With president Sergio Marchionne’s demand for wins ringing in their ears, Ferrari chose a bad time to produce their worst qualifying performance of the year so far.
Th team admitted to being stumped by the slump: having never been more than 0.254 seconds behind the Mercedes throughout practice, the 1.1s gap in qualifying indicates there was more to this than just Mercedes turning their engines up.
In the V6 hybrid turbo era this has been a circuit where Mercedes has flexed its muscles. They were on pole position by a second in 2014 and 0.7 seconds last year. This year that came down to 0.68 seconds – but it’s Red Bull, not Ferrari, who are leading the charge.
Mercedes’ straight-line speed advantage over the Red Bulls should stand them in good stead for the sprint to turn one at the beginning of tomorrow’s race. A lot hinges on the start as the Circuit de Catalunya is one of the toughest circuits for overtaking.
Last year Hamilton fumbled his getaway from second on the grid, fell behind Sebastian Vettel and spent the rest of the race trying to get back ahead. He will feel the imperative to avoid a repeat all the more keenly as he has started poorly in three of the four races so far this year.
However Hamilton is very confident it won’t be a problem tomorrow. “I think whatever issues we had they definitely have been rectified,” he said.
“I think ultimately with starts, I think for all of us in Formula One, it’s always up and down. The starts have been great so far this weekend so I don’t see why they won’t be tomorrow.”
Hamilton added he had “the best start of the whole grid” in China but a “so-so” getaway in Russia. But if he gets away cleanly tomorrow and takes the lead and first call on strategy it is doubtful anyone will be able to beat him.
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3 vs 33 for P3
Max Verstappen appeared to be keeping new Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo honest in qualifying but the Australian demonstrated he had the pace in hand when he needed it. However Verstappen’s eventual deficit of 0.407s compares well with Kvyat’s average gap over the first four races of 0.749s.
It sets up what should be an absorbing scrap for the final podium place between the pair of them, one which may well include the two recovering Ferraris.
Sebastian Vettel is convinced his car “is quicker than P6”, where he qualified. If they can disrupted the Red Bulls on the run to turn one Frrari may yet salvage something from this weekend.
Qualifying times in full
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’23.214 | 1’22.159 (-1.055) | 1’22.000 (-0.159) |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’23.002 | 1’22.759 (-0.243) | 1’22.280 (-0.479) |
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’23.749 | 1’23.585 (-0.164) | 1’22.680 (-0.905) |
4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’23.578 | 1’23.178 (-0.400) | 1’23.087 (-0.091) |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’23.796 | 1’23.504 (-0.292) | 1’23.113 (-0.391) |
6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’24.124 | 1’23.688 (-0.436) | 1’23.334 (-0.354) |
7 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’24.251 | 1’24.023 (-0.228) | 1’23.522 (-0.501) |
8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’24.496 | 1’24.077 (-0.419) | 1’23.643 (-0.434) |
9 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’24.698 | 1’24.003 (-0.695) | 1’23.782 (-0.221) |
10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’24.578 | 1’24.192 (-0.386) | 1’23.981 (-0.211) |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’24.463 | 1’24.203 (-0.260) | |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’24.583 | 1’24.348 (-0.235) | |
13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’24.696 | 1’24.445 (-0.251) | |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’24.716 | 1’24.480 (-0.236) | |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’24.669 | 1’24.625 (-0.044) | |
16 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1’24.406 | 1’24.778 (+0.372) | |
17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’24.903 | ||
18 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’24.941 | ||
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’25.202 | ||
20 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1’25.579 | ||
21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1’25.745 | ||
22 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1’25.939 |
Sector times
Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 22.370 (1) | 30.779 (1) | 28.736 (1) |
Nico Rosberg | 22.500 (2) | 30.897 (2) | 28.768 (2) |
Daniel Ricciardo | 22.690 (4) | 31.059 (4) | 28.931 (3) |
Max Verstappen | 22.652 (3) | 31.170 (5) | 29.151 (4) |
Kimi Raikkonen | 22.724 (5) | 31.054 (3) | 29.335 (8) |
Sebastian Vettel | 22.724 (5) | 31.326 (7) | 29.284 (6) |
