Saturday Qualifying – Vettel Takes Pole for Red Bull, Alonso 2ndFull qualifying report can be read here
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.565 1:35.130 1:36.184 11
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:36.443 1:35.803 1:36.381 21
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:35.751 1:35.173 1:36.466 19
4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:35.701 1:35.503 1:36.493 21
5. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:35.533 1:35.556 1:36.532 19
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:36.308 1:35.645 1:36.835 21
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.941 1:35.809 1:37.397 23
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.137 1:35.856 1:38.089 19
9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.776 1:35.740 1:38.595 17
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.284 1:35.965 1:39.321 21
11. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:36.525 1:35.975 14
12. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.646 1:36.032 10
13. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.178 1:36.033 11
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:36.364 1:36.066 14
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.673 1:36.193 13
16. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.906 10
17. Piquet Renault (B) 1:36.908 10
18. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:36.966 8
19. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.669 10
20. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.672 10
Breaking News & Quotes:Renault fits interim diffuser for Alonso
More teams ditch KERS for China
Bridgestone confident super softs do well
Post-qualifying car weights – China – Kimi: 673.5kg
Post-qualifying press conference
Ferrari Team Quotes: Kimi Raikkonen – 8th: "Of course I’m not happy with
eighth place but, given our current potential, we have to settle for
this. We got everything out of the car but we had no more new tyres for
Q3 and therefore, it’s already something to have put quite a few of our
competitors behind us. The problem is still the same, we are just not
quick enough. The car’s handling isn’t bad, but as I’ve said before, we
are giving away a second to the best.
"I hope we get some developments quickly but, in the meantime, we
try to do the best with what we’ve got. I hope we have a good race and
pick up a few points. I don’t know where we might have been if we had
the KERS: at some points it gives you an advantage, but in others it
can be a disadvantage. It would have been useful to run it on at least
one car to understand the situation better."
Chris Dyer: "After the disappointment of Malaysia,
this qualifying had some light and shade. Kimi secured a good position,
managing to make it through to the top ten, while unfortunately, Felipe
was out of the final part of the session because of a mistake that
prevented him from improving on his second run in Q2, just missing out
by less than a tenth. In Q3, on worn tyres, Kimi did a great job,
managing to put two cars behind him. We have a good strategy and hope
to pick up a few points in tomorrow’s race."
Kimi did a great job today! I’m really pleased (although it’s sad to hear Kimi having to deal with a situation like this again). He has been getting that Ferrari the furthest it can go, no doubt about that. He out-qualified Massa consistantly throughout the session and it’s clear – Kimi is much comfortable with this car compared to last year. It’s not where he wants to be obviously, but it’s good enough to allow him to do his job properly, and that means beating his teammate. It’s 2-1 to Kimi then (outqualifying Massa also at Malaysia). Around P5/6 is what we can reach in qualifying, however with the great performances of the other cars and drivers a few places are lost of course. Vettel, Alonso and Webber – a refreshing outlook for the race, without the Brawns. I’m sure Brawn GP will stamp their authority during the race though. But Red Bull are their closest rival and what a great thing that is for young Vettel but they had to go aggressive to get pole here.
Alonso’s diffuser, technically just a day old since his team fitted it last night, is showing obvious amendment to their pace. Ferrari I assume are sacrificing this weekend at China and probably Bahrain, while they focus entirely on ‘fixing’ the car back home in Italy and bring it all when we reach the European races. This is the logical thing to do I guess. Meanwhile, Kimi’s doing a brilliant job I think because he’s pushing the car at it’s maximum. Just like how he used to at McLaren. He’s showing the borderline to the team and from that he can give feedback to whats missing, how the car feels and etc. What more do they (the Tifosi) want? They need to look further than the ice cream and poker face before making unfounded assumptions on Kimi and his motive.
The tyres will be crucial to how the race plays out. The super softs weren’t exactly compatible so far this weekend, but throughout qualifying as the track became cleaner and warmer and therefore with more grip, they’ve performed ‘okay’. So, that’s good.
All I hope for the race is that Ferrari are able to maintain Kimi’s position, wherever he may be during the race. Take it easy, there’s no rush on track as far as the F60 is concerned. As previously mentioned, the car has a long way to go and the development can’t be hasty, and the focus needs to be on just getting it to the finish line in the best position possible. Running without the KERS, Kimi has done considerably well, so well done Kimi! The fans who are out in force, in Shanghai, supporting Kimi are also doing a fantastic job. Keep Flying! ~
FUCK ISRAEL 
YEAH!!A great job from Kimi . I think he really gv the max out of the car . The biggest surprise was The RedBull duo, pole position and 3rd for Vettel & Webber .
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Bravo!Seb!!Really did a great job today! And Kimi did his best,too. I’m really pleased with this result. At least, tomorrow, please, fulfill the zero breakthrough…^^
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Red Bull deserve a very good result tomorrow, they’re the first team to ‘beat’ the Brawns lolHamilton’s starting behind Kimi but Hamilton is using the KERS….Kimi is not. It’ll be tricky, that first long, round and tight corner.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6dKUHooz6M&feature=player_embeddedKimi saves the honor of the team, nowadays he can always beats Massa, KIRI KIMI 🙂 We trust in you!!Simply:Sebi is a miracle, he can always shows something new…:)Saima, I made a video, there could be some new informations, if you want….Use it:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6dKUHooz6M&feature=player_embedded
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Sebastian Vettel is one of the best now together with Raikkonen & Alonso ..RedBull really deserved the pole and without the controversial diffuser, they could might be the fastest car on the grid right now . That’s just my opinion . : p
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Kimi is heavy, I updated the blog with the post-qualifying car weights.Hahahaha, thanks for that Andrinda! My friend Kinga told me she heard this too!
