Australian Grand Prix 2011 - Qualifying Thread

[Nathan]

Do you need permission to make these threads?

Will Red Bull dominate?

Has Ferrari shown their hand?

[m schumy]

I`m not going to predict anything because things can change during Qualy, but the Red Bulls are certainly looking like the team to beat today

[Raz]

Better to beat them on Sunday - as Fred said

[NJB13]

I would love to hear from the team (or someone) as to why we went backwards since yesterday?

[Raz]

EJ's Prologue

[Raz]

nico talking about 6/10ths lol did he get them from Fred? :lol

[LeonKennedy]

My prediction:

1. Vettel
2. Webber
3. Hamilton
4. Button
5. Alonso
6. Petrov
7. Heifeld
8. Rosberg
9. Schumacher
10. Alguersuari
11. Buemi
12. Massa
13. Kobayashi
14. Barrichello
15. Sutil

[Julie B]

Morning everyone :wave here's to a very exciting quali

[Suzie]

Morning all. Forza Ferrari :wave

[Raz]

got my redbull and marlboro lights while wearing my merc gear - Thanks Mika hehe:lol

[scuderiafan]

pleease Ferrari sort this out!!!!

COMON!!!!!

I hope this is a setup problem because testing was going so well...

[vcs316]

I would love to hear from the team (or someone) as to why we went backwards since yesterday?

This is all I could find


Australian GP – Qualifying next
Melbourne, 26 March – The final free practice session here at Albert Park, prior to tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix, has just ended. Fastest were the two Red Bull’s, with Sebastian Vettel setting a time of 1.24.507, while Mark Webber did a 1.25.364. Third was Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren in a time of 1.25.553.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro continued working on various set up options aimed at qualifying, using both types of tyre. Fernando Alonso was quickest of the two in his 150° Italia, sixth on the time sheet in 1.26.121, completing16 laps. Team-mate Felipe Massa was twelfth, on 1.27.011, doing 15 laps.

Qualifying to decide the grid for the opening round of the World Championship gets underway at 5 this afternoon, local time.

[Raz]

Has the beeb become The "Paul Di Resta Show"?

[Lithium]

So... that FP3 showing really soured our optimism... I certainly hope that it was only temporary, especially as both Nando and Massa were quicker yesterday. So good luck to our boys! :pray

[Raz]

HAHAH DC going off in the Redbull Megan race

[Hornet]

Lets just hope for the best.
I'm off to my TV set
:pray

[F1si]

This is getting really exciting. Go Fernando and Felipe! :thumb

[Raz]

Good luck everyone.. Joint Venture Fezz + Merc to beat RB and Maccas

[m schumy]

Live streaming: http://eplsite.com/stream2.html

[Julie B]

.............it's been a long winter, bring it on :ferrarifl

[scuderiafan]

haven't showed Ferrari that much yet. only Germany

[LeonKennedy]

live timing not working?

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

comeeeeeeeeeee onnnnnnnn Fernando and Felipe!!!!!!!!!!!!! :pray

[SanderV]

Morning all.

Must say the BBC commentary sounds a bit strange to me. Brundle is really taking his lead role.

For qualifying I will be satisfied with second row.

[scuderiafan]

and they haven't really talked about our setup problems so maybe it's not so bad. maybe were just doing different things, like Singapore last year. we weren't going great but ended up winning the race. I hope for the best

[RockyRaccoon]

I'm gutted after FP3, I hope quali goes better :ferrarifl

[NJB13]

Gooooooooooo Ferrari!!!!

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

yay 3rd go alonso !!

[Kyss4k]

Hmm are we really so slow? Lok at McLaren! What did they do?

[gvsnraju85]

McD's faster than red bull???

[Greig]

oh dear season over :-D

[RockyRaccoon]

1.2 behind a Mclaren now :-??

Where has all the testing promise gone?

[Lithium]

Oh dear... :-??

[SanderV]

Anyone else having problems with live timing?

Alonso struggling. Not looking good...

