Abu Dhabi: pre-qualifying
Got the feeling this
might be the last race broadcast on the BBC, perhaps on free-to-air
TV. We shall see.
Important off-track
rumours swirl. Aston Martin may end up taking over Force India. The
team has punched above its weight for a while now, and has a very
solid driver line-up, so I wish it well.
Still no official
confirmation, but it seems Red Bull, for all its owner’s bitching,
will have a Renault engine next year.
However, the
Lotus-Renault deal, which is meant to be all but done, may have hit a
late snag. Not surprisingly, Ecclestone and money are involved
(because Renault would be rejoining the sport as a constructor, some
manner of deal was done with Ecclestone and apparently it’s fallen
through).
The sport really does
need to get a grip on finance and spread the wealth more fairly.
Next year Haas will
have the 2016 Ferrari engine, whereas Toro Rosso are likely to have
the 2015 version (from around Texas-time). Worth considering when
looking at the next season.
The tyres for this
weekend are soft and supersoft (incidentally, next year an ultrasoft
will be available. Why we have three varieties of soft rather than a
supersoft and superhard is beyond me. Perhaps ‘superhard’ was
deemed a bit too racy).
In P1 Hamilton was a
tenth ahead of Rosberg, with Raikkonen well over half a second down
the road in third. Kvyat, Vettel and Hulkenberg had less than a tenth
between them, with Ricciardo, Perez, Maldonado and Massa rounding out
the top 10.
In P2 Rosberg was a
tenth ahead of Hamilton, with Perez half a second down the road.
Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Maldonado
were the rest of the top 10, all quite close together.
At this stage it seems
Force India may be in for a decent weekend.
In P3, Rosberg was
three-tenths up on Hamilton, but that was because the Briton cocked
up his earliest supersoft laps and I don’t believe that’s a
representative gap. Vettel, just over three-tenths behind Rosberg,
was next, with Perez impressive in 4th, ahead of Raikkonen
and Ricciardo (and half a second up on Hulkenberg). Massa and Bottas
were next with Sainz ending the top 10 (incidentally, Button got up
to 11th, which is a bit unexpected given the long straight
the circuit has, which puts a premium on engine power).
Kvyat was unable to run
a lap in P3 because of electrical issues with his car. Interesting
Williams were behind Force India.
Early betting ideas:
Perez Q3
Lay Bottas Q3
Rosberg pole
A meagre 1.21 was
available for Perez to reach Q3. Bottas was layable at 1.5, but only
for a very small amount.
I’m surprised Rosberg
is odds against for pole. It’s very tight between him and Hamilton,
but 2.22 for the chap who has the last five consecutive pole
positions is a bit unusual. That said, he and Hamilton are evenly
matched and the odds aren’t long enough to tempt.
So, no bet in
qualifying.
I’ll probably put the
pre-race piece up this evening.
Morris Dancer
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