Chinese GP - More suprises
Shanghai, 18th April 2009
Kimi Raikkonen will start the Chinese Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid, in eighth place, while Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Felipe Massa will watch the lights go out tomorrow afternoon from thirteenth spot on row seven.
It’s a sign of the times, that no one is too surprised at what would have been considered a poor showing last year, or indeed for several years before that. However, the team knew the Prancing Horse would be struggling to gallop at the same pace as the front runners and effectively, tomorrow’s race and the one in Bahrain just seven days later will be a case of making the most of what the F60 can offer in its current configuration.
Even putting to one side the recent controversy over some teams’ interpretations of the rules regarding aero components on the car, the radical changes to the technical regulations introduced for this season, continue to throw up surprises. Red Bull Racing recorded its first ever pole position in its five year history, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel, who adds this first place start to the one he secured last year in Monza. For a while it looked as though Red Bull would monopolise the front row, but in the end, Mark Webber had to settle for third place, with Fernando Alonso securing the second spot on the front row in his Renault. The championship leading team, Brawn GP, got its cars into fourth and fifth places with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button respectively, while Jarno Trulli completes the top six for Toyota .
Nico Rosberg is seventh for Williams on the inside of Kimi. The Finn did a fine job to outpace two cars in the top ten shoot-out, given that he did his run on worn tyres, having used the new ones to avoid any mishaps in getting through to the final section of this afternoon’s qualifying. As for Felipe, traffic on his lap out of the pits for his final run in Q2 meant his tyres were not at optimum temperature as he embarked on his flying lap and this contributed to a small mistake that saw him miss the cut by fractions of a second, in what is a very close grid.
In terms of fuel strategy, the Ferrari duo are looking quite sensible for tomorrow, therefore hoping for a points finish is not out of the question, as long as they see the chequered flag of course. It’s unlikely that any unusual weather can be counted on to shake up the order, as although rain is forecast for the Shanghai area for Sunday, it is not due to arrive until after the race.
Kimi Raikkonen will start the Chinese Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid, in eighth place, while Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Felipe Massa will watch the lights go out tomorrow afternoon from thirteenth spot on row seven.
It’s a sign of the times, that no one is too surprised at what would have been considered a poor showing last year, or indeed for several years before that. However, the team knew the Prancing Horse would be struggling to gallop at the same pace as the front runners and effectively, tomorrow’s race and the one in Bahrain just seven days later will be a case of making the most of what the F60 can offer in its current configuration.
Even putting to one side the recent controversy over some teams’ interpretations of the rules regarding aero components on the car, the radical changes to the technical regulations introduced for this season, continue to throw up surprises. Red Bull Racing recorded its first ever pole position in its five year history, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel, who adds this first place start to the one he secured last year in Monza. For a while it looked as though Red Bull would monopolise the front row, but in the end, Mark Webber had to settle for third place, with Fernando Alonso securing the second spot on the front row in his Renault. The championship leading team, Brawn GP, got its cars into fourth and fifth places with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button respectively, while Jarno Trulli completes the top six for Toyota .
Nico Rosberg is seventh for Williams on the inside of Kimi. The Finn did a fine job to outpace two cars in the top ten shoot-out, given that he did his run on worn tyres, having used the new ones to avoid any mishaps in getting through to the final section of this afternoon’s qualifying. As for Felipe, traffic on his lap out of the pits for his final run in Q2 meant his tyres were not at optimum temperature as he embarked on his flying lap and this contributed to a small mistake that saw him miss the cut by fractions of a second, in what is a very close grid.
In terms of fuel strategy, the Ferrari duo are looking quite sensible for tomorrow, therefore hoping for a points finish is not out of the question, as long as they see the chequered flag of course. It’s unlikely that any unusual weather can be counted on to shake up the order, as although rain is forecast for the Shanghai area for Sunday, it is not due to arrive until after the race.
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