[FerrariF60]

the BULLS are just TOO fast for us boys....back to the drawing board for Ferrari....
sorry, but it's unacceptable

at this rate, neither of our boys will make it to Q3

[Katu]

Anyone else having problems with live timing?

Alonso struggling. Not looking good...

everything working for me

[crewskas]

Hope I'm wrong,
but I already forget first row, I pray for second row, I see realistic the third row though... :roll

[Lithium]

Dear or dear, Toro Rosso and Sauber go faster than us... :-E

[Greig]

the BULLS are just TOO fast for us boys....back to the drawing board for Ferrari....
sorry, but it's unacceptable

at this rate, neither of our boys will make it to Q3

after 3 laps? nice :-)

[gvsnraju85]

Like someone said...its easier to make a fast car reliable than a reliable car faster :-(

[Suzie]

Let's not write off the entire season during the first quali session.

[LeonKennedy]

Ferrari softs, this is much worse than I though...

[Greig]

Nando and Massa out on softs

[Lithium]

We go out on the softer tyre :-E

[m schumy]

Kobayashi currently 3rd :-E

[Nathan]

Softs for Massa and Alonso?

Why did they do that?

[Kyss4k]

Oh no, no 2009 again :-(:pray

[Lithium]

Softs for Massa and Alonso?

Why did they do that?

Because... they're just too slow on the harder tyre?

[Forzi]

I don't get it. We already had Felipe strugling with tire tempetures, now we have Alonso too? The cars really slipery.

[crewskas]

Obviously, there is something wrong regarding our cars and the only thing I can imagine, is setup...
If not, then we are in much worse situation...
Both reds, use soft tyres from Q1 already...!

[gvsnraju85]

So we are worse than sauber and torro rosso??????

O god please help us

[omar_baki]

Wooow what on earth is happening. How has Ferrari lost soo much performance :S

[Greig]

Softs for Massa and Alonso?

Why did they do that?

Because Massa is about to be knocked out maybe?

[LeonKennedy]

Fernando on softs slower than RB and McL on hards... wow.

[F1ferrarifanUSA]

Any links guys?

[gvsnraju85]

that HRT looks loke its just cruising along the track....who allowed them during Qualy?????

[m schumy]

Any links guys?

http://eplsite.com/stream2.html

[gvsnraju85]

Ohhh that was close for massa...whats happening guys??? we are worse than the mid field?????

[Nathan]

Wow

Looks like we're in real trouble....at least the world will end next year ;-)

[F1ferrarifanUSA]

http://eplsite.com/stream2.html

Thanks mate

[Forzi]

Only 3 tens of a second diference between our drivers, but ones 4th and the others 11th.

[m schumy]

Thanks mate

You`re welcome :thumb

[prancing horse]

Looks like the record mileage in winter testing was to make us reliable middle of the pack runners

[Greig]

Jake and Eddie are fools really :-)

[LeonKennedy]

I really didn't expect this. It really looks like we will struggle to make it to Q3

[FerrariF60]

Fernando on softs slower than RB and McL on hards... wow.

i cant believe we are doing so freaking bad...what happened to red fools and ferrari being the favorites for OZ
it looks like only the red fools ARE for now...:-s

[Greig]

Looks like the record mileage in winter testing was to make us reliable middle of the pack runners

Doubt it really

[Hornet]

That was disappointing that we set those times on soft. What's going on?

[NJB13]

The only thing I can think of is the softer track surface combined with cold track temp is causing us problems??

[FerrariF60]

Looks like the record mileage in winter testing was to make us reliable middle of the pack runners

this is too funny but SO VERY TRUE....i feel like crying now

[gvsnraju85]

Some one please pinch me and tell me this is just really a very very very bad nightmare plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[REDARMYSOJA]

Let's not be such wussfosi. It ain't over until it's over.

:ferrarifl

[Greig]

this is too funny but SO VERY TRUE....i feel like crying now

After 20 mins of the season....come on have some support maybe

[ferrari1.8t]

Very disappointing run for our boys thus far. Lets hope the clear the bugs and push in Q2

[Aussie]

Oh no, no 2009 again :-(:pray



Your a joke mate it's the first round of quli

[Kyss4k]

Well if we will make it through to Q3 we will have no more than one set of soft tyres now. Great.

