Valencia Quali Recap: Vettel takes pole in single run, champions knocked out early

Sebastian Vettel (1:38.086) took a dominant pole for the 2012 European Grand Prix on a single lap at the end of qualifying. Lewis Hamilton managed to slot into the second starting position on the streets of Valencia, but was still nearly four tenths off Vettel’s time. Pastor Maldonado will start the race tomorrow in third, despite having held provisional pole in the final minutes of Q3. Romain Grosjean, who also looked strong and held pole for a few moments will start fourth, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg rounding out the top six starters. Q2 was unkind to world champions, knocking out both Fernando Alonso (qualified eleventh) and Michael Schumacher (twelfth) as both Force Indias, Maldonado, and Kobayashi pushed their way into the fight for pole. Mark Webber had an even worse qualifying, his Red Bull seemingly still suffering from technical issues with his DRS. He was knocked out in Q1, despite using soft tyres, only able to manage a time nearly eight tenths slower that teammate Vettel who was on the medium tyre. Just a half hour before qualifying began, word circulated that Glock would not participate in the session, at the hospital with stomach issues, and was confirmed by Marussia before the session began.

The streets of Valencia saw the start of another impossible to predict weekend. Friday dawned a bit cooler than usual, with overcast skies and a heavy breeze. Maldonado (1:40.890) took control of the morning practice, over Vettel, Webber, Button, and Alonso. Vettel (1:39.334) got back on top in the afternoon, with Hulkenberg, Kobayashi, Schumacher, and Senna rounding out the top five. Both sessions were dramatically close, as the top nine times were covered by less than two tenths of a second in the first practice, and top fifteen fastest times were covered by less than a second in the second. Saturday morning saw different action, as the weather heated up and Button seemed to turn his season around in a weekend.

The Briton (1:39.562) led at the end of the Saturday session, taking control in the final minutes as teams simulated quali runs. Grosjean, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, and Di Resta showed possible prowess for the weekend from Lotus and Force India, completing the top five. Though more time spread the top five, the top thirteen were still covered by less than a second. Only Pedro de la Rosa had a truly bad weekend, dropping his HRT into the tyre barrier Friday afternoon, though Webber had brake issues Saturday morning that cost him any running on the soft tyre before qualifying

Q1:
The skies remained sunny and the temperature hot as the twenty minutes of Q1 got underway. Ricciardo and Maldonado led the way out, with Pic and others quickly following. The Australian set the first time, a slow 1:40.707. Five minutes in, Massa led Senna, Ricciardo, Vergne, Perez, Pic and Maldonado as the only men with times, but Raikkonen slotted into second, with Di Resta third and Grosjean fourth in the furious first dash for times. All the drivers were still on the medium compound tyre. Soon, only the Red Bulls remained in the garage, along with Glock’s lonely Marussia, though Webber had managed an install lap. Schumacher’s first fast time put him fastest, already at 1:39.577. Soon Button had moved up to second, with Alonso seventh, and Hamilton without a proper fast time.

Halfway through, Schumacher led Button, Massa, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, DI Resta, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, and Maldonado, with de la Rosa, Rosberg, and Karthikeyan in the knockout zone. Webber and Vettel had yet to set times, while Hamilton leapt up to fastest. In the following seconds, Massa went second fastest and Alonso slotted into third. Most of the field, particularly the top fifteen, was in the garage with seven minutes to go, though both Red Bulls were finally onto the track. Webber did not take the chance on the medium tyre, going straight out on the soft tyre. Hamilton looked to improve his time (1:39.169) but lost time in the final sector, while Vettel moved to sixth on his first fast lap.

More drivers came back our for the final five minutes, leaving Kovalainen, Petrov, Pic, de la Rosa, and Karthikeyan in the relegation zone. Webber had not set a time, but would be safe to move up once he did, though it was only to seventeenth. The top five of Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Schumacher, and Button remained in the garage with four to go, safe to move on to Q2. Webber did not look to stay safe, with an extraordinarily slow second timed lap, dropping into the relegation zone as Senna move up to seventh on the soft tyres. Di Resta went fastest on his own set of softs, with teammate Hulkenberg going second. As the final minute commenced, Webber looked to be doing terribly in traffic. He remained eighteenth, but began a final lap with seconds to spare for one more lap.

At about the same time, race control announced that Kobayashi was under investigation for impeding Hulkenberg. Webber gave up on his final lap, having lost the speed in his tyres. Though Webber saved Vergne from getting knocked out, Kovalainen put together a massive lap for the Caterham to haul himself out of the knockout zone, the last man across the line. Q1 ended with Maldonado (1:38.825) on top, leading Di Resta, Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Hamilton, Perez, Massa, Alonso, Schumacher, and Senna the top ten. Button and Vettel were thirteenth and fourteenth, just behind the Lotuses of Raikkonen and Grosjean.