Valtteri Bottas | 22.810 (8) | 31.398 (8) | 29.314 (7) |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 22.849 (10) | 31.320 (6) | 29.474 (10) |
Sergio Perez | 22.732 (7) | 31.523 (9) | 29.527 (11) |
Fernando Alonso | 23.071 (15) | 31.612 (10) | 29.198 (5) |
Nico Hulkenberg | 22.824 (9) | 31.687 (11) | 29.543 (12) |
Jenson Button | 23.131 (17) | 31.690 (12) | 29.454 (9) |
Daniil Kvyat | 23.095 (16) | 31.747 (14) | 29.603 (15) |
Romain Grosjean | 23.003 (13) | 31.767 (15) | 29.639 (16) |
Kevin Magnussen | 22.930 (11) | 31.830 (16) | 29.682 (17) |
Esteban Gutierrez | 22.945 (12) | 31.690 (12) | 29.752 (18) |
Jolyon Palmer | 23.022 (14) | 32.189 (18) | 29.594 (14) |
Felipe Massa | 23.327 (22) | 32.055 (17) | 29.559 (13) |
Marcus Ericsson | 23.198 (19) | 32.213 (19) | 29.791 (19) |
Felipe Nasr | 23.266 (21) | 32.367 (20) | 29.946 (20) |
Pascal Wehrlein | 23.256 (20) | 32.496 (21) | 29.966 (21) |
Rio Haryanto | 23.155 (18) | 32.500 (22) | 30.283 (22) |
Speed trap
Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 341.5 (212.2) | |
2 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | Mercedes | 341.0 (211.9) | -0.5 |
3 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 336.6 (209.2) | -4.9 |
4 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 336.6 (209.2) | -4.9 |
5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 336.5 (209.1) | -5.0 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 336.3 (209.0) | -5.2 |
7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 335.4 (208.4) | -6.1 |
8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 334.9 (208.1) | -6.6 |
9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 334.6 (207.9) | -6.9 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 334.5 (207.8) | -7.0 |
11 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 334.2 (207.7) | -7.3 |
12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 333.9 (207.5) | -7.6 |
13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 333.8 (207.4) | -7.7 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 332.9 (206.9) | -8.6 |
15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 332.4 (206.5) | -9.1 |
16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 330.4 (205.3) | -11.1 |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 329.4 (204.7) | -12.1 |
18 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 329.3 (204.6) | -12.2 |
19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 328.5 (204.1) | -13.0 |
20 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 328.0 (203.8) | -13.5 |
21 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 327.7 (203.6) | -13.8 |
22 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 327.5 (203.5) | -14.0 |
Over to you
Share your views on the Spanish Grand Prix in the comments.
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WillOfTheSupremo
14th May 2016, 18:43
Alonso set the 5th fastest lap on the 3rd sector-and it seemed kinda scruffy from live TV. I guess that torgue is high under that cover.
Can’t wait for Monte, then…
Thiago Silvério
14th May 2016, 21:08
Good point. It looks McLaren’s claim of being in second best chassis group (alongside Mercedes and Ferrari, and behind Red Bull) may have sense.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
15th May 2016, 1:17
Yes, it showed already last year in Monaco when Button was on for Q3 but for a yellow flag, and finished in the points on straight performance, and Alonso could have too without unreliability. I think they’ll fight the Ferraris for 3rd best team in Monaco this year, with Red Bull being on the level of the Mercs, could be an outright win for them.
EF1
15th May 2016, 6:38
@hunocsi that was a different car…..
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
15th May 2016, 7:53
Yes, but this year’s car is an evolution of that, and I just wanted to point out that last year, when the Honda PU was even further behind the rest than now, the car was pretty good in that place. The developed car and developed engine should stand an even better chance.
x303 (@x303)
15th May 2016, 9:29
Indeed @hunocsi . Which is refreshing news for all the McLaren fans. Still a lot of work ahead but they are heading the right way.
Johannes (@johanness)
15th May 2016, 1:15
Okay Fernando. Whatever you say
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th May 2016, 8:26
Red Bull long runs were exceptional and both drivers are very, very good with tyres. Any chance they can beat a Mercedes?
ColdFly F1 (@)
15th May 2016, 10:15
Ricciardo being very strong in sector 3 (good grip) and amongst the slowest in the speedtrap makes me think that he has slightly more wing than the rest.
This might hurt him on the straight come Sunday, especially with DRS open on the trailing cars!
Bustertje
15th May 2016, 11:19
In 18 years never been so excited for a Grand Prix. (Dutchman here).
lockup (@)
15th May 2016, 12:18
Congratulations, you guys have a star. I could imagine a Max vs Seb thriller at some point :)