[LeonKennedy]

Also, HRT only 2s off Virgin's pace. Awesome if you ask me. They have potential.

[scuderiafan]

The only thing I can think of is the softer track surface combined with cold track temp is causing us problems??

yeah maybe or we have completely set up our car for the race. hopefully it will be hotter tomorrow

[prancing horse]

I just hope it has something to with Ferrari not being able not make the tires work and the unusual characteristics of the Albert park.

But even with that McMowers are ahead of us which is totally disheartening

[Curbs]

Now we can focus on the one thing we are good at. Making the same excuses all over again. Defending the people and say what we always do. We will learn from this :lol
Our RADICAL car seems to be on top.
A clue that this was coming was Felipes pace. When he´s way off Alonso the car is no good.

[Lithium]

:pray

[RockyRaccoon]

Come on Ferrari!! Forza Fernando! Forza Felipe!

Lets not loose the faith yet :ferrarifl

[m schumy]

Rubens out

[Aussie]

Stop all your crying have faith and hardern up

[gvsnraju85]

Your a joke mate it's the first round of quli

u mean to say u r happy with wats happenin???? in 2009 atleast McCheaters were suffering too but here we seem to be the only ones suffering

[m schumy]

Both Felipe and Fernando are out on used soft tyres

[Kyss4k]

Now we can focus on the one thing we are good at. Making the same excuses all over again. Defending the people and say what we always do. We will learn from this :lol
Our RADICAL car seems to be on top.
A clue that this was coming was Felipes pace. When he´s way off Alonso the car is no good.

Sad but true.

[Corey]

Ooh Barrichello :-E

[prancing horse]

Oh my mood is already lifted seeing the Rubens show

[ferrari1.8t]

This is so frustrating

[Agron]

That was even worse than expected after the last FP.
The season is very long and Ferrari excel at development, the races will be very complex with lots of pitstops so brains and a cool head can win races, and Fernando is very strong in race pace and taking care of tyres, but still this looks like a very uphill battle to win the championships.

[Aussie]

u mean to say u r happy with wats happenin???? in 2009 atleast McCheaters were suffering too but here we seem to be the only ones suffering

Not happy but it's only the first round

But it's not the end mate

[Raz]

Bet TwoBens will blame Michael for that :lol

[m schumy]

Bet TwoBens will blame Michael for that :lol

AS usual ;-)

[F1_Fan]

but wait. werent we revving down the enginge to save it?? :roll

nothing against you guys but the excuses some use when we arent on top of timesheets are stupid. open your eyes and realize that we might just have a problem and by the looks of it we do have one in australia so far

[ferrari4life]

wow talk about a rude awakening...what is going on..come on ferrari pull up your socks.

[Forzi]

Guess the gole now is to make it to the Q3. Thank god it's only the first race.

[Corey]

Fungula

[Greig]

but wait. werent we revving down the enginge to save it?? :roll

nothing against you guys but the excuses some use when we arent on top of timesheets are stupid. open your eyes and realize that we might just have a problem and by the looks of it we do have one in australia so far

You seem delighted? nothing against you but some of us maybe support our team :-)

Race is Sunday, no points for today

[Aussie]

If Ferrari don't get pole I hope webber does

[sagi58]

I haven't been a member here, for very long
and it's the first time I'm watching Qualifying
with the rest of you.
I have to say, I can't understand the gloom
and doom, except that some people like to be
the first to say something just so they can say
"I told you so!"

Come on!! Let's have a little faith!! We can't
win every race, we can't take every pole!!

Forza Ferrari!!!!!!!!!

[Aussie]

Vettel omg

[ferrari1.8t]

but wait. werent we revving down the enginge to save it?? :roll

nothing against you guys but the excuses some use when we arent on top of timesheets are stupid. open your eyes and realize that we might just have a problem and by the looks of it we do have one in australia so far

x2. It all seems like excuses to me. I'm tired of having race pace, I want to be the best car on poll. It makes no sense how far behind us McLaren was in winter testing, and with one upgrade they have far surpassed us. Ferrari has it all wrong in my opinion.

