Qualifying report

The weekend has been full of excitement and drama, but the 1 hour qualifying session was dramatic and very exciting. Right from the start Mercedes and particularly Rosberg were flying, but Ferrari were struggling, Massa just couldn’t find the pace and he was almost out of Q1. Max Chilton found himself at the very back of the field, he was considerably slower than his teammate, not exactly what he wanted at his home Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas told me that they are aiming for points, unfortunately that’s very doubtful as he failed to make it into Q2. Its a shame for the team on this special occasion.

The second Qualifying session was much of a muchness really, the usual candidates dropped out of the session. Nico Hulkenberg will be very frustrated as he only qualified in P15, Sauber are really struggling at the moment. The car just isn’t performing. McLaren were left feeling disappointed as they didn’t make the top 10. The single lap pace or car balance wasn’t there for them. It’s a real shame for the home fans here at Silverstone. Jean Eric Vergne didnt put in a good performance either despite the fact he could be in line for a Red Bull seat next season. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo did much better showing what he is capable of. Felipe Massa was left catching up after his incident on Friday, he has plenty of work tomorrow as he starts P12.

The final session was like the whole of Qualifying, dominated by Mercedes. There was some changing of positions between them, but when it counted most, Lewis Hamilton drove a scintillating lap taking Pole Position in front of his home fans. Rosberg made it a Mercedes front row lock out. Red Bull have quick race pace, but they could be held up by the silver arrows ahead tomorrow, they lock out the second row with Vettel ahead of Webber. DiResta out qualified teammate Sutil which is great news for the Silverstone fans. Force India had a strong performance in Qualifying, I hope the race will be just as good for them. Romain Grosjean qualified ahead of Raikkonen at Lotus, but Fernando Alonso could only manage P10. Ferrari having a qualifying performance to forget.

It was a fascinating session ahead of the British Grand Prix, the race tomorrow will be full of drama and excitement once again. I certainly expect Alonso to move forward if he can find the opportunity to do so. I’m hopeful too for Daniel Ricciardo as he’s on a mission to move to Red Bull. As for Mercedes, well talking to Ted Kravitz earlier he says their race pace has certainly improved. The question is can they stay ahead of the Red Bulls, I doubt it to be honest.

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