Europe: Qualifications Seen from the Stands
On the evening of the qualifications for the 2012 European Grand Prix, technical or sporting managers reflect on the performances of their respective teams, starting with Red Bull, which will once again start from pole position thanks to Sebastian Vettel, who joins Alain Prost and Jim Clark in the record of polemen.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel – Pole Position
Mark Webber – 19th
Christian Horner, Team Principal: After such a tight qualifying session, where at certain moments the top 7 cars were separated by just a tenth, for Sebastian to pull out a final lap with a four-tenth lead was a remarkable performance. This gives him his 33rd pole, equaling Jim Clark and Alain Prost, who are two very illustrious names in F1. This contrasts with Mark’s fortunes, who after a tricky morning had a hydraulic problem with his DRS preventing its use. Nevertheless, he was close to qualifying in Q2 without it. I am certain he will have an attacking race tomorrow – he has proven in the past that he can climb back up the field and I have no doubt he will do so tomorrow.
– Lire les déclarations des pilotes
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton – 2nd
Jenson Button – 9th
Martin Whitmarsh, Team Director:
Lewis put in a superb lap in Q3 to secure a front row spot for tomorrow’s race – and, as I said at the end of qualifying in Montreal, where we also qualified second, when Lewis is on the front row, you want to believe in his chances, don’t you? Jenson was very quick in FP3 and Q2, and he is naturally disappointed that, due to issues with front-end locking and unexpected understeer, he couldn’t capitalize on his initial pace by setting a fast lap in Q3.
But Formula 1 in 2012 is perhaps tighter than it has ever been – for example, incredibly, Fernando (Alonso)’s best time in Q2 was just 0.218 seconds off Romain (Grosjean)’s best Q2 time, and Romain was ahead while Fernando failed to qualify for Q3 – and others too, like Mark (Webber), who didn’t even make it to Q1. It’s incredibly tight right now.
With such a high level of competition, where on Saturday just a few tenths can make a huge difference for the drivers’ race objectives, it makes things stressful both in the cockpits and on the pit wall. It also captivates spectators and viewers – but that’s how it should be because Formula 1 exists to provide spectacle, to entertain, and today, on the fringes of the streets of Valencia, that’s exactly what Formula 1 delivered.
Williams
Pastor Maldonado – 3rd
Bruno Senna – 14th
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: « As we have seen all season, tire management is crucial for performing well in both qualifying and the race. This was clearly evident today with a mixed morning and qualifications. Pastor did an excellent job with a very strong performance on Soft tires to finish third. Bruno was less fortunate with the balance of his tires and finished 14th. Based on our long runs on Friday, we hope to achieve a good result in the race. »
Lotus
Romain Grosjean – 4th
Kimi Räikkönen – 5th
Alan Permane, Director of Race Operations: We are very happy with our performances today. Both drivers did an excellent job. Fourth and fifth on the grid are excellent starting positions and we know that the E20 has shown a very high race pace on the majority of circuits. I am sure tomorrow will be no exception to the rule.
[In qualifying,] we didn’t do anything radically different compared to previous Grand Prix. But so far, we’ve had a more consistent weekend than last time in Montreal and we seem very comfortable with the soft tires. We’ve analyzed the data and paid more attention to qualifying performance, but our race preparation remains unchanged.[In the race,] we have already started from much further back on the grid than 4th and 5th and finished very well. So we are confident before the race. That being said, it is very difficult to overtake here, even with the DRS. So we do not expect an easy race. It will probably be very hot, which will be tough on the tires and on that side, we are confident. The strategic options can lead to one, two, or three stops. We will see how it unfolds.Mercedes
Nico Rosberg – 6th
Michael Schumacher – 12th
Ross Brawn, Team Director: « We had more potential than what we showed this afternoon and I am sure many teams will feel the same way. Michael did not string together all his best sectors in his last lap in Q2, and the times were so tight that he missed it by seven-thousandths of a second. Nico had a calm session, he was consistently in the top 3 and seemed well positioned heading into Q3. He was the fastest on his first run and had a fresh set of tires for the end as the track was getting faster. However, he got stuck between Hamilton ahead of him and Maldonado behind, which ruined his lap and he gave up. The race will be tough on the tires and how we manage them will be absolutely vital. »
Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi – 7th
Sergio Pérez – 15th
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Track Engineer Manager: As expected, the performance level was very close between the cars. For us, the work done last night paid off. We were closer today than yesterday. Our goal for these qualifications was to reach the top 10. We knew it would be very difficult. Sergio did not succeed, having some difficulties in Q2 and he was unable to qualify in Q3. Starting 15th will obviously not be easy for the race. Kamui did a good lap with the Medium tires in Q1, which allowed us to save a set of Soft tires and we used them in Q2, where the track was much faster. This boosted our chances of being in Q3, so we decided to adopt an aggressive strategy and waited until the last moment. Kamui then did a very good lap. This seventh place well reflects where we are and it’s a good position for tomorrow.
