Formula 1 Jam

Sebastian Vettel took top honors on Saturday qualification by taking pole for the Chinese Grand Prix.  The German who later revealed that he had car problems that limited his running, set the times on single hot laps in Q2 and Q3.

Fernando Alonso produced a magnificent lap to push the Renault to its highest starting position in over a year.  The double world champ showed his class in a car that had been modified to include upgrades just the night before.

Mark Webber will line up right behind his team mate on the starting grid after an impressive performance in both Q2 and Q3.

Q1

The session started with a surprise as Lewis Hamilton’s upgraded Mc Laren challenged the top runners.  The Mc Laren running a new aero package looked much more impressive than it had in the recent past.  Hiekki running in the other Mc Laren was running with the old car(without the upgrades) and struggled thru the session.

Kubica was the surprise elimination in this round, as the Pole suffered heavily after a mistake in his final run.  Nelson Piquet Jnr continued with his bad qualifying streak finishing 17th

Eliminated Drivers:

Sebastien Bourdais 1′36.906
Nelson Piquet Jnr 1′36.908
Robert Kubica 1′36.966
Adrian Sutil 1′37.669
Giancarlo Fisichella 1′37.672

Q2

Q2 saw the drivers attempt to set the fastest times of the weekend.  Hamilton looked strong but his team mate suffered with an ill handling car, managing to qualify 12th.

Massa was the big surprise of the session finishing 13th, it was later revealed that he was delayed by one of the Red Bulls.

Heidfeld, Glock and Nakajima joined them as the drivers eliminated in Q2.  Sebastien Buemi impressed by squeezing into Q3

Eliminated Drivers:
Nick Heidfeld 1′35.975
Heikki Kovalainen 1′36.032
Felipe Massa 1′36.033
Timo Glock 1′36.066
Kazuki Nakajima 1′36.193

Q3

It looked like it would be a fight between Brawn and Red Bull, with Hamilton in the mix but the climax had something else in mind.

The usual suspects topped the times in the initial laps but it was the Red Bulls that were gunning for glory.  First it was Webber with a brilliant lap to put his car on Pole, only to be dethroned moments later by a charged up Vettel.

Alonso produced the surprise of the session jumping the Red Bulls and Brawns to a front row starting position.

Top 10:
Sebastian Vettel 1′36.184
Fernando Alonso 1′36.381
Mark Webber 1′36.456
Rubens Barrichello 1′36.493
Jenson Button 1′36.532
Jarno Trulli 1′36.835
Nico Rosberg 1′37.397
Kimi Raikkonen 1′38.089
Lewis Hamilton 1′38.595
Sebastien Buemi 1′39.321