[m schumy]

What a lap by Vettel :-E

[Aussie]

God the red bulls are faster then u

[Greig]

x2. It all seems like excuses to me. I'm tired of having race pace, I want to be the best car on poll. It makes no sense how far behind us McLaren was in winter testing, and with one upgrade they have far surpassed us. Ferrari has it all wrong in my opinion.

LOL

tired of having race pace? heard it all now

[NJB13]

A little better from the boys

[ferrari1.8t]

To much understeer on that Ferrari, I dont know what happened to our car.

[gvsnraju85]

Ohh that was close for nico....he almost smooched the walls

[gvsnraju85]

Schumi seems to be struggling too

[Raz]

WOW! SUTIL!!!

[m schumy]

Silly mistake by Sutil

[ferrari1.8t]

LOL

tired of having race pace? heard it all now

Dont get me wrong, I'm happy about having great race pace and reliability, however, it seems like we just "settle" for that. We haven't been able to push for for P1 in quite some time now. Its just frustrating.

[Katu]

sutil entertains a little too

[RockyRaccoon]

7/10 in the final sector alone, can't believe it.

[Nathan]

That's a bit better compared to Q1..but still not up to par :-|

[NJB13]

My live timing has stopped :-(

[Greig]

bye judas :-D

[Aussie]

Lol shumi u suck

[ferrari4life]

wow feel sorry for MS...what a way to fall

[tpe]

Mine too. Any update from the guys watching it on TV?

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

:lol
Lol shumi u suck

[Suzie]

Okay we have both drivers through to Q3. The circuit, weather and tyres will all play a big part tomorrow - (*cliche alert*) it's not over until it's over. I thought I was a natural pessimist but apparently I'm not as bad as some!

[Raz]

wow feel sorry for MS...what a way to fall

Tyres went off

[Julie B]

..........and breathe :-D

[Lithium]

Dear oh deer.. poor MSC... meanwhile Renault and Sauber seem to have great cars

[sagi58]

My live timing has stopped :-(
I'm in the same boat!! :-(

[prancing horse]

at least we are in. still a fair way behind.

i wonder if the team knew/had expected this kind of gap in qualifying

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

Sutil lol

[scuderiafan]

at least our cars are in q3.

and our race pace is apparently so much better than our one lap pace.

[gvsnraju85]

wow feel sorry for MS...what a way to fall

He was a hero to me and i am sure for millions more....just when he had nothing to pove to anyone he had to return and in what a way :-(

[eilfff]

Could somebody paste the times from Q2?

[Ste]

Tyres went off

Nice excuse. :-)

[Raz]

Nice excuse. :-)

well they do dont they? he did an extra lap on those softs..

[Aussie]

Mate ms should call it a day.

[Suzie]

Nice excuse. :-)

;-)

[Aussie]

:lol

lol

[wacko]

should we just do Q3 on medium tires? and then hope to pick off the soft compound cars at the start of the race as their tires degrade rapidly...

[NJB13]

Okay we have both drivers through to Q3. The circuit, weather and tyres will all play a big part tomorrow - (*cliche alert*) it's not over until it's over. I thought I was a natural pessimist but apparently I'm not as bad as some!

It seems to be pessimist heaven round here ATM.

Both cars through to Q3, that's cool

Let's see how far up the list we can get

"he was a cruel man, cruel but fair" - Dinsdale Piranha and perhaps Grieg too :-)

[Aussie]

Hey Lewis not bad for a drinks company

Man I am drunk

[LeonKennedy]

Don't worry, we prefer to beat them on Sunday :)

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

Mate ms should call it a day.

he should have stayed with Ferrari instead of jumping ship lol

[Ste]

Well we said we wouldn't really see who is where until we're at a 'proper' track. The reason we're sliding everywhere, understeering and lacking grip is because the tyres aren't heating up.

