Not the best start for Lewis during Friday sessions in Valencia. Hamilton admitted he struggled because they did not have a good setup for their cars but is confident they will be able to rectify the problems in time for qualifying. Looking at the stats however, its not really that bad as the top 15 drivers were covered by less than a second! This is how close this season has become.
In FP3, things becomes better for McLaren garage. Button finished the session first and Lewis finished 8th. Although this did not bode too well for Lewis, it is still a good result for McLaren as a team as they were still searching for the best configuration for this week's race. Before qualifying, Lewis was still uncertain where they stand and if they made all the necessary adjustments to qualify higher. Interesting to know that Button copied Lewis' car configuration to help him understand better why he is not able to match his teammate's pace. That is how much Button is lost for explanation why he continues to struggle while Lewis seems to make the most out of his car.
Qualifying finally started with the 2 McLaren drivers easily qualified for Q2. Surprisingly, Mark Webber was the first casualty amongst the top drivers. This was caused by problems with DRS. He was practically trying to qualify without DRS which is probably why he is not able to get that 1 second gap he needed to qualify for Q2. With Q1 being close, Q2 is expected to be more exciting. Again, Lewis and Jenson was able to qualify and the surprise of the session are the Ferrari drivers who neither qualify for Q3. Although Alonso is still confident that their race pace is better and a good strategy should earn them good haul of points for this week. Q3 finally started. It was very intense! The difference between P1 and P10 is only less than 0.9 of a second. For quite some time, I thought it will be either Romain or Nico who will take pole position. Vettel and the team opted to run just 1 flying lap in Q3 to save tyres. I was really focused on watching this because Vettel is a master of qualifying. For some reason, he can find the gap he needs in just 1 lap to get pole position. And yes he did! For the 33rd time, he got pole position. Lewis still had the chance to get pole position but ended up ~0.3 seconds slower than Vettel. Pastor Maldonado qualified 3rd.
It was indeed an exciting qualifying session and of course it did not finish without any drama! We saw Vettel again snatching pole in the last few seconds of qualifying. Nico complained that Lewis impeded him and was not able to do a flying lap where he could have potentially have gone for pole. Button being very perplexed about his situation and what happened in Q3 where again, he cannot find any balance and reported tons of locking he experienced only during Q3. Nonetheless, it was a great drive from Vettel, Lewis and Pastor. Vettel and Hamilton also qualified 1st and 2nd in Canada. So I am hoping for a Montreal part 2. Although chances are, Lewis will drop position(s) in the race as their car is not really suited for high track temperature. Although it will help that Valencia is not an easy track to overtake. And usually, the track produces quite a boring processional race which is why pole sitter here usually goes on to win the race.
Just a shout out. At the moment, Lewis has out qualified Button 8 out of 8 times. Who is the #1 driver again of McLaren? I wonder where are the Lewis cynics now. Last year, they talked trashed about Lewis being outdone by Button. I am not happy that Button is struggling believe me. But I am happy that Lewis was able to prove to the doubters that he can still do it.
Start of the race as usual Vettel increased the gap massively. Hamilton did not have the pace to match Vettel and eventually was passed by Grosjean. Things were looking settled already. That is until the safety car was deployed because of the accident with the Toro Rosso of Vergne. Everyone took this opportunity to change tyres without losing position. However, another bad pit stop by McLaren (nothing new here...) caused Lewis to drop to 6th place. Alonso is now up to 3rd place Grosjean in 2nd. Everyone is thinking that Grosjean will be able to overtake Vettel soon as he is matching the Red Bull's pace. Then things gets more interesting. It started with Vettel slowing down and then eventually retiring due to a mechanical failure. And then it was Grosjean's turn to retire also due to a mechanical failure. At this point, Alonso is leading the race followed by Lewis then Kimi. Lewis was losing grip in his tyres and was eventually overtaken by Kimi. This dropped Lewis to 3rd. He kept the position until Maldonado fancied his chances. In my opinion, Pastor will be able to do it in the correct time as Lewis is very limited by the degradation of his tyres. But Maldonado forced the issue and bumped to Hamilton. Lewis retired from the race while Maldonado was still able to finish 10th even with the damages in his car.
In the end, it was a fantastic effort and strategy by Ferrari and Alonso. From 11th on the grid to 1st is a massive drive from him! He is the first driver to win more than once this year. This also ended the streak of a new race winner in every race at 7. Kimi finished second. Rounding up the podium is... wait for it... Michael Schumacher! After 6 long years, he is finally back on the podium! What a great result for Schumi! Albeit he could not done it alone but it is what it is. Webber finished 4th from 19th! Also a great effort from him.
This was indeed a very exciting race with lots of surprises. Valencia was always known as a track that produces boring race but it certainly is not the case for 2012. As a Hamilton fan, well it sucks! Giving the benefit of the doubt, I will need to know the facts and hear from experts whose fault it is. Is it Pastor's fault or Hamilton's or maybe both? Regardless, this is a race that Lewis should quickly forget and start focusing on the next race. No points for Hamilton this week. And Alonso now leads the championship with 111 points. He is 20 points ahead of 2nd place Mark Webber. Wait Mark Webber? The driver who started from 19th in the race is now second overall? Yes that is correct. Hamilton dropped to 3rd place followed by Vettel.
This season is really turning out to be something different and interesting. I am already looking forward to the next race. Bring on Silverstone and Forza Ferrari!
No comments:
Post a Comment