Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com | twitter
Kimi will start in P7 – directly behind closest Championship rival Fernando Alonso – on the grid for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix, while a tricky session for Romain saw the Frenchman just miss the cut for Q3 at the Buddh International Circuit this afternoon.
Summary
- The dry, bright and warm conditions of the morning continued throughout proceedings
- Both drivers progressed from Q1 on the silver marked hard compound Pirelli tyres
- Q2 started under yellow flags after Heikki Kovalainen beached his Caterham in the gravel at the very end of Q1
- Two strong laps in the final moments of Q2 saw Kimi safely through to the pole position contest
- Mistakes through T7 on consecutive stints put Romain out of contention at the second hurdle
- Kimi completed just a single run on fresh soft rubber in the final session
Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05
Position: Q1 – P3 / Q2 – P8 / Q3 – P7
Best Time: Q1 – 1:26.740 / Q2 – 1:26.101 / Q3 – 1:26.236
Laps Completed: Q1 – 11 / Q2 – 9 / Q3 – 5
Key Moments:
Q1 – 02mins: Fresh hard rubber for an initial assessment run
Q1 – 08mins: Opening stint at full pace; solidly inside the top 10
Q1 – 19mins: Final lap of the first session; rockets up to P3 on hard tyres
Q1 – 20mins: Chequered flag; P3 for the Finn
Q2 – 00mins: Straight out on scrubbed softs; solid first laps
Q2 – 06mins: Returns to base to monitor the field; slips just outside the top 10
Q2 – 12mins: Moves into P8, stays out for a second attempt and improves to make that position secure
Q2 – 15mins: Session ends; P8 for the Finn
Q3 – 05mins: Emerges on fresh softs for a single stint
Q3 – 07mins: First attempt clinches P4
Q3 – 09mins: Fails to improve on second lap
Q3 – 10mins: Final result; P7 for the Finn
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.283 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.327 + 0.044 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.544 + 0.261 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.659 + 0.376 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.773 + 0.490 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.857 + 0.574 7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m26.236 + 0.953 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.360 + 1.077 9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m26.713 + 1.430 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes no time Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.939s Gap ** 11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m26.136s + 0.701 12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercede 1m26.241s + 0.806 13. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m26.331s + 0.896 14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.574s + 1.139 15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.777s + 1.342 16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercede 1m26.989s + 1.554 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.219s + 1.784 Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.517s Gap * 18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.525s + 1.477 19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m28.756s + 2.708 20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m29.500s + 3.452 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m29.613s + 3.565 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m30.592s + 4.544 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m30.593s + 4.545 24. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m30.662s + 4.614
Kimi Raikkonen – 7th: “We changed the car after this morning’s session and we were quite confident heading into qualifying. Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to have any grip this afternoon so it was much more difficult than we thought. I’m quite disappointed to be starting from seventh as I thought we had a much better car than that.”
@adamcooperf1 #F1 Kimi Raikkonen told BBC that he’d changed the car since the morning and it was a “shit decision.” Not sure if that will be aired…
Video: BBC post-qualifying interview
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
Of course – the 7th means a lot of work during the race… But the missing half second has found alredy; now it has to find back and keep pushing – nothing hasn´t decided yet – it´s autosport, full of surpises! Good luck, Kimi!!
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