European GP - A step forward for the Scuderia
Valencia, 26 June
Most F1 drivers readily admit that racing in front of a home crowd provides a great boost, however, in the high tech world of Formula 1, a cheering crowd has no effect on the stopwatch. If it did, then maybe Fernando Alonso would be starting from further up the grid than his eventual fourth place on the second row, as the Spanish fans packing the Valencia grandstands cheered his every lap during qualifying this afternoon. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver's performance and indeed that of his team-mate Felipe Massa, who qualified just one place behind him, was slightly compromised by the fact that neither man put together a perfectly clean lap. In addition, although the new updates, including a low configuration exhaust system and various aerodynamic modifications introduced here, delivered the performance boost the engineers had expected, the F10 might still be a fraction lacking in outright pace when compared to the quickest. Today, that meant the Red Bull Racing duo, as they monopolised the front row of the grid for tomorrow's European Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel on pole and Mark Webber beside him in second. Fernando will share his row with third placed Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren, while Felipe has the Renault of Robert Kubica alongside him.
With both types of Bridgestone tyre performing more consistently than they did in Montreal a fortnight ago, tomorrow's race is likely to be less incident packed than the Canadian thriller and it should feature a straightforward one-stop strategy for most drivers. But the challenge of the Valencia track should not be underestimated, as it boasts fast sections, heavy braking and barriers very close to the track. One only had to watch this afternoon's GP2 race, which featured several multiple collisions and the arrival of the Safety Car on the opening lap, to realise that anything could happen: making a good start and keeping out of trouble, will be the Ferrari duo's first target when the red lights go out at 2pm local time tomorrow, to start the ninth round of the world championship.
Most F1 drivers readily admit that racing in front of a home crowd provides a great boost, however, in the high tech world of Formula 1, a cheering crowd has no effect on the stopwatch. If it did, then maybe Fernando Alonso would be starting from further up the grid than his eventual fourth place on the second row, as the Spanish fans packing the Valencia grandstands cheered his every lap during qualifying this afternoon. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver's performance and indeed that of his team-mate Felipe Massa, who qualified just one place behind him, was slightly compromised by the fact that neither man put together a perfectly clean lap. In addition, although the new updates, including a low configuration exhaust system and various aerodynamic modifications introduced here, delivered the performance boost the engineers had expected, the F10 might still be a fraction lacking in outright pace when compared to the quickest. Today, that meant the Red Bull Racing duo, as they monopolised the front row of the grid for tomorrow's European Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel on pole and Mark Webber beside him in second. Fernando will share his row with third placed Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren, while Felipe has the Renault of Robert Kubica alongside him.
With both types of Bridgestone tyre performing more consistently than they did in Montreal a fortnight ago, tomorrow's race is likely to be less incident packed than the Canadian thriller and it should feature a straightforward one-stop strategy for most drivers. But the challenge of the Valencia track should not be underestimated, as it boasts fast sections, heavy braking and barriers very close to the track. One only had to watch this afternoon's GP2 race, which featured several multiple collisions and the arrival of the Safety Car on the opening lap, to realise that anything could happen: making a good start and keeping out of trouble, will be the Ferrari duo's first target when the red lights go out at 2pm local time tomorrow, to start the ninth round of the world championship.
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