Brazil: pre-qualifying
Been having some
monitor issues, so if the pre-race or post-race pieces do not emerge,
that’s why. Unless I’ve keeled over, obviously.
In foot-shooting news,
Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of Red Bull and Toro Rosso and chap
desperate for a competitive engine, has taken the not necessarily
clever step of insulting every manufacturer. It seems entirely
possible both teams could just leave next year. It’s his own damned
fault for burning bridges with Renault and not having another engine
lined up, but it’ll be a great shame for the many hundreds of
people who work for the two teams if they lose their jobs because
Mateschitz is a spoilt brat.
Saw neither of the
first two practices sessions (I tend to watch online, and,
consequently, forgot).
Tyres are soft and
medium.
Anyway, Hamilton was
fastest by half a second in P1, leading his team mate, followed by
Vettel, Ricciardo and Raikkonen. Kvyat was next, then Bottas,
Verstappen, Hulkenberg and Maldonado.
In the second session,
Rosberg was half a second up on Hamilton, Vettel again best of the
rest and followed by Raikkonen and Ricciardo. Bottas, Grosjean,
Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Massa rounded out the top 10.
In P3 Hamilton was a
tenth up on Rosberg, with Vettel seven-tenths off the top time. The
German was followed by his Finnish team mate, with Bottas,
Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Perez, Maldonado and Verstappen rounding out
the top 10.
Bottas has a three
place grid penalty for a practice infringement. Ricciardo has a 10
place grid penalty for taking a new engine. During P3, Horner
suggested either a 2 or a 3 stop strategy could work. Maybe room for
Perez to benefit, as he’s a good racer but also kind to his tyres.
Also worth noting that overtaking is eminently possible.
There’s a small
chance of rain during qualifying. Ricciardo’s penalty and the
nature of the circuit should mean he sets up the car for the race to
enable overtaking, which may compromise absolute pace.
Early betting thoughts
I had were:
Grosjean to reach Q3
The odds on Grosjean
were just 1.33, which is nowhere near enough.
So, no tip, though I
have a few ideas for the race.
The pre-race piece may
be up tomorrow rather than this evening.
Morris Dancer
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