To add to the intrigue there are suggestions Ferrari may have gambled on a wet
weather set-up, which would explain Alonso’s lack of qualifying pace. Rain
had fallen half an hour before the session started but on a drying track the
Spaniard was hopelessly outpaced by the McLarens and Red Bulls.
Alonso’s race engineer Andrea Stella hinted, however, that the Spaniard might
have a wetter set-up than the rest, placing more emphasis on downforce. “We
know the situation is good for tomorrow,” Stella assured his driver over the
team radio channel. Alonso denied that his team had taken any sort of
gamble. “Ninth in USA and seventh here so more or less as I expected,” he
said. “We ran with maximum downforce in the dry and same in the wet so no
big changes today, no gamble.”
Whatever happens, it has been a thrilling battle between Vettel and Alonso
these past few weeks; the German coming on strong and the Spaniard defending
with his life. One of them will make a deserving three-time world champion.
It is just a shame that Hamilton is not up there with them.
Saturday’s pole was his seventh of a season in which he has made virtually no
mistakes. McLaren started the year with the fastest car, as both Red Bull
and Ferrari struggled for pace, but basic pitlane errors and reliability
issues have proved costly.
To his credit, Hamilton
has not lashed out. His decision to move to Mercedes next year, while
clearly a huge gamble, appears to have lifted a weight off his shoulders.
The 27 year-old has been far more relaxed in recent weeks. And while Michael
Schumacher, the seven-time world champion, is unlikely to achieve a miracle
result in his final F1 race – the 43 year-old starts from 13th on the grid –
Hamilton has a great chance to end his time at McLaren with victory.
“I am grateful to be able to put the car on the front row and to have had my
last qualifying with McLaren as a one-two,” he said. “I think the weather
will be tricky tomorrow, it will make it more of a lottery.”
Not that Hamilton is uncomfortable in the wet. Asked to recall his favourite
McLaren moment this week, he chose his dominant win at a sopping Silverstone
in 2008. “That was a wicked race,” he grinned. How McLaren will miss him
next year.