Rubens takes his first victory for 5 years as McLaren falter as Raikkonen shines with another podium position.

Report to follow…

Race Results
01 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:35:51.289
02 L. Hamilton McLaren + 2.358
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 15.994
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 20.032
05 N. Rosberg Williams + 20.870
06 F. Alonso Renault + 27.744
07 J. Button Brawn GP + 34.913
08 R. Kubica BMW + 36.667
09 M. Webber Red Bull + 44.910
10 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 47.935
11 N. Heidfeld BMW + 48.822
12 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 1:03.614
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 1:04.527
14 T. Glock Toyota + 1:26.519
15 R. Grosjean Renault + 1:31.774
16 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 lap(s)
17 L. Badoer Ferrari + 1 lap(s)
Did not finish
18 K. Nakajima Williams + 3 lap(s)
19 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 16 lap(s)
20 S. Vettel Red Bull + 34 lap(s)

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Kimi Raikkonen - 3rd: ”I am happy about this result. Already on Friday we saw that the car was pretty competitive over a distance and we therefore thought we could fight for a podium finish. We were also aware that, in qualifying, we might have struggled, especially on light fuel. Both these predictions proved correct and today we were once again able to get on the podium. I managed to make up a few places at the start and my first aim was to pull out a bit of a gap over Rosberg, who was going to stop after me. In the second part of the race, I realized that I could close on Kovalainen and try and make the most of the run of pit stops to get ahead of him and I managed it. Now we go to Spa, a track that I like a lot: we must wait for Friday to see how competitive we can be. At this point in the season, if we manage to get everything right, then we can aim for the podium and if anything was to happen to those ahead of us, we can try and do even better. We must do all we can to hang on to third place in the Constructors’ Championship.”

Luca Badoer - 18th: ”I said when I arrived in Valencia that this Grand Prix would be a time for me to dust the rust off my back and get confident in the role of race driver again. It was important for me to complete so many kilometres without making any serious mistakes and I managed that. From the physical point of view, I feel fine and that is another cause for satisfaction. I got a good start, making up a few places but then I was hit by Grosjean and that dropped me back down again. I tried to run my own race, but it was not easy to maintain a consistent pace, especially when I had to let the leaders by. At the first pit stop, I made a mistake which cost me one place and then I was just a whisker over the white line and so I picked up a drive-through penalty. Now I am looking forward to Spa with confidence: it’s a track I know and I will also be able to count on the experience gained this weekend. Thanks to the whole team, who did everything they could to make me feel comfortable, without putting me under any pressure and to Michael, who was a great support throughout the weekend.”

Stefano Domenicali: ”Today we did the maximum with Kimi, who drove an amazing race to make it to the podium once again. He was very competitive throughout the race, pushing at the decisive moments, at the start and then when the opportunity arose to get ahead of Kovalainen. Luca managed to finish the race, thus completing this learning weekend, which served as an introduction course prior to tackling the Belgian weekend in the best way possible, next weekend. Clearly, considering our choices and those of other teams in terms of developing this year’s car, our aim of maintaining third place in the Constructors’ classification is becoming harder. For our part, we will give it our best shot, knowing that in some races we can expect to be more competitive than in others and we will have to be ready to exploit every opportunity that arises.”

Chris Dyer: ”We are pleased with Kimi’s third place, which represents the most we could aspire to today. Driver, team, car: all these elements came together in the best possible way and the result confirms it. As for Luca, it was another difficult day in an equally difficult weekend. However, it should be stressed how much he improved, continuously day by day, lap after lap. We are confident that he will find himself in much better shape next weekend in Belgium.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: ”Congratulations to Rubens on taking the 150th win on Bridgestone Potenza F1 tyres. We are very proud to have supported so many drivers in their Formula One World Championship victories over the past 13 seasons but it is apt that Rubens, who has been on Bridgestone tyres for all but a season since we entered in 1997, should take this special victory. When Bridgestone started as a tyre supplier to Formula One it was on slick tyres. Since then, there have been several evolutions in tyre technologies and specifications but throughout we have received the fantastic support of the teams, FIA and FOM. We have also seen tremendous growth in the brand awareness of our company around the globe and much of this can be attributed to our F1 related activities. We would like to thank all involved in F1 for their support. We are now in the second of a three year Official Tyre Supplier tenure and look forward