Knocked Out in Q1:
18. Jean-Eric Vergne
19. Mark Webber
20. Vitaly Petrov
21. Pedro de la Rosa
22. Narain Karthikeyan
23. Charles Pic
24. Timo Glock (did not participate)

Q2:
Maldonado led the way out for the fifteen minutes of Q2, with the Ferraris right behind. Sadly for Kovalainen, team radio seemed to indicate that he might not run in Q2. Three minutes in, only he and the McLarens remained in the garage. Both Lotus cars went directly to the softs as did both Mercedes and Vettel, while both Ferraris used the medium tyre. Four minutes in, Di Resta led Alonso, Massa, and Maldonado with more times coming quickly onto the timesheets. Rosberg (1:38.504) led with ten minutes to go, with Raikkonen, Kobayshi, Vettel, Di Resta, Hulkenberg, Senna, Alonso, Perez, and Massa the top ten. Hamilton, Grosjean, Button, and Kovalainen had yet to set a time, with the last still in the garage. Grosjean went to fifth on his first fast lap, two tenths slower than his second fastest teammate.

At halfway, Hamilton then Button went third fastest, leaving Senna, Alonso, Perez, Massa, Maldonado, Ricciardo, and Kovalainen in the knockout zone. At that point, most teams had recalled their drivers, but for the McLarens and Ferraris. Hamilton returned to the garage for a bit as Alonso switched to the softs and headed directly back out. Only the Spaniard, Di Resta, and Hulkenberg were on the track with five minutes remaining. Maldonado quickly joined them, as did Massa. Alonso’s first fast lap on the softs put him sixth. The top five of Rosberg, Raikkonen, Button, Hamilton, and Kobayashi were still in the garage with three minutes to go as Vettel joined the fray. Other followed for a final minutes’ shootout.

Hulkenberg moved up to fifth, with teammate Di Resta slotting into second fastest. Only Rosberg, Raikkonen, and Ricciardo remained in the garage with two to go. Grosjean, Schumacher, Senna, Perez, Massa, Ricciardo, and Kovalainen were all in the knockout zone with a minute remaining. Massa moved up to only twelfth, with Grosjean on a flying lap. Alonso could not improve, staying tenth as Vettel moved up to third. Grtosjean lost a bit of time in the middle sector, but still managed the fastest lap of the session. That dropped Alonso to eleventh and out of qualifying. Meanwhile, Schumacher could also not improve and was also knocked out. In the end, Grosjean (1:38.489) led Rosberg, Di Resta, Vettel, Raikkonen, Button, Maldonado, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, and Kobayashi into the fight for pole in Q3. Just over two tenths covered the top ten who moved on to Q3.

Knocked Out in Q2:
11. Fernando Alonso
12. Michael Schumacher
13. Felipe Massa
14. Bruno Senna
15. Sergio Perez
16. Heikki Kovalainen
17. Daniel Ricciardo

Q3:
Raikkonen led the train of cars out of the pits when the green light began the ten minutes of Q3, leaving only Vettel, Grosjean, the Force Indias, and Kobayashi in the garage two minutes into the session. The Finn’s first lap was 1:39.966, only to quickly be displaced by Rosberg, Button, and Hamilton. The German’s time (1:38.623) was the first benchmark at nearly the halfway point. No other drivers had yet set times, though Grosjean entered the circuit with a new set of soft tyres. Maldonado followed him a minute later, as did Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Vettel and Kobayashi remained in the garage with three minutes remaining, looking for a single fast lap.

Grosjean posted the fastest first sector of the session as the rest of the field returned to the track. The Frenchman soon completed his lap, taking more than a tenth off Rosberg’s previous time and taking provisional pole. He led the German, with Button, Hamilton, and Raikkonen the only other men with times set, in that order, with a minute remaining. Di Resta was quick in the first sector and fastest of all in the middle sector, but Maldonado first took pole from Grosjean. Di Resta managed only seventh despite a fastest middle sector. Vettel, though, was fastest in the first two sectors on his only lap, taking pole by four tenths. Hamilton looked quick, but managed only second fastest, leaving Vettel with a clear lead and a dominant pole.

Final Qualifying Times for the 2012 European Grand Prix:

	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	1:38.086	15
2.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:38.410	17
3.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:38.475	21
4.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:38.505	16
5.	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	1:38.513	16
6.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.623	17
7.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:38.741	12
8.	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:38.752	19
9.	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:38.801	16
10.	Paul Di Resta	Force India	1:38.992	18
11.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.707	14
12.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:38.770	12
13.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:38.780	14
14.	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:39.207	15
15.	Sergio Perez	Sauber	1:39.358	14
16.	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:40.295	11
17.	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:40.358	12
18.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:40.203	9
19.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	1:40.395	7
20.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:40.457	8
21.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:42.171	7
22.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:42.527	8
23.	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:42.675	10
24.	Timo Glock	Marussia	n/t	ill