October 15, 2011

A pole, a pout and a pass

Hamilton got a fantastic pole, first in many months but then was bizarrely morose as he got out of the car and during the post qualifying conference. Massive hissy fit of just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, something's going on in there.

Tomorrow it will be early stops to get rid of the "red" Pirellis and then a race to see who can make their primes last. RBR might try for a 2 stopper.

Meanwhile, Vettel got an inexplicable freebee when stewards decided not to penalize him for cutting the track on his in lap after his first Q3 run. I would have thought you could make the argument that, in a game of seconds and ounces, cutting gave him extra flexibility in the garage. In the big scheme of things it means little but it certainly sets a bizarre precedent.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m35.820s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m36.042s  + 0.222
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m36.126s  + 0.306
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.468s  + 0.648
 5.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m36.831s  + 1.011
 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m36.980s  + 1.160
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m37.754s  + 1.934
 8.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m38.124s  + 2.304
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes no time
10.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes no time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.254s                                   Gap **
11.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.315s   + 1.789
12.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m38.354s   + 1.828
13.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m38.508s   + 1.982
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.775s   + 2.249
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m38.791s   + 2.265
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m39.189s   + 2.663
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m39.443s   + 2.917
Q1 cut-off time: 1m39.464s                                    Gap *
18.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m39.538s   + 2.013
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m40.522s   + 2.997
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m41.101s   + 3.576
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m42.091s   + 4.566
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m43.483s   + 5.958
23.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m43.758s   + 6.233
24.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         no time

107% time: 1m44.351s
* Gap to quickest in Q1
** Gap to quickest in Q2



  1. His time is short at mclaren. He'll being wearing scarlet much to the chagrin of ac jaja

  2. Hamilton's attitude reminds me of this:


  3. I never look here for objective reporting, so I don't expect it. But I think it would be wise for some of you guys at Axis to read this post at F1B today:


    I saw no hissy fit. I happen to agree that you don't need to be over the moon about getting a pole position, especially not when it's barely a consolation prize. Hamilton might not ever please you guys, but unless you enjoy being aggravated by him it may be a good idea not to read into every little thing he does or does not do.

  4. But what do you expect from a bunch of Ferrari fans? Sportsmanship...?

    Today I saw a troubled, quiet man, going FUCKING FASTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE

    I like this site but FFS stop it with the unquantifiable hate of the guy at McLaren.

    It's getting a bit weird.

    Heres to racing and ENJOYING IT.

    May the fastest guy win

  5. What's comical about Lewis fanboys is how they give up on any rational analysis of facts. We said not a thing about his driving, other than describing it as fantastic. But any half way rational person would accept that his behavior is not exactly normal. You get you first pole in over q year and you pout? Something's behind that. Maybe Jenson passed him a copy of his new contract! :)

    No comments about Vettel?

  6. Naa, Vettel's move was cool, everyone does it at Monza, so I don't know why it was bought up by the stewards at all.

    He would have been fine for time if he didn't cut the chicanes anyway.

  7. AC - Was it pouting? Didn't know you were a clinical psychologist as well. Maybe it was a little growth and realization that qualifying is not the real prize? Or maybe he's a little down since his year long goal (and everyone else's in F1) is now out of reach and their just racing because they have too? Try not to read to much into my comments - I may be pouting....

  8. I am most definitely not a Lewis Hamilton fanboy, but I do feel that as a rule people have been overanalyzing his mental state without having close to enough information about what is really going on. I mean, his behaviour is what it is after a shitty season, but it's inconsequential given the fact he put in the best laptime of the day. Who gives a fuck if he's morose about it, or if he acts like a juvenile clown like Vettel does? With the championship over we really are running out of things to talk about...

    Whiting said today that Vettel got a freebie because they deemed his cut wasn't advantageous to him. Nothing special.

  9. This weekend in Korea, it seems to me at least, that he behaves in a manner your would expect from a 13-yr old that thinks he is an adult and can behave as such. But after some boisterous juvenile moments, was corrected by his parents. A good scolding later, he is upset for being scolded (because he is an adult, right?), but does as expected from him without joy, but because he knows what is expected from him.

    I hope I am wrong as he is an exciting driver to watch, but if true, I do not see him win a championship in the next years to come. Especially as long as the matured gentleman Button is sitting in the box next to him in with the same material.

  10. You know the Lewis fanboys I really hate? Those ones that just can't help writing and commenting on him even when there is no story, they just feel obliged to make...

    ...oh wait.

    Please leave it alone. Thanks


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