BRITISH GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS – KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE

Report – The English rain delivered a bitter blow to Ferrari’s qualifying aspirations, with both drivers going out at the end of the first session, because the rain intensified just as Alonso and Raikkonen were hoping to improve their times.

At the start of qualifying the track was damp but drying. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers took to the track using Intermediates, as did everyone, and set reasonable times. Five minutes from the end, after a quick lap from Jenson Button in the McLaren, it was clear that it was now time for slicks. Both Fernando and Kimi duly fitted them, but as they started their flying laps, the rain intensified and there was no way of going quicker. Fernando might have made the cut to Q2 but he spun off the track, destroying his chances. Fernando and Kimi therefore qualified 19th and 20th respectively.

Q3 was also affected by rain and pole went to Nico Rosberg for Mercedes in 1.35.766 ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull,) Jenson Button (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg (Force India.) The Ferrari duo will face an uphill struggle in tomorrow’s race which starts at 13h00 local time.

Final Times:

Pos Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m35.766s  
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m37.386s  +1.620s
 3. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.200s  +2.434s
 4. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m38.329s  +2.563s
 5. Kevin Magnussen       McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.417s  +2.651s
 6. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m39.232s  +3.466s
 7. Sergio Perez          Force India-Mercedes  1m40.457s  +4.691s
 8. Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull-Renault      1m40.606s  +4.840s
 9. Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso-Renault    1m40.707s  +4.941s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Renault    1m40.855s  +5.089s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.166s                                Gap **
11. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m38.496s  +3.626s
12. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Ferrari     1m38.709s  +3.839s
13. Max Chilton           Marussia-Ferrari     1m39.800s  +4.930s
14. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m40.912s  +6.042s
15. Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault        1m44.018s  +9.148s
16. Adrian Sutil          Sauber-Ferrari       no time
Q1 cut-off time: 1m45.086s                                    Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Mercedes    1m45.318s  +4.938s
18. Felipe Massa          Williams-Mercedes    1m45.695s  +5.315s
19. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m45.935s  +5.555s
20. Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari              1m46.684s  +6.304s
21. Marcus Ericsson       Caterham-Renault     1m49.421s  +9.041s
22. Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham-Renault     1m49.625s  +9.245s

Revised grid standings for the race (due to penalties)

Pos Driver                Team
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault
 3. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes
 4. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes
 5. Kevin Magnussen       McLaren-Mercedes
 6. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes
 7. Sergio Perez          Force India-Mercedes
 8. Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull-Renault
 9. Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso-Renault
10. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Renault
11. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault
12. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Ferrari
13. Adrian Sutil          Sauber-Ferrari
14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Mercedes
15. Felipe Massa          Williams-Mercedes
16. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari
17. Max Chilton           Marussia-Ferrari**
18. Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari
19. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari*
20. Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault***
21. Marcus Ericsson       Caterham-Renault****
22. Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham-Renault****

*10-place grid penalty
**5-place grid penalty
***Excluded from qualifying
****Allowed to start after failing to make 107 per cent cutoff

QUOTES

Raikkonen says Ferrari just got it wrong – “We tried to look at what the others did and try to make the right choice, but when I said in the end to put on the mediums we did it as quickly as we could but it had started to rain already. Obviously the timing was wrong, but the reason for that was … it was just wrong and we couldn’t get out early enough. Obviously we put on the slicks, went out, it started to rain and halfway after the first sector it was too wet already. That’s about it.”

However, Raikkonen said he is confident the car is not as bad as it felt during Friday practice, when he was ninth fastest, and would allow him to fight back in the race.

“Yesterday we just tried some things because obviously we don’t have much testing, so I’m happy to try thing son Friday to see what’s good and what’s not. We knew it was not very good overall, but if we found something on certain parts of the circuit then we can learn, and we put the car back today to how it was normally and I’m sure it’s okay. Yesterday’s times are nothing to do with today and unfortunately we got that wet session this morning. It will be hard tomorrow but there’s no reason why we won’t have a good race.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “We knew the changeable weather would make this qualifying very unpredictable, but I definitely didn’t expect this sort of result. On my first run, I did four laps on Intermediate tyres because the track was still wet, but then when it stopped raining we decided to switch to slicks. On the first part of the track, the conditions were acceptable, but in the second sector, it began raining again and this prevented us from setting a good enough time to get into Q2. Tomorrow, it won’t be easy moving up the order, but we will do our best to make up ground, also because today I had a better feeling than yesterday and I see no reason why I shouldn’t try and have a good race.”

Pat Fry: “Today’s qualifying result is bitterly disappointing and it means we will have an uphill struggle tomorrow, with a plan to attack right from the first to the last lap. In the opening minutes of Q1 the track conditions were mixed, which is the worst thing possible, because at some points there was a lot of water while other parts of the circuit were drying and some were even completely dry. It was impossible to improve on the Intermediates because of graining and the switch to slicks definitely complicated matters for the drivers as there was so little grip. When the lap times fell as the track began to dry, we fitted the Mediums, as in fact did everyone else, but the rain returned and that meant we were unable to make it through to the next part of qualifying. Now, our aim in tomorrow’s race is to finish in the points, trying to make the most of the new sets of tyres we have.”