Qualification: Vettel on pole ahead of Barrichello and Webber

For the British Grand Prix qualifying, the crowd is present, unlike the weather. It’s gray, cold, but it’s not raining. In these conditions, the Red Bulls are performing well, and it’s Vettel who takes pole position. The German places his RB5 three-tenths ahead of Barrichello’s Brawn GP. The Brazilian is ahead of the other Red Bull with Webber. Button is only 6th, Alonso 10th, Hamilton 18th in a qualifying session marked by Adrian Sutil’s serious accident in Q1.

The drivers are off for this first part of the qualifying session. 20 minutes during which the five slowest drivers will be eliminated. Kubica and Fisichella will be the first drivers to start. After three minutes, it’s Sébastien Bourdais who sets the best time of the first run, but it’s Trulli who will be the first to go under one minute and twenty seconds per lap.

A few minutes later, it’s Trulli again who leads the way and goes below 79 seconds per lap. He thus breaks the weekend record and Nakajima’s time set this morning with a time of 1:18.862.

After 10 minutes of competition, the Red Bull drivers are battling for the fastest time. The Brawn GP usually stay in the background while Trulli also risks moving into the top three. Behind, however, the McLarens and Ferraris are struggling. Neither Hamilton, nor Kovalainen, nor even Räikkönen are qualified with 6 minutes left in the session.

Bourdais is fighting to make it into Q2. He improves his time on his last lap with a three-tenths lead in sector two when suddenly the red flag is deployed. There were 24 seconds left in Q1, and all drivers see their laps canceled and have to return to the pits. Adrian Sutil has been involved in an accident. Impressive, the VJM02 is destroyed. The German was improving his first sector before losing control of his car. A broken suspension, probably on the rear, sent him into the tire wall at 200 km/h. Sutil cannot exit his car on his own but is moving. He manages to extract himself from the Force India after a few minutes of effort.

For 24 seconds, only Buemi comes out to check his car. Behind him, those eliminated either by bad luck or lack of performance are Fisichella, Bourdais, Sutil, Hamilton, and Buemi. At Toro Rosso, Q2 was possible. Bourdais comments: « It’s a shame and it will be difficult for tomorrow, but I had the ability to enter Q2. I was three-tenths ahead, and I only had a few corners left. It was done, but the red flag was deployed… »

Heidfeld and Räikkönen narrowly escaped elimination. That’s not the case for the reigning world champion. Hamilton is therefore very disappointed: « I am 18th, do you think that’s a good time… no ».

In the end, it’s Kazuki Nakajima who sets the fastest time in Q1 ahead of the Red Bulls.

With six minutes late, Q2 is underway and it’s Vettel who goes out first. The times of all the drivers are competitive. They are within six tenths of each other. The Red Bulls obviously stand out, and the Toyotas seem very competitive here. Trulli is once again in third position and the best of the rest.

Paradoxically, Brawn GP seems to be in trouble. Barrichello was 11th with three minutes remaining in Q2 and managed to achieve the 3rd fastest time before being overtaken by Trulli. More serious for Button, he was not qualified and finished his last lap in only 7th position. He was later displaced by Rosberg. Button is not in the rhythm for now, but he could very well secure pole position against all odds.

Behind, the battle rages to stay in Q1 between Massa, Alonso, and Glock. All three men are on soft tires. Massa is eliminated a few seconds before the end. He makes a lap improving before making a mistake. No matter, the Brazilian still has one second to complete a final timed lap. Alonso improves and occupies the 9th place ahead of Glock. Massa can still eliminate him, but his first sector is very slow. He has to slow down to save fuel. He is out.

No surprise, Kubica and Kovalainen are also out. Piquet and Heidfeld will take the 14th and 15th places tomorrow. Both Brawn GP, Red Bull, Williams, and Toyota are therefore qualified for Q3. The two guests are therefore Alonso and Räikkönen.

“I made a mistake on my lap, and we couldn’t improve anyway. I hope to score points tomorrow,” comments Felipe Massa.

It is 3 PM and the last part of the qualifications is officially open with a slight delay. Barrichello is the first to go out. He sets the first benchmark time but will be surpassed by Vettel.

After the first round of pit stops and with 4 minutes elapsed, only Alonso has yet to set a timed lap. Vettel is virtually on pole ahead of Button, Trulli, and Räikkönen.

The second relay is underway, Barrichello takes the pole and is immediately displaced by Vettel. Then it’s Webber who seizes the best time. The drivers are lapping in 80 seconds and thus carrying more fuel than at the beginning of the qualifications.

The drivers can each do one last run. Barrichello significantly improves his lap. He is in provisional pole position. But Vettel plays his cards directly with three-tenths better. Button is behind, only securing the 5th fastest time. Trulli occupies 4th place. Webber can still go for pole but makes a small mistake at the start of his lap. He will ultimately be third. Nakajima is the last to set a time, he will start 5th, pushing Button to 6th place.

Rosberg is 7th, just ahead of Glock. Räikkönen ultimately beat Alonso for 9th place. The Renault driver will therefore start only 10th.

Vettel and Webber will be on the clean side of the track, sandwiching Barrichello in the first Brawn GP. The start is going to be tight, but for the first time, Button is no longer the favorite. The strategy estimates in a few hours will give us more insight into the drivers’ performances in Q3.

Qualifying results of the British Grand Prix – June 20, 2009: