Qualifying

[Scott]

Looks like none of us expected Vettel to do so well.  I don't think anyone got a point in Qualifying (hey everyone, don't forget to indicate the double-up in your Pole pick - some people aren't so far).  It will be interesting to see how much fuel he has on board.  Kubica a full second behind Heidfeld.  Does he still have the KERS on board?  I also read that Renault ditched the KERS.  I thought it worked pretty well for him so far - certainly made the passing more interesting.  Webber looked a bit sour in the Q-picture - I guess he hoped to beat Vettel this time.  Surprising Button is in 5th, but Brawn may have decided to fuel them heavy also, so we will see in the race.  The Swiss are pretty happy Beumi made it into final Q even though he didn't make it beyond 10th.  Note that 11th through 15th are actually faster than the pole position time - the first few runners are fueled fairly heavy.


1 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:36.184
2 F. Alonso Renault 1:36.381
3 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.466
4 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:36.493
5 J. Button Brawn GP 1:36.532
6 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.835
7 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.397
8 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:38.089
9 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:38.595
10 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.321
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:35.975
12 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.032
13 F. Massa Ferrari 1:36.033
14 T. Glock Toyota 1:36.066
15 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.193
16 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.906
17 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:36.908
18 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.966
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:36.669
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:37.672

[romephius]

I think things will spice up even more as more and more teams start putting on the 'double' diffusers.... that red bull will be a mighty strong machine if they get it right...

Rom

[John S]

With the weights now declared it is a bit easier to see how Alonso and the RBR guys did it. The most interesting for me is the big fuel load in Hamiltons car.

Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.

Pos. Driver         Car weight
 1.  Vettel          644.0kg           
 2.  Alonso          637.0kg           
 3.  Webber          646.5kg           
 4.  Barichello      661.0kg           
 5.  Button          659.0kg           
 6.  Trulli          664.5kg           
 7.  Rosberg         650.5kg           
 8.  Raikkonen       673.5kg           
 9.  Hamilton        679.0kg           
10.  Buemi           673.0kg           
11.  Heidfeld        679.0kg           
12.  Kovalainen      697.0kg           
13.  Massa           690.0kg           
14.  Glock           652.0kg           
15.  Nakajima        682.7kg           
16.  Bourdais        690.0kg           
17.  Piquet          697.9kg           
18.  Kubica          659.0kg           
19.  Sutil           648.0kg           
20.  Fisichella      679.5kg