Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Williams FW36. Formula One World Championship, Rd18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, 8 November 2014
Sunday could, however, see a close race as the Silver Arrows’ aerodynamic advantages over Williams are less effective on a short, smooth track like Interlagos. Much could also depend on the unpredictability of the weather, with drizzle expected at times tomorrow afternoon. We take a team-by-team look at Saturday in Sao Paulo…
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 1m 10.023s, P1
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 10.056s, P2
Rosberg had a slight edge on Hamilton in every practice session and every qualifying session, but in the end the gap between them narrowed to only 0.033s. Now the German has to turn a 10th pole position into victory for only the third time this season, in order to keep himself firmly in championship play. Hamilton can afford to finish second to him here and in Abu Dhabi, but being a racer naturally wants to take win number 11.
Williams
Felipe Massa, 1m 10.247s, P3
Valtteri Bottas, 1m 10.305s, P4
Massa was the hero on his home track and seemed to have Bottas covered all day. The FW36 looked good all through practice and qualifying, though both drivers said they encountered traffic on their second runs which prevented them from making the small improvements that rivals achieved.
McLaren
Jenson Button, 1m 10.930s, P5
Kevin Magnussen, 1m 10.969s, P7
After solving their problem yesterday with poor balance and woeful straight-line speed, McLaren looked much stronger. Button went well all through practice and qualifying, and ended up a solid fifth on the grid. Magnussen couldn’t match him this time, but was not far away in seventh. Neither feels he will be able to stay with the four cars ahead of Button, but they expect to be ab le to fight to stay ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 10.938s, P6
Daniel Ricciardo, 1m 11.075s, P9
Vettel’s performance crossed over with Ricciardo’s this afternoon. As the Australian struggled, and admitted he was surprised to make Q3 after losing some performance compared to practice, the German thought his car was getting better as he qualified a useful sixth. It remains to be seen whether the Red Bulls will again have superior race performance to Williams.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 1m 10.977s, P8
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 11.099s, P10
Alonso and Raikkonen were both resigned to the shortcomings of the F14 T package. The Spaniard says he expects that tyre management will be crucial tomorrow, and expects plenty of graining, while the Finn said he was disappointed to be only 10th since he had the front end of his car working much more to his liking and looked like his old self.
Sauber
Esteban Gutierrez, 1m 11.591s, P11
Adrian Sutil, 1m 12.099s, P13
Gutierrez was in Q3 until Ricciardo’s late improvement, and believes he can fight for Sauber’s first points of the season. Sutil was slower after a grassy off at Juncao early in Q2, but struggled with his car’s handling.
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg, 1m 11.976s, P12
Sergio Perez, 1m 12.076s, P17, will start P18
Both drivers concluded that the VJM07 just wasn’t in tune with the track, and struggled for performance. Hulkenberg reckoned 12th was the best they could have expected; Perez rued lack of track time yesterday and his seven-place grid penalty for reckless driving in Austin.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean, 1m 12.037s, P15
Pastor Maldonado, 1m 12.233s, P18, will start P16
Lotus were disappointed after showing strong form at times in practice. Grosjean said overnight work had improved the behaviour of his E22, while Maldonado said he still felt they can fight for points despite low starting positions.
Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat, No Q2 time, P14, will start P17
Jean-Eric Vergne, 1m 12.040s, P16
Toro Rosso had a lousy time, after all the promise they’d been showing in practice. Vergne admitted that due to shortage of track time on Friday he never really got his STR9 working the way that he wanted to and failed to get through to Q2. Kvyat did, but with a seven-place grid penalty hanging over him from Austin the team decided there was no point in him running in Q2 so he was classified 14th, and will start 17th.