Weird that it should be an issue now, but the track is extremely cold. Still, we are way off at the moment but our race tomorrow will be much better and we will be back at the front in the next race.

[m schumy]

I'm in the same boat!! :-(

Me too :-s

[Ste]

well they do dont they? he did an extra lap on those softs..

Yea and the first lap he didn't get in either.

I want him to do well as well but there's no point making excuses. Rid erg got through...

[Aussie]

he should have stayed with Ferrari instead of jumping ship lol

Yes I think so

[F1_Fan]

You seem delighted? nothing against you but some of us maybe support our team :-)

Race is Sunday, no points for today

i support the team otherwise i wouldnt be up now at 7am (sweden) to watch quali and the same tomorrow for the race but i also keep my feet on the ground and realise that "sandbagging" is long gone and was mainly used when the team was brawn/todt/schumacher. if we are slow i dont try to blame it on stuff and make excuses. by looking back a few seasons we should all know that ferrari can have problems and be slow on some tracks so nothing new really.

[ferrari4life]

how bad is the tire situation? I read that we used all our softs?

[Kyss4k]

how bad is the tire situation? I read that we used all our softs?

We have only one fresh set of softs.

[scuderiafan]

how bad is the tire situation? I read that we used all our softs?

I think we have one fresh set left.

[NJB13]

OK, lets see a couple of great laps from our boys, put us as far as possible up the grid and win the race tomorrow

[Aussie]

I want vettel to crash

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

our race pace is good isnt it??? don't think i can take a bashing at the race too :oops

[Aussie]

Vettel is on a other planet

[Ste]

I want vettel to crash

:roll

[m schumy]

Vettel is on a other planet

Yeah, some stunning laps today

[Gerard]

What is happening in Q3 now?

[Greig]

Ouch, what a lap, how can they be so good

[gvsnraju85]

1:23:529...for vettel

[ferrari4life]

hope vettels tires fall off.. i am tired of listening to him being on p1...

[RockyRaccoon]

Wow, that is stunning by Vettel!! Gotta give him some credit for that...it really hurts though.

[ferrari4life]

Ouch, what a lap, how can they be so good

cheat for sure...heheh:-D

[NJB13]

Vettel is on a other planet

I want Vettel to finish and us to beat him - fair and square. That would be a very satisfying win :-)

[scuderiafan]

vettel omg. we may be trying the hards for
tomorrow to mix it up. I hope
to god that our race pace is as good as the bulls and it is hot tomorrow

[Nathan]

Vettel can just sit in the pits now -.-

He's got pole in the bag

[Aussie]

Oh god, this is bordering on humiliating

[gvsnraju85]

1Vet
2 Web
3 Ham
4. Butt
5 Ros
6 Buemi....Alonso on the track now

[Greig]

Massa had a spin

[Aussie]

Omg Massa go home

[Greig]

no idea what went on there with Massa

[Gerard]

Sitting at work with Live Timing out. I feel like a crack junkie with no fix.

[Nathan]

What is Massa doing :-O

[NJB13]

Come on Felipe

[SanderV]

Oh god, simply unacceptable

[RockyRaccoon]

Massa looked like he was on ice there!

[gvsnraju85]

Now the commentrators on Star Sports compare Massa to Karun Chandhok after that spin

[gvsnraju85]

Alonso 8th :-(

[gvsnraju85]

Alonso 5th

[scuderiafan]

what was that??? we have major tyre problems

no wonder stefano changed
his mind about the tyres

[F1_Fan]

ice cold tires. 0 grip

[gvsnraju85]

Vettel a 1.22???

[ferrari4life]

we are behing mclaren? wow..what the heck happened while i slept?

[Greig]

last sector kills us, nothing we can't work on

[Aussie]

Vettel on a ripper

Not bad for a drinks company

[Raz]

Come On Ron Dennis/Whitmarsh, find something illegal with the Redbull

[gvsnraju85]

Where is massa?????

[Nathan]

How dissapointing...that was shocking

[RockyRaccoon]

I thought Alonso was gonna do something there but S3 is crippling us.

