Qualifying: Hamilton steals pole from Sutil

12 September, 2009

The signs were there from the start of the weekend that Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes meant business at Monza, the temple of speed.

In a thrilling few minutes, at the end of the qualifying session for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix, the World Champion produced a mesmerizing lap to topple Force India’s Adrian Sutil from top spot on the timing screens and hence “steal” pole position. It was a nail biting climax to a thrilling Q3 and if anything the slightest of errors, at the first Lesmo, is sure to have cost Sutil pole, he recovered well.

Hamilton was more than content and happy for his mate Sutil, “I don’t think we anticipated to be as quick this weekend, so its a bonus for everyone in the team. It’s so great to be able to put a lap together. I am very happy to see Adrian Sutil, my friend, next to me. It is a long time since we were together in a press conference. May be since F3. It is a great feeling. It is very exciting when you get the pole at the end of the session at fast circuits like Spa or Monza. But let?s wait
and see what the strategy is for everyone tomorrow.”

Sutil was beaming from ear to ear, “A great moment and great day for me. The first time for my F1 career. The whole week-end was a great success. The car is amazing and very good. After a good success in Spa we are competitive. And this timewe can prove it. It is quite a different feeling in the car. A good feeling and I enjoyed a great single moment.”

At one stage Raikkonen looked capable of sending the tifosi into raptures but eventually had to settle for third, which in retrospect is a good result for the team wand usurping the all powerful Mercedes powered cars. The “home” team had been playing down their chances from the start of the weekend. The Iceman said afterwards, “Third position is good here. It is not perfect, but it shows that once we put the race fuel in the car, it handles better The car has been very good all week-end. We cannot fix the car any better. But we have a good race pace and I am very happy. It was one of our best qualifying and this is going to help us to be in a stronger position for the race. Let?s see tomorrow.I feel as good as in Spa.”

Kovalianen was fourth fastest ahead of the first of the Championship contenders. Rubens Barrichello, peaked at exactly the right time to snatch fifth fastest time from his Brawn GP team mate Jenson Button in sixth. The world championship said, “Sixth is a good position. We’re heavy. The car felt good and that’s what’s important. It’s warm here but I think we’ve solved our tyre issues. All the Kers cars are in front of us too and that, too, is a good thing.”

Next up in seventh was Formula 1 returnee Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India’s reserve driver promoted to Fisichella’s seat, who has given a good account of himself all weekend and dialed himself in to set a formidable and impressive time.

Fernando Alonso (ING Renault) was eight fastest ahead of the two Red Bull Racing Chanpionship contenders Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. The energy drink squad which was struggling all weekend, to regain the pace that saw them so dominant in the mid-part of the season, despite new upgrades to the car for Monza which have clearly not been very effective.

The action started earlier in Q1 and what a difference a year makes! Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari will start  tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza last and second last respectively. A year ago Sebastian Vettel powered the Faenza team to their first win.

Others to miss the Q1 cut were Timo Glock (Panasonic Toyota) who was will start in 16th and was not happy afterwards, “My lap was destroyed by Sebastien Buemi. He was right in front of me and I could not get a fast lap in.”

AT&T Williams of Kazuki Nakajima (17th) and Nico Rosberg (18th) have been strong in qualifying throughout the season, until today when it all went wrong and was their worst qualifying performance of 2009. Rosberg’s lowest qualifying position. A bad day for Toyota powered cars, three out in Q1.

Strong in the first fifteen minutes were both the Ferraris and all six Mercedes powered cars, while championship contenders red Bull Racing were clearly not benefiting from the car’s Monza updates.

Q2 proved to be a very expensive and somewhat embarrassing affair for both BMW Saubers, who within a few minutes of the session starting, ended up being parked on the sidelines by both Nick Heidfeld first and Robert Kubica a few minutes later. Apparent engine problems, for the team who will depart the scene at the end of this season, added to their woes.

Biggest scalp was arguably that of Ferrari debutant Giancarlo Fisichella who could only manage 14th fastest time. Nevertheless he has massively outperformed Luca Badoer who he replaced in Felipe Massa’s car.

Also falling out in Q2 Romain Grosjean (ING Renault) who was 12th fastest and full marks for the rookie for trying hard, perhaps too hard which made him somewhat ragged when it mattered.

Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota) was 11th fastest and also missed the cut, compounding the misery for Toyota who would not have a car in the crucial final top ten shootout.

When the flag dropped to end Q2 both McLaren Mercedes were at the top of the timing screens, Lewis Hamilton was fastest of all. And that proved to be a sign of what was to come.

Qualifying Lap Times

Related posts:

1. Heidfeld and BMW bounce back before qualifying
2. Practice 2: Hamilton gets going in the dry
3. Supreme Barrichello steals Valencia win
4. Qualifying: Webber conquers conditions, takes pole
5. Qualifying: Vettel digs deep when it matters