prix winner who initially led the way on a 1'31.2, an effort four tenths faster than Webber's first crack of the Q2 whip. Hamilton spoilt the Scuderia party however by pipping his former teammate by two tenths, which was enough to keep him atop the standings for the remainder of the session. Behind, an almighty scrap between the midfield runners broke out in the final minutes, and with the McLarens, Ferraris and Red Bulls apparently safe, as well as both Mercedes boys after a pair of last-ditch efforts from Nico Rosberg and Schumacher, nine drivers were left to duke it out for two more slots in Q3. The lucky recipients of these were Petrov and another member of F1's swollen German contingent, Adrian Sutil, whose Force India appeared to suit the Nurburgring circuit well. Their respective teammates Heidfeld and Paul Di Resta therefore both missed the cut, as did Perez in the sole remaining Sauber along with both Williams and Toro Rosso drivers.
Eliminated – Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso)
Q3
As so often is the case, Q3 was a tale of two halves, with all of the pole contenders making two attempts at glory, and the rest saving a set of tyres by only making one. Alonso was the first man in the first group, setting a 1'30.9, but Hamilton was able to go two tenths faster at the wheel of his seemingly rejuvenated McLaren. Massa went a tenth slower than Alonso in the sister Ferrari, though Button was even further off the pace of his teammate with a 1'31.3. Webber finally revealed the true potential of the Red Bull by setting an incredible 1'30.3 – a time with which Vettel couldn't quite get on terms with a time a tenth slower. For all of Ferrari's sudden improvement in pace, Alonso still couldn't get between the blue cars on his second attempt, but even with improvements from both Webber and Vettel, Hamilton was somehow able to sneak the McLaren onto the front row with a blistering final time of 1'30.1, just fractions slower than Webber. Vettel thus qualified off the front row for the first time in 2011 in third, while Ferrari had to be content with fourth and fifth places for Alonso and Massa, ahead of Rosberg, who set only one lap, a somewhat crestfallen Button who abandoned his second lap after complaining of a lack of grip, Sutil, Petrov, and Schumacher who equalled his worst-ever qualifying performance with tenth place at a track where he has taken five victories in the past.
Top Ten – Mark Webber (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Jenson Button (McLaren), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
My Prediction
Bearing in mind Webber's impeccable track record at the Nurburgring and Hamilton-shaped buffer between himself and Vettel, I shall be looking no further than the pole-sitting Aussie as to the identity of tomorrow's victor, assuming it remains dry:
1. Webber, 2. Vettel, 3. Hamilton, 4. Alonso, 5. Massa, 6. Button, 7. Rosberg, 8. Heidfeld, 9. Sutil, 10. Di Resta
Unfortunately, I can't quite envisage the speed of Hamilton's McLaren being quite strong enough to ward off a challenge from Vettel, but he should have enough in hand to hold off Alonso. Button won't be able to trouble Massa, but should be able to take sixth place away from Rosberg. Heidfeld will gain positions thanks to another collision between Petrov and Schumacher, as well as his Renault being a tad faster than the Force India. For all that however, a pair of sensible drives from Sutil and Di Resta will ensure the Indian squad takes home a well-deserved three points.
As Silverstone showed however, predicting the outcome of a new-look 2011 F1 race is becoming an increasingly difficult task: anything can and probably will happen, especially if the weather conditions take a turn for the worse. You can guarantee one thing though – that there'll be a comprehensive report of everything that went on right here this time tomorrow. Don't miss it.
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