[gvsnraju85]

Vettel becomes a philosopher on team radio

[sagi58]

I know Ferrari has balls, I just didn't realize their fans had crystal ones!! :lol

[Julie B]

What was Vettel on about ???

[scuderiafan]

still feeling optimistic. please say not bad for drinks company

we can get a good start, overtake Button and Webber, Alonso will be in a good position. and it is damage limitation for Massa

[gvsnraju85]

Vettel has started his finger showing again...i almost forgot about that habit of his

[hogo]

ffs Mclaren is ahead of us... :( what an awful start for a new season.

[NJB13]

P5 for Alonso, great effort there. Lets see what wwe can do tomorrow. Be very interested to hear what the team has to say about today..

[Katu]

What was Vettel on about ???

PR

[REDARMYSOJA]

Well, the cars have been reliable, so we got that going for us. I guess it could have been worse. We'll see tomorrow.

G'night everyone.:-ZZ


:ferrarifl:ferrarifl

[Forzi]

Why did we go so much on the tire savings? Massa already was strugling with tire tempetures and now it's even worse with Fernando having this problem too. Wrong setup? Hope for a better day on the race...

[gvsnraju85]

Vettel looks much more calm after getting P1.....he must be getting used to it by now

[Aussie]

V8 supper cars on now yes

[996 GT1 Lover]

Fingers crossed for our race pace being better.

[ferrari4life]

I know we are still in a good position for the race...
but really McLaren ahead of us...ha...serves all those idiots on here right for their silly comments about how terrible they were..its almost bitter sweet

[wacko]

imagine if Kubica didn't have his accident. Alonso would probably be in P6.

[ferrari4life]

whats the tire situation for the race?

[Gerard]

Anyone care to post the grid please?

[Chris]

last sector kills us, nothing we can't work on

I agree, we can only hope that we have a great strategy for tomorrow

[gvsnraju85]

I want to hear what our team has to say about it!!!

Is it possible that our car is so kind on its tires that forget degradation, it even struggles to generate enough heat into them in cold temp????????????

[prancing horse]

Lets see what happens tommorrow.

but i reserve my full judgement after the Malaysian GP. I think this track maybe made for red bulls and probably belies our performance.

btw eddie jordan is useless. get him off the tele

[Katu]

i cannot believe that macca has outmaneuvered almost everyone. how?

[DanielM]

Pathetic from Ferrari. This season is a write off already. Looks like we are in the mid field. All this big talk and we are nowhere. Destroyed by even an unsorted Mclaren.

[NJB13]

whats the tire situation for the race?

Tyres will be situated on the wheels, 2 at the front and 2 towards the rear.

Sorry mate, actually we have used all our options and both our cars start on the options. We have 2 clean sets of Primes each and (I think because they did a couple of laps on one set of primes in Q1 each) they have one set of slightly used primes as well.

That's what I think I saw, anyone could correct me though.

Wonder if we are planning on running 2 stops ?

[yellowbird rs]

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3771/39037805.jpg

[Gerard]

Thanks!

[F1si]

This really wasn't a good qualifying, but I think that literally anything can happen tomorrow. So let's hope for a good race.

[tifosi_kaka]

Well we said we wouldn't really see who is where until we're at a 'proper' track. The reason we're sliding everywhere, understeering and lacking grip is because the tyres aren't heating up.

Weird that it should be an issue now, but the track is extremely cold. Still, we are way off at the moment but our race tomorrow will be much better and we will be back at the front in the next race.

But this is a long standing problem for Ferrari, we got this issue last year, and now it still remains.

The point is, if the track is cold, then all drivers should be slipping and sliding around. However I only saw the Ferraris, among the top three teams, that were slipping and sliding. So whenever we get cold races then we'll be way off?

Plus, I always tend to think that wet races are similar to races in the cold, where the wet track don't heat up the tires at all. So again, presuming that the cold track and the wet track has the same temperature effect on the tires, then we're doomed in the wet too? That doesn't leave us much races for wins.

