Jenson Button Takes First McLaren Pole For Belgian Grand Prix
Jenson Button will start tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix from pole-position, after clinching pole in a thrilling qualifying session around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. In conditions starkly contrasted to yesterday, Button will line up alongside the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi in what should be yet another enthralling Belgian Grand Prix.
The Marussia duo of Charles Pic of Timo Glock were the first two drivers to take the track once the session got underway, with Pic setting the initial pace with a 01:53.493. Nico Rosberg, who incurred a 5-place grid penalty prior to the qualifying session, then shot to the top with a 01:51.125 as the times quickly began to tumble. Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez then shared the top spot momentarily as the opening session progressed, with the majority of the drivers circulating on Pirelli’s P Zero hard tyre compound.
Championship leader Fernando Alonso then asserted authority over the proceedings, after ending the final practice session earlier in the morning fastest overall. Jenson Button then surprised many by going fastest, complaining of understeer only moments beforehand. Pastor Maldonado then incurred the wrath of the stewards once again, as they announced the Venezuelan driver was under investigation for allegedly blocking Nico Hulkenberg.
Many of the drivers then opted to switch to the medium tyre compound as the session entered it’s closing stages, as the Williams of Pastor Maldonado went fastest with a 01:48.993. Nico Rosberg’s woeful day continued as the session drew to a close, as the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo progressed to 6th and demoted the German to 18th and subsequently into the drop zone along with the usual suspects of the two Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs. This means the Mercedes driver will start on the last row of the grid for tomorrow’s race, once he takes his grid penalty.
Sergio Perez wasted no time in taking to the track once the second qualifying session got underway, whilst the McLaren mechanics frantically worked upon Jenson Button’s car, fixing some minor damage to the Briton’s rear-wing. Perez naturally set the initial pace with a 01:48.880, however Mark Webber then went top with a 01:48.662. The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso then continued to assert authority, however as the track rubbered in, the times quickly improved as the session progressed.
Lewis Hamilton then shot to the top of the timing sheets, with a 01:48.563 for the McLaren driver. However, Kimi Raikkonen immediately disposed of the 2008 World Champion as the Finn shot to the top with a 01:48.414. Jenson Button then continued to raise eyebrows amongst the paddock as the Briton stormed to the top with a blisteringly quick 01:47.654. This time looked unbeatable, as many drivers retook to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit to try guarantee themselves a spot in the all-important top ten shootout.
As Q2 came to a close, no-one was able to challenge Jenson Button’s illustrious time at the top. As the checkered flag fell, all eyes were on reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, who was amazingly unable to progress through to the top ten shootout and was eliminated along with Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Bruno Senna.
The all-important top ten shootout had all the ingredients to be a thrilling spectacle around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the track action most certainly lived up to its expectations. Paul di Resta and Kimi Raikkonen were the first two drivers to take to the track, with the Finn setting the initial pace with a 01:48.205. However, Jenson Button continued his uncatchable momentum through to Q3 and set another sensational lap time with a 01:47.686.
As the session came to a highly entertaining conclusion, Jenson Button improved upon his time with a 01:47.573, as the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi slotted neatly into 2nd position with 01:47.871. The other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was unable to match his team-mate and ended the session a disappointing 8th.
With Jenson Button surrounded by former GP2 stars Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado, tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix has all of the ingredients to be a literally stunning race with the possibility of fireworks as the field negotiates the La Source hairpin at the start. Jenson Button has never won around Spa-Francorchamps, and is perfectly poised to alter that stat during tomorrow’s 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m47.573s 2. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.871s + 0.298s 3. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m47.893s + 0.320s 4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m48.205s + 0.632s 5. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m48.219s + 0.646s 6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m48.313s + 0.740s 7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m48.392s + 0.819s*** 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m48.394s + 0.821s 9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m48.538s + 0.965s 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m48.890s + 1.317s Q2 cut-off time: 1m48.993s Gap * 11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m49.722s + 0.472s 12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m49.362s + 0.112s 13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m49.742s + 0.492s 14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m49.588s + 0.338s 15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.763s + 0.513s 16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.572s + 0.322s 17. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m49.958s + 0.708s Q1 cut-off time: 1m50.126s Gap ** 18. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.181s + 1.188s*** 19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m51.739s + 2.746s 20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m51.967s + 2.974s 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m52.336s + 3.343s 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m53.030s + 4.037s 23. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m53.493s + 4.500s 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m54.989s + 5.996s 107 per cent time: 1m56.622s
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HRT Not To Partake In Barcelona Test
It has been confirmed by Spanish Formula 1 team, HRT, that they will unfortunately not partake of testing on Sunday, and will instead try their best to take to the track for a filming day on Monday.
HRT have had a miserable winter period, as their 2012 car initially failed the mandatory FIA crash test. This therefore forced the team to use their 2011 car for the first pre-season test at Jerez, before skipping the second test to focus on their new car.
The team were confident on making the final pre-season test, after their car finally passed the crash test last weekend. However, upon arriving at the circuit the team expected to take to the track on Sunday only, regarding they receive no setbacks. With HRT set to not take to the track during any of the official testing days this week, the team have announced they hope to complete a filming day at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday.
If the planned filming day fails to take place, HRT will head to Australia without their new car, the F112, ever turning a wheel during testing. The same setback has hit Marussia, who’s car failed to pass the FIA crash tests prior to the third and final test at Barcelona. Both teams now look set to arrive at Albert Park in two weeks time on the back foot, with both cars failing to complete any true testing mileage.
This will be HRT and Marussia’s third season in Formula 1, and both teams are struggling to keep up with the rest of the teams. Caterham, who are also entering their third season, have improved their pace considerably since their debut back in 2010. They are confident on pushing for points in 2012, whereas the same unfortunately cannot be said for HRT or Marussia.
Testing continues this afternoon and concludes tomorrow at the Circuit de Catalunya, before the teams switch their focus to the season opening Australian Grand Prix, where the new HRT and Marussia will use FP1 as their unofficial pre-season test.
Picture Copyright © HRT F1