Mark Webber will start from pole position for the third consecutive race in the Turkish Grand Prix tomorrow. Here are the main stories from the qualifying session.
Senna outqualifies Di Grassi on raw pace
Up until now, the HRT cars of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok have qualified at the back of the grid, except when others have suffered problems. However, Senna qualified 22nd today, one place ahead of Virgin's Lucas di Grassi. HRT announced this week they were splitting from chassis builder Dallara, who had not supplied any aerodynamic updates since the beginning of the season. The fact that they have managed to close the gap to Virgin, who have been developing their cars, shows the work that Colin Kolles, Geoff Willis and the drivers have put into keeping the team competitive. Furthermore, the team looks stronger behind the scenes following the announcement of new board members joining owner Jose Ramon Carabante.
Liuzzi exits in Q1 again
Force India chose not to run reserve Paul di Resta in Turkey to allow their race drivers to develop new parts on the car. However, another poor performance by Liuzzi today puts futher pressure on the Italian. Matching teammate Adrian Sutil's pace at the end of last season was unlikely due to the testing restrictions, but that should have been the target for this season. However, it looks as though he is struggling and the door could open for di Resta before the season is out.
Williams look to be losing the development race once again
It seems that in every one of the last few seasons, Williams' season has begun in promising fashion, but then slipped behind as their rivals develop their cars. In 2010, this appears to have happened again. The team had already lost ground to Renault and Force India since the season began, but at Istanbul the team looks to be behind Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Alonso and Ferrari struggle for pace
Following Fernando Alonso's win on his Ferrari debut in Bahrain, it looked as though his rivals may struggle to keep up with him this season. However, following his practice accident in Monaco, Alonso messed up his qualifying effort today, going out in Q2 and will start tomorrow 12th. Furthermore, teammate Felipe Massa will only start 8th, on a circuit that he has won on three times in a row. All this on Ferrari's 800th GP. Once again, questions will be asked of the team by Luca di Montezemolo.
McLaren find qualifying pace
Since the start of the current McLaren era in 2007, the team has often struggled for pace in qualifying compared to their strong race speeds. Again, it looked as though this would be a problem in 2010, having not yet started on the front row. However, today Lewis Hamilton separated the two Red Bulls in second place, while Jenson Button was not too far off in fourth place. If the team can keep this up, they can challenge Red Bull for the titles.
A good track, but where are the fans?
Istanbul Park is regarded by the drivers as one of the best tracks on the calendar, and certainly the best of the Hermann Tilke-designed modern circuits. Turn 8 appears to be gaining a reputation as one of the best corners in F1. The race's contract is up after this weekend, and on the back of that praise, you'd expect it to get renewed easily. However, take a look at the grandstands in tomorrow's race and you will understand the problem - the fans, or the lack of them. This is something that must be solved if the race is to continue.
Senna outqualifies Di Grassi on raw pace
Up until now, the HRT cars of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok have qualified at the back of the grid, except when others have suffered problems. However, Senna qualified 22nd today, one place ahead of Virgin's Lucas di Grassi. HRT announced this week they were splitting from chassis builder Dallara, who had not supplied any aerodynamic updates since the beginning of the season. The fact that they have managed to close the gap to Virgin, who have been developing their cars, shows the work that Colin Kolles, Geoff Willis and the drivers have put into keeping the team competitive. Furthermore, the team looks stronger behind the scenes following the announcement of new board members joining owner Jose Ramon Carabante.
Liuzzi exits in Q1 again
Force India chose not to run reserve Paul di Resta in Turkey to allow their race drivers to develop new parts on the car. However, another poor performance by Liuzzi today puts futher pressure on the Italian. Matching teammate Adrian Sutil's pace at the end of last season was unlikely due to the testing restrictions, but that should have been the target for this season. However, it looks as though he is struggling and the door could open for di Resta before the season is out.
Williams look to be losing the development race once again
It seems that in every one of the last few seasons, Williams' season has begun in promising fashion, but then slipped behind as their rivals develop their cars. In 2010, this appears to have happened again. The team had already lost ground to Renault and Force India since the season began, but at Istanbul the team looks to be behind Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Alonso and Ferrari struggle for pace
Following Fernando Alonso's win on his Ferrari debut in Bahrain, it looked as though his rivals may struggle to keep up with him this season. However, following his practice accident in Monaco, Alonso messed up his qualifying effort today, going out in Q2 and will start tomorrow 12th. Furthermore, teammate Felipe Massa will only start 8th, on a circuit that he has won on three times in a row. All this on Ferrari's 800th GP. Once again, questions will be asked of the team by Luca di Montezemolo.
McLaren find qualifying pace
Since the start of the current McLaren era in 2007, the team has often struggled for pace in qualifying compared to their strong race speeds. Again, it looked as though this would be a problem in 2010, having not yet started on the front row. However, today Lewis Hamilton separated the two Red Bulls in second place, while Jenson Button was not too far off in fourth place. If the team can keep this up, they can challenge Red Bull for the titles.
A good track, but where are the fans?
Istanbul Park is regarded by the drivers as one of the best tracks on the calendar, and certainly the best of the Hermann Tilke-designed modern circuits. Turn 8 appears to be gaining a reputation as one of the best corners in F1. The race's contract is up after this weekend, and on the back of that praise, you'd expect it to get renewed easily. However, take a look at the grandstands in tomorrow's race and you will understand the problem - the fans, or the lack of them. This is something that must be solved if the race is to continue.
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