Qualifying Round - Webber pips Vettel to pole in Spain

Source by: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/5/10742.html

Red Bull put on yet another stunning display of raw speed at Barcelona during qualifying on Saturday afternoon, as Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel dominated all three sessions to fight for pole position, the team’s fifth of the season.

On his final run in Q3 Vettel went to the top with a lap of 1m 20.101s, but Webber’s best aced him as 1m 19.995s won the Australian his second pole of the year.

Behind them Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren was a breathless best of the rest on 1m 20.829s, moving ahead of Fernando’s Alonso Ferrari which the Spaniard had lapped in 1m 20.937s. Jenson Button sandwiched the red car after taking his McLaren round in 1m 20.991s.

Right at the end Michael Schumacher confirmed how much more comfortable he feels in the revamped Mercedes by snatching sixth place with 1m 21.294s, leaving the ever-impressive Robert Kubica seventh for Renault on 1m 21.353s, Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg on 1m 21.408s, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on 1m 21.585s, and BMW Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi on 1m 21.984s from his sole run.

Alonso, criticised by some in China for his passing move on team mate Massa on the pit lane entry, annoyed Nico Rosberg as Q3 began by pulling straight out in front of him in the pit road. Ferrari have since been handed a $20,000 fine after the FIA decided Alonso had been unsafely released.

Qualifying took place on a bone dry track and with warm sunshine and a steady wind.

As Webber and Vettel fought for P1 in Q2, Force India’s Adrian Sutil narrowly lost out to Rosberg, his 1m 21.985s leaving him 11th ahead of BMW Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa on 1m 22.026s, Williams’s Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 22.131s, Renault’s Vitaly Petrov on 1m 22.139s, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi on 1m 22.191s and Jaime Alguersuari on 1m 22.207s and Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi on 1m 22.854s.

Petrov, however, falls from 14th to 19th because Renault changed his gearbox after his shunt in final practice this morning.

Rubens Barrichello was the fastest faller in Q1, after lapping his Williams in 1m 23.125s. Behind him the Lotus duo was again closely matched, with Jarno Trulli on 1m 24.674s and Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 24.748s. That was comfortably ahead of the Virgins, with Timo Glock on 1m 25.475s and Lucas di Grassi on 1m 25.556s. Karun Chandhok was again the faster HRT on 1m 26.750s, with Bruno Senna on 1m 27.122s.

The Virgins, however, each get a five-place grid penalty for the team’s failure to notify the FIA within two hours of second practice of the gear ratios the team chose for Saturday.

With all the penalties taken into account, Buemi will start 14th from Alguersuari, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Trulli, Petrov, Kovalainen, Chandhok, Senna, Glock and Di Grassi.

2010 FORMULA 1 CHINA Grand Prix Official Highlights

Credits to: - http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2010/827/6723/
                 -http://paultan.org/


The British duo of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were the first ones to cross the finish line after 56 laps at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix. Both World Champions from McLaren secured the team’s first 1-2 victory and Button’s second win of the season after starting the race from fifth and sixth places respectively. Nico Rosberg managed to get onto the podium yet again for Mercedes GP with his third place.
The German was in fact leading the race at the early stages after starting from fourth place. Fourth place went to Fernando Alonso after making up to five pitstops! Kubica was fifth followed by Vettel who started from pole, Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, Webber, Massa and Schumacher. Yet again Schumacher was out-paced by his teammate. Kovalainen came home in 14th place for Lotus, ahead of the new teams. Jarno Trulli retired after suffering from what believed to be a pressure-related problem.
The race was mostly a wet affair although it started with an almost dry track. Alonso made a ‘good’ start and jumped ahead of both the Red Bulls. Unfortunately for him and Ferrari the start was classified as a jump start and the World Champion was ordered to serve a drive through penalty.