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Keep Flying!It’ll be raining heavily tomorrow afternoon .Not a good news !
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rain again? oops….and Kimi is heavy!!! what a great news! 🙂 i yet find he was good but knowing that and without kers, we really can be proud!!!Keep flying Kimi!!! Go go go!!!!
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Yes, Kimi did a good job today. Without KERS and the "diffuser", today’s his best qualifying. He gave his maximum and another great result, he out-qualified his team-mate. GO KIMI GO!Finger-cross for tomorrow’s race and hope he breaks the "zero" point curse. We have faith on you.Sebbi is really great today! He’s the next great driver to watch out; he out-qualified Webber, who was never beaten by his team-mate, but Sebbi did it! I like him too….and he’s Kimi’s good friend.Didn’t know that Alonso’s car was fitted with diffuser, but he also did a great Q today and great to see new faces apart from the "3 diffuser gangs"!
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Kimi was impressive, considering the circumstances 🙂 Go Kimi! We’re glad he outqualified Massa again. We also agree with his idea that they should put the KERS on one car- maybe Massa’s- and see whether it provides and advantage or not. Wait, why didn’t Kimi have fresh tyres for Q3?Evenstar, when you said that Kimi is showing the team the borderline and that they can use the information he provides to improve the car- that’s so true 🙂 He’s amazing at that.Hopefully Ferrari don’t mess up Kimi’s race again. Hopefully he manages to score Ferrari it’s first few points of the season. Go Kimi! Make us proud 🙂
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he did a great job without KERS or DIFFUSER…what a proud thing…just hope that everything will be fine for FERRARI tomorrow…wish that kimi can get a better position tomorrow and break the ZERO…hopefully…he can back to the podium…he can do that…GO KIMI!!!
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I was a little bit surpriced as I saw Kimi was on the 8th place. I was really lucky. kimi is heavy and he is 8th. i saw some weather forecast in tv and they said it will rain respectively the prognose was 70 % for rain. And if it rain, maybe there will happen a little wonder and the Ferraris will be the lucky ones how wins… maybe (i still hope so!)It would be soooo ironic, if this would happened. Because they would win with the tactic… so ironic… remember last race… But this are just dreams… Kimi is (hopefully) sleeping in this moment, maybe he dreams well and about winning … lol~Keep flying~
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by the way (i forgot it in the last post) sometimes i can watch pictures :)Maybe i will now join the forum 😉
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Hey Bella! haha, yes Kimi is sleeping probably right now. He’ll work hard tomorrow for sure.There’s been some unsettled minds in the fan community, about these comments Kimi made in the BBC’s pre-qualifying show:http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090418173818.shtml———"We're never going to be in a position to win the championship (this year) but hopefully we can improve the car and try to win some races later on this season, that’s the realistic aim," the 29-year-old told the BBC in Shanghai."———–Now first of all, it’s really unfair that people assume Kimi has given up and has in some way ‘de-motivated’ the team. The news story headline is "Title over for Ferrari, Raikkonen admits". Other sites have suggested Kimi gives up on 2009, that he has thrown in the towel already (thanks a lot Ted Kravitz, you pathetic journo)Kimi is only stating the truth, he never waffles or says thing just because they sound nice or better. He says it how it is. Ferrari have no points, aren’t competing for race wins and are slow and the championship doesn’t look too good for them. Domenicali has said it himself.The points to remember, before bashing Kimi, are these:1. He was ASKED about the situation. He didn’t just come out and proclaim it’s over. He didn’t say he or the team have given up, did he?2. He doesn’t come across as comfortable speaking English as he would in Finnish. His speaking isn’t perfect, words get lost in translations. He said "We’re never going to be in a position to win the championship (this year) but hopefully we can improve the car and try to win some races later on this season, that’s the realistic aim." – I think he meant that looking how the car is at the moment, fighting for the championship isn’t going to happen. BUT he made sure he said we’ll improve and fight for wins later. How has he given up then, if he still wishes to improve with the team?3. He’s actually making the F60 peform the best it can, and we can’t say Massa is doing the same – look where Kimi is in qualifying without KERS, compared to Massa who has said he wants KERS back?Anyway, it’s just a little comment that I’ve seen people blow out of proportion. Remember, the media want to ask these questions and use the answers to fuel their own trash i.e the Alonso to Ferrari rumours.Please Note – Ted Kravitz, the reporter who asked Kimi, said Kimi has thrown the towel in. Kimi didn’t say anything of the sort. Kravitz also found the damn icecream thing somehow relevant to everything, asking Domenicali about it in the same report – why? just so it can fuel further journo rubbish i.e Alonso taking over Kimi’s seat.If Kimi has ‘given up’ why would he bother saying we’ll improve the car, is that logical lol? Kimi doesn’t waffle like most drivers.I think it’s perfect time to quote – "People always talks lot of shit so, not a big surprise."
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All the best wishes for Kimi!!!
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Go Kimi! Make us proud
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