Spanish GP_Qualifying - Webber starts first!!

23/5/11,

Mark Webber managed to get his first pole position in 2011!! 

Mark Webber put Red Bull again in the first position of the Spanish GP, being followed by his team mate Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton followed with his McLaren in front of Fernando Alonso.

Q1.

The main competitors of the pole position were Red Bull and McLaren, the latter pair falling to 14th and 15th as other drivers improved on soft tyres. Mercedes and Ferrari both used soft tyres to ensure their drivers reached Q2.

Nick Heidfeld was unable to join in following his fire during practice. And a gearbox problem after his first run forced Rubens Barrichello to elimination.

That gave a position in Q2 to Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen.

The usual suspects filled the remaining places but all the drivers who set times were within the 107% time. Jerome d’Ambrosio, the slowest qualifier, was inside by just three tenths of a second.

Drivers eliminated.

18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault /1’26.521

19 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth /1’26.910

20 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth /1’27.315

21 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth /1’27.809

22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth /1’27.908

23 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth /1’28.556

24 Nick Heidfeld Renault  /--

Q2.

Sebastian Vettel was fastest in Q2 despite although he had problems on using his Kinetic Energy Recovery System.

His team mate Mark Webber was second, two-tenths of a second slower than his team mate, ahead of the two McLarens.

Force India resigned themselves to not reaching Q3 and elected not to use a set of soft tyres. That allowed Heikki Kovalainen to beat them to 15th.

The Saubers and Toro Rossos also failed to get in the Q3 with Pastor Maldonado reaching the final ten for the first time.

Drivers eliminated.

11 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari /1’23.231

12 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari /1’23.367

13 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari /1’23.694

14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari /1’23.702

15 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault /1’25.403

16 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes /1’26.126

17 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes /1’26.571

Q3.

The McLaren duo briefly sat at the top of the times, Hamilton just three tenths of a second faster than Button.

But they were kicked out by the two Red Bulls, being led by Vettel.

Webber had even more speed in reserve, though, and his 1’20.981 was a full second faster than the McLarens could reach.

An impressive effort by Fernando Alonso split the McLarens, leaving him just three-thousandths of a second slower than Hamilton.

Vitaly Petrov was sixth in front of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa.

Pastor Maldonado was ninth ahead of Michael Schumacher, who left the pits on hards but did not set a time.

Top ten positions.

1 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault /1’20.981

2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault /1’21.181
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes /1’21.961
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari /1’21.964
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes /1’21.996
6 Vitaly Petrov Renault /1’22.471
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes /1’22.599
8 Felipe Massa Ferrari /1’22.888
9 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth /1’22.952
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes /--