Posted on 21st June 2015
This afternoon in Austria, Lewis Hamilton took his 45th Pole of his career and has equalled Sebastian Vettel's record of Pole Positions which is a fantastic achievement. Hamilton finished ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.
During Q1, Roberto Merhi went off the track and was very lucky not to hit the barriers or get breeched into the gravel trap. He managed to find his way out of the gravel trap and continue running in the session. We also saw during Q1 Felipe Nasr at the penultimate corner running wide but was able to keep on the circuit.
The biggest surprise in Q1 was seeing Kimi Raikkonen not making Q2 for the first time since Hungary 2012 after struggling to extract pace and performance from his Ferrari and asked his team via team radio “what the hell happened there?†even though the reason behind this is unclear still.
The biggest surprise in Q2 was Daniel Ricciardo being out-qualified by his team mate Daniil Kvyat and not making Q3 for the first time in his Red Bull career. But Ricciardo after failing not to make Q3 cannot serve the ten place grid penalty he has received this
weekend after changing his engine for the fifth time this season and will now have to serve a five second time penalty in the race tomorrow as a result of this.
On their last flying laps in Q3, Lewis Hamilton spun the car after locking up into Turn 1, while his team mate Nico Rosberg spun on the final corner after trying to gain Pole Position for himself.
But despite the bizzare end of qualifying; it was Lewis Hamilton who topped the timesheets with a laptime of 1.08.455 ahead of Nico Rosberg who finished in second place 0.200 seconds behind him but was ahead of Sebastian Vettel in third place who was 0.355 seconds behind his team mate.
Felipe Massa qualified in fourth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in an impressive fifth place, Valtteri Bottas in sixth place and Max Verstappen in a credible seventh place. Daniil Kvyat continued his good form from yesterday and was eighth ahead of Felipe Nasr in a credible ninth place and Romain Grosjean who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Pastor Maldonado qualified in eleventh place ahead of Marcus Ericsson in twelfth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in thirteenth place, Daniel Ricciardo in fourteenth place and Fernando Alonso in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Sergio Perez finished the session in sixteenth place ahead of Jenson Button in seventeenth place, Kimi Raikkonen in eighteenth place and ahead of two Manor F1 drivers of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens who finished the session in nineteenth and twentieth places.
The classification of qualifying for the Austrian GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.08.455
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.200s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.355s
4. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 0.737s
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 0.823s
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.864s
7. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1.157s
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault, 1.239s*
9. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.258s
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, No time set in Q3
11. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.10.374
12. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.10.426
13. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.10.465
14. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1.10.482**
15. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.10.736***
16. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.12.522
17. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.12.632****
18. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.12.867
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1.14.071
20. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 1.15.308
Danill Kvyat has a 10 place grid penalty after changing his engine for a fifth time this season.
Daniel Ricciardo cannot serve the ten place grid penalty he has received this weekend after changing his engine for the fifth time this season and will now have to serve a five second time penalty in the race tomorrow as a result of this.
Fernando Alonso has a 25 place grid penalty for changing his engine and will have to serve a stop and go penalty in the race tomorrow as well.
Jenson Button also has a 25 place grid penalty for changing his engine and will have to serve a stop and go penalty in the race tomorrow as well.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
Thanks www.grahamandleigh.co.uk