Moments later the SLS AMG Safety Car was deployed following a crash that involved Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi on the first lap. He spun after losing the car under braking, collecting both Sebastien Buemi from Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi from Sauber. Rain started to fall and most drivers made their pit stops for intermediate tires. Rosberg wasn’t part of the list hence he went on to lead the race. Conditions got dryer a while later and it was another round through the pits for dry weather tires. Rosberg maintained his lead.
As the positions settled down it was Rosberg leading ahead of Button followed by Kubica and Vitaly Petrov of Renault, Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen in sixth. Michael Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber made up the rest of the top ten. A couple of laps later Kovalainen dropped to tenth place which did not come as a surprise. Rosberg was the fastest man on track until Hamilton started to clock quicker times.
Rain started to pour again and Rosberg suffered from a spin which allowed Button to take over the lead. All drivers eventually pitted for intermediates and the rain got worse. The Safety Car came out again after Alguersuari left pieces of his front wing on track. As the race restarted it was Button in the lead in front of Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov, Schumacher, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Sutil and Alonso. Towards the end of the race most drivers pitted again as their intermediate tires began to give way.

The race was definitely interesting with a couple of incidents apart from the first lap accident and of course the rain. There were quite a few overtaking and nice defensive moves as well and I find that the Chinese GP is the most interesting race thus far in the season. Hamilton also had a go with Schumacher and managed to pass the 7-times World Champion. Other incidents included Hamilton’s and Vettel’s squabble when both entered and exited the pits.
The stewards later revealed that Hamilton’s move will be investigated after the race and he may be slapped with a grid drop penalty at the Spanish GP. Button also made a controversial move when he slowed down the pack tremendously right before the Safety Car came into the pits for the second and last time during the race.
Reigning World Champion Jenson Button now leads the Driver’s Championship with 60 points while Rosberg is second with 50 points. Both Alonso and Hamilton are in third and fourth with 49 points each. Vettel is in fifth with 45 points ahead of Massa with 41 points. McLaren is also ahead in the Constructor’s Championship with 109 points. Ferrari and Red Bull are in second and third with 90 and 73 points respectively. Formula 1 will now a have a 3-week break before the Spanish GP flags off on May 9th.

Pos	Team	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	109
2	Ferrari	90
3	RBR-Renault	73
4	Mercedes GP	60
5	Renault	46
6	Force India-Mercedes	18
7	Williams-Cosworth	6
8	STR-Ferrari	2
9	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0
10	Lotus-Cosworth	0
11	HRT-Cosworth	0
12	Virgin-Cosworth	0

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFÓNICA 2010 on 7th to 9th May 2010 would be the next race.

Fomula 1 Grand Prix Babes

Overall Formula 1 Grand Prix 2010 Models

Formula 1 Grand Prix 2010 in Sepang International Circuit

The heat is on and everyone is curious to know who's the champion of this week grand prix in huh. I shall reveal the names where the 1st goes to Sebastian Vettel which leads Mark Webber in a 1-2 finish for Red Bull at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, claiming an overdue victory after mechanical failures cost him wins in the opening two Formula One races.

Vettel passed pole-sitter Webber in the run to the first corner and held that lead throughout, with Nico Rosberg finishing third for Mercedes as forecast rain stayed away from the Sepang circuit. Renault's Robert Kubica was fourth and Force India's Adrian Sutil took fifth.

McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button fought their way through the field from rear grid positions to finish sixth and eighth respectively, either side of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Massa leads the championship by two points from Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who would have topped the standings but for an engine failure on the penultimate lap as he attempted an ambitious passing move on Button.

Red Bull's victory Sunday meant it was the first time in 20 years that three different teams had won the opening three races of a championship.

The closeness of the competition was reflected in the standings, with the top seven drivers separated by only nine points.

Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and Williams' Nico Hulkenberg were ninth and 10th respectively, with both earning their first F1 points.

Mercedes' Michael Schumacher retired on the 10th lap with a wheelnut failure, Williams' Rubens Barrichello was slow off the start line and never in contention for the points, and Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa was affected by an engine failure on the installation lap.

Drivers' Championship (after three rounds):
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 39 points
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 37
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 37
4. Jenson Button (GB) McLaren 35
5. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 35
6. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 31
7. Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault 30
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 24
9. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 10
10. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 9

Constructors' Championship:
1. Ferrari 76 points
2. McLaren 66
3. Red Bull 61
4. Mercedes GP 44
5. Renault 30
6. Force India 18

Pit Babes of Formula 1 Grand Prix, Sepang

A welcome sight to the Sepang paddock

Heikki Kovalainen's girlfriend Catherine Hyde

Jessica Michibata enjoys the sunshine

Jessica Michibata in the paddock

Malaysian grid girls pose for the camera on qualifying Saturday

Malaysian grid girls smile for the camera

A Malaysian grid girl shelters from the sun