Force India
Nico Hülkenberg – 8th
Paul di Resta – 10th
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: Another very close qualifying hour and I am delighted that we were able to get both our cars into Q3 for the first time this year. The car has been very fast throughout the sessions and we showed once again today that we were competitive in Q1 and Q2. In Q3, neither of our drivers had perfect laps, which cost us a few positions on the grid, but we are still well placed to score points with both our cars. We are expecting a tough race tomorrow with high temperatures once again, but the car is strong, we have a good understanding of the tires, and our long-run pace looks promising.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso – 11th
Felipe Massa – 13th
Stefano Domenicali, team director: We are disappointed and there’s no reason to deny it. Q2 is the most difficult part of qualifying because this year everyone is very close and it takes just a little to pay a high price. And that’s what happened today to our two drivers. Our grid positions don’t fully reflect the potential of the F2012, given that with their Q2 times, Fernando would have started 7th and Felipe 9th: with two sets of Soft tires to exploit, the times would undoubtedly have been better and I’ll let you conclude for yourself. Now, the race will clearly be more complicated, because starting so far back on a circuit with such characteristics is surely not ideal. We will now have to make necessity a virtue, making the best possible use of the additional sets of tires we have for our two drivers. We will need to carefully examine all strategic options for tomorrow, in order to recover the positions we conceded to our main rivals today.
Caterham F1
Heikki Kovalainen – 16th
Vitaly Petrov – 20th
Mark Smith, Technical Director: « I am delighted with today’s performance, as is every team member. We were reasonably optimistic that the new parts we brought here and will have at Silverstone would give us a chance to take another step forward, and it’s proven by seeing Heikki place his car in Q2. Now, we are focusing all our attention on tomorrow’s race, and the goal remains the same as it has been all season: to ensure we bring both our cars home safely, to fight with the cars just in front of us, and to be ready to take advantage of any opportunities that arise during the race. »
Toro Rosso
Daniel Ricciardo – 17th
Jean-Eric Vergne – 18th
Laurent Mekies, Chief Engineer: « Obviously, we cannot be happy with where we are on the timing sheet. The gap to our closest competitors is bigger than in the last race. Because of this, we decided to approach qualifying slightly differently than usual, in order to learn lessons that could prove useful for the upcoming races, as well as to focus on tomorrow rather than this session.
Between yesterday and today, we have already made modifications to the car and then we made the strategic decision not to use new tires with Daniel in Q2. Hopefully, we will reap the benefits during the race, as he now has two additional sets of new Soft tires.
HRT
Pedro de la Rosa – 21st
Narain Karthikeyan – 22nd
Toni Cuquerella, Technical Director: « We are extremely satisfied with the work accomplished by the whole team today. We did things well in the garage as well as on the track, and we improve more each time. On a circuit that could have been complicated, we confirmed that we have made a step forward since Barcelona, and the team is closer to where we want to be.
Pedro’s lap confirms it: in fact, he was the best of the season so far. To be precise, his time is at 103.4% [of the best time in Q1]. This tends to show that the team’s work is very good.
Tomorrow, the race will be hard, especially on the brakes, and the biggest question mark lies in how the brake cooling system will perform over the entire distance, but we are confident we can bring both our cars to the finish line, in front of our fans.
Marussia
Charles Pic – 23rd
Timo Glock – DNQ
John Booth, Team Director: Unfortunately, the weekend continues to unfold less well than usual for us, and this was again the case during today’s qualifications. Charles did a very good lap, but it was clear that we were not yet at our maximum in certain areas on the car, and we will look to improve that for tomorrow’s race. After Free Practice 3 this morning, it was clear that Timo was not sufficiently recovered to participate in the qualifying session and we thought it best for him not to take part in this session and to see a doctor. We have not made a decision for the race; we will see tomorrow morning, so we wish Timo a speedy recovery and will now work with Charles tonight to study as much data as possible. Our goal for tomorrow’s race, no matter what it brings, will be to do the best job possible in all circumstances.