[yellowbird rs]

Vettel's lap without using KERS ??????

[Kyss4k]

It is even worse that we are loosing so much time in the critical sector where you have to be close to the car infront of you to use DRS. So no easy overtaking for us.

[MRRabbit]

I want to hear what our team has to say about it!!!

Is it possible that our car is so kind on its tires that forget degradation, it even struggles to generate enough heat into them in cold temp????????????


it looks that way, i cannot believe tho how Webber cvan be so slow compared to his teammate that is just embarrasing.

[Katu]

Wonder if we are planning on running 2 stops ?
i think i read somewhere that the strategy is to pit whenever necessary, there's enough fuel anyway

[Suzie]

Pathetic from Ferrari. This season is a write off already.

Yeah! That's the spirit!

Oh wait.

[tpe]

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3771/39037805.jpg

Where from did you get is the times?

[tifosi_kaka]

Tyres will be situated on the wheels, 2 at the front and 2 towards the rear.

Sorry mate, actually we have used all our options and both our cars start on the options. We have 2 clean sets of Primes each and (I think because they did a couple of laps on one set of primes in Q1 each) they have one set of slightly used primes as well.

That's what I think I saw, anyone could correct me though.

Wonder if we are planning on running 2 stops ?

But with the way we're sliding around, tyres will be wearing off quickly.

The way the RB glued to the track made me wonder if they can do with less stops as well. This RB could be even more dominant than the F2004 in its season.

[tifosi_kaka]

Vettel's lap without using KERS ??????

I'm afraid that's true.

[Agron]

Kubica would be driving the third fastest car today...

[Grillo]

A really bad weekend for us so far, but it isn't over.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

We don't want a reliable car, a hi mileage testing car, a @#$%&@# car... We want the fast car!!!

[LeonKennedy]

My prediction:

1. Vettel (=)
2. Webber (-1)
3. Hamilton (+1)
4. Button (=)
5. Alonso (=)
6. Petrov (=)
7. Heifeld (-11)
8. Rosberg (+1)
9. Schumacher (-2)
10. Alguersuari (-2)
11. Buemi (+1)
12. Massa (+4)
13. Kobayashi (+4)
14. Barrichello (-3)
15. Sutil (-1)

My prediction and the actual difference of the result in brackets

[yellowbird rs]

Where from did you get is the times?

SPEED GP RaceCast (http://www.speedtv.com/formula-1-racecast/)

[NJB13]

There is something very fishy about Seb suddenly being that much faster. I don't remember him having that sort of gap on Webber? Very weird.

[Katu]

Kubica would be driving the third fastest car today...

that leaves only a question, why is heidfeld 18-th?

[Kyss4k]

Vettel's lap without using KERS ??????

Really? How do you know that? That would be more than incredible! :-E

[yellowbird rs]

I'm afraid that's true.

it true, it was the first think they talk about it in the Q press conference

[Raz]

Schumi tells Lee that "they just don't know what happened" i bet Ferrari would say the same thing.. must be the circuit

[gvsnraju85]

Anyone care to post the grid please?

http://img830.imageshack.us/i/90021626.jpg/

[NJB13]

I mean he's half a second faster than last years cars with the DDD's .... hmmmm

[tifosi_kaka]

A really strange weekend, did we not look good during winter testing? The track was equally cold back then, if not cooler.

One more thing that I noticed, is that both RB and McLarens have designed their sidepods to reduce drag and clearing the airflow to the back end. The RB one being super compact, while the McLaren L-shaped one is smaller in volume compared to the Ferrari. I wonder if that is one of the holes in Ferrari's armour?

[LeonKennedy]

A really strange weekend, did we not look good during winter testing? The track was equally cold back then, if not cooler.

One more thing that I noticed, is that both RB and McLarens have designed their sidepods to reduce drag and clearing the airflow to the back end. The RB one being super compact, while the McLaren L-shaped one is smaller in volume compared to the Ferrari. I wonder if that is one of the holes in Ferrari's armour?

Maybe that's why the car was lacking a lot of rear downforce and was sliding all over the place...

