Turkish GP: Webber claims third consecutive pole

May 30 '10

Mark Webber claimed his third consecutive pole position and made it seven pole positions from seven attempts for Red Bull at Istanbul Park circuit at yesterday's qualifying session for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton secured second position making it a McLaren front row start for the first time this season. Sebastian Vettel who topped the first two sessions of qualifying will start the race from second row of the grid in third position after suffering a suspected brake failure.

In Q1

@Jamesallenonf1



As usual, the three new teams failed to make it out of Q1. Jarno Trulli in the Lotus was the quickest of the six cars, beating team mate Heikki Kovalainen by three tenths of a second.

When the three new teams fail to make the progress beyond Q1, there is always a room for one of the drivers from the established teams to join them and this time it was Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi who struggled for pace even though he was running Force India?s F-duct on his car. He failed to make it past Q1 for the second time this season.

At the end of Q1, Vettel was almost a half second faster than Webber who was followed by Button, Petrov, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso Sutil and Massa 11th.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 28.958s
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.237s
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.519s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 30.744s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 31.266s
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.989s
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.060s


In Q2

@Jamesallenonf1



Fernando Alonso had a disappointing elimination from Q2 on the eve of Ferrari's 800th grand prix start. According to iTV, "The Spaniard was already struggling for speed when he dropped his right-rear wheel onto a white line in the braking area for turn 12. The lap ruined, he had time for one more, but could not improve. He will start the race from 12th."

He said afterwards, ??I pushed very hard in that lap. Anyway I was slower than my fastest lap. I knew it was not enough. I don?t think that moment cost me a place in Q3. I did three laps in mainly in the same time and I think the pace was not there.?

Kamui Kobayashi forced his Sauber C29 out of Q2 for the third time this season. Adrian Sutil who missed out whole of the final practice session could only manage 11th fastest time.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.525s
12. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.612s
13. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.879s
14. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.273s
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.392s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.540s
17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.841s


In Q3

@Jamesallenonf1



Webber was the man to beat in Q3 as he set the fastest time on the drivers? first runs. He improved on his time on his final run and was unbeatable to pole. According to iTV, "Red Bull tested its F-duct during Friday practice but opted not to use it in qualifying, low-drag rear wing endplates instead being flown out to Istanbul and fitted to Webber?s car just prior to qualifying."

Michael Schumacher spun off at turn 8 on his final lap and ended the session in the gravel. Despite this, he ended up ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. They line up fifth and sixth.

Ferrari had a disappointing day as Massa, three times a winner at this track, could only manage eighth fastest time while Alonso was eliminated in Q2.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali spoke to BBC, ?For sure the performance in qualifying was not up to our standard. We don?t know why and we need to understand. For sure we were expecting much more performance.?

Top ten drivers in Q3

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.295s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.433s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.760s
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.781s
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.857s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.952s
7. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 27.039s
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.082s
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 27.430s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.122s


Images(C) Daylife, YallaF1

Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews