Clearly the solution to their woes this year was obvious: a change at the very
top. Fernando Alonso was rewarded with fifth, while Kimi Raikkonen, dealt
bad luck with a mechanical issue in the final shootout, qualified seventh.
In all, 0.6sec covered the top nine qualifiers. More remarkably, Vettel beat
Alonso by five thousands, while the Spaniard edged his old team-mate Felipe
Massa in the Williams by just three thousands of a second. The last session
anyone could remember being this close was the decisive final round of the
1997 season in Jerez, Spain, when Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and
Heinz-Harald Frentzen all posted exactly the same time.
That has been subject to accusations of a fix, but there was too much going on
here for it to have been orchestrated even by Sir Simon Rattle’s baton.
The torrential rains came just minutes after it was all over – maybe the
heavens did not approve of Robbie Williams’ post-qualifying set – but even
this was not needed to spice up the most thrilling Saturday of the year.
Hamilton, who surged to his sixth pole of the season despite a huge lock-up at
the front corner, summed up the sense of astonishment at how miniscule the
margins were. “It was quite an exciting qualifying session,” the 29-year-old
said.
“I wasn’t expecting to see so much difference in how close everyone was. The
others have taken a step. It is a real, real surprise. We did some good laps
in the first and second parts of qualifying and the Ferraris were close.
“The way it ends is good for our team. On my last lap, I locked up, lost
a bit of time, but managed to pull it back. At that point, I thought it was
over, but I just kept going and it got better and better. It’s a great
effort by the team.
“I think it’s going to be a great race to watch for the fans. There’s going to
be a lot going on.”
The Englishman added: “007 is a cool gap.”
After showing his frustration over team radio (why is Formula One clamping
down on pit-to-car traffic again?) Rosberg was back to his usual
philosophical self by the time he spoke to the press. The German knows that
he can afford to track Hamilton for much of the race and hope to pressure
his foe into a blunder.
“If I think back over the lap, seven thousandths of a second is nothing – a
little bit here or there and I could have done it,” he said. “But Lewis did
a good job today. Fair play to him.”
The possibility for mistakes here, as both Mercedes showed in an unusually
error-laden session, are almost endless. The lights are intense and the
walls are close over nearly two hours of gruelling racing in sweltering
conditions. The chance of a safety car? A certainty, based on the six races
held here so far.
Whether Hamilton and Rosberg can avoid the barriers – as well as each other –
will decide the outcome of the race, which promises to be a classic.
Ricciardo will lie in wait. “We are pleasantly surprised with the result and
how close it was,” the Australian said.
“We thought Mercedes had more in the bag so that’s going to be interesting.
It’s tricky to overtake here but we have got a chance to race them. It could
be on.”
Not everyone was as upbeat as these three, however. Jenson Button,
out-qualified by his rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen for the third time in
a row, will start 11th. Gordon Ramsey was in the McLaren garage to witness
this particular nightmare for the Briton.
Romain Grosjean, so often the star of the latter half of 2013 but struggling
hopelessly in his Lotus this season, was irate as he gave engine supplier
Renault the biggest tongue-lashing of the year.
The Frenchman moaned: “I cannot believe it. Bloody engine. Bloody engine. It’s
too much. Honestly. We break our b—- to make a good qualifying and you
lose five tenths every single straight line because the thing cuts.” It was
yet another example of the value of radio.
In the dying seconds, Ricciardo was the first to show his hand, taking
provisional pole. Rosberg was next through, stealing it by a whisker. But
then Hamilton, after a poor start, had the last laugh. Rosberg’s radio
message said it all.
Final Positions after Qualifying:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 45.681secs
2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:45.688
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:45.854
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:45.902
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:45.907
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:46.000
7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:46.170
8 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:46.187
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) McLaren 1:46.250
10 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:47.362
11 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:46.943
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:46.989
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:47.308
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.333
15 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:47.575
16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:47.812
17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.324
18 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus F1 Team 1:49.063
19 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:49.440
20 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Caterham 1:50.405
21 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:50.473
22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Caterham 1:52.287
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