[Raz]

KERS = Epic Fail again!

[Brakefade]

Our only hope now is that Ferrari can go longer on their tires and do one less pit stop than the rest.

[alonsonum1]

Pathetic from Ferrari. This season is a write off already. Looks like we are in the mid field. All this big talk and we are nowhere. Destroyed by even an unsorted Mclaren.

Seriously?? it is the first race of a very long season, and can i just remind u that it is only qualifying? like alonso said qualifying is not as important this year as it normally is. as a true ferrari fan u should not be calling them pathetic and writing the season off just yet. its a good job u dont work for ferrari ... am sure ur negativity would do wanders for the team?? it is a disapointing result yes, however we are sitin in a nice position for the race. theres not really goin be much pressure from behind so hopefully alonso can get a fast start n take a couple of positions

its so unfair to write the season off already and write such negative comments. we are Ferrari - we win and lose together ... but whatever we do we back the team!!

[RockyRaccoon]

Alonso seems a little bit puzzled too, says that we are normally 1 second in front of Renault and Sauber and that we looked close to Red Bull yesterday. He said that today wasn't representative of Ferrari's pace...hope he's right!

[bkircher]

Soooo lets do an ultra fast recap. Vettle is insanly fast, Massa, well is being Massa, Alo is doing his best, and Ferrari needs to find about 2 seconds in pace. Ya, gonna be a tough year. O_O

[vcs316]

Gutted.

What happened? We looked like we were struggling all 3 sessions!

Positives:

Both our drivers made it to Q3. Hopefully strategy will play its role and maybe we can finish 4th & 5th. Podium looks wayyyy out of our reach.. :-(

[alonsonum1]

Gutted.

What happened? We looked like we were struggling all 3 sessions!

Positives:

Both our drivers made it to Q3. Hopefully strategy will play its role and maybe we can finish 4th & 5th. Podium looks wayyyy out of our reach.. :-(

to be honest i dont think podium is out of reach. i know we are all dissapointed right now but if we step back for a minute. we have qualified 5th - thats not a bad result at all. yeh we would love to be on the front row, or the second but we arent, we are on the 3rd row of the grid, theres no 1 other than red bull and mclaren infront of alonso so hopefully he won;t have to worry about gettin past Petrov or Rosberg or anyone. he can just concentrate on gettin a good start , possibly take button on the first corner n go from there. anyone would think we had qualified 18th !!!

[Raz]

in that interview with lee, alonso seemed rather perplexed, and note how he was thinking about Sepang already?

[Alessandra]

Alonso seems a little bit puzzled too, says that we are normally 1 second in front of Renault and Sauber and that we looked close to Red Bull yesterday. He said that today wasn't representative of Ferrari's pace...hope he's right!

That's interesting. I hope he's right too.
Rather looks as though you can tell something from practice:-?? Another pet theory down the drain.

But, tomorrow is when the race happens...............:thumb

[gvsnraju85]

How could Vettel be half a second faster that last year in qualifying....last year we had DDD.....theis year single diffuser should have reduced the downforce.....This means that red bull have not only found the downforce that was lost due to the new diffuser but have also managed to increase it :Hmm

[DanielM]

On second thoughts, it could just be a case of not being able to switch on the tyres in the cold conditions. We are still NO MATCH for redbull who didnt even use kers in qualifying. I dont understand how we can be so much slower than them than last year when it was only 3-5 tenths.

[hogo]

So basically we have the 4th fastest car. They hid that well during testing... For sure I thought we are second at least! But now I think that even if we get on the podium, it's gonna be out of darn good luck.

[alonsonum1]

So basically we have the 4th fastest car. They hid that well during testing... For sure I thought we are second at least! But now I think that even if we get on the podium, it's gonna be out of darn good luck.

no 1 wins a championship without a bit of luck my friend ...

[LeonKennedy]

no 1 wins a championship without a bit of luck my friend ...

The thing is that we need a lot of luck... to get to the podium.

Seems like that to win the championship we need a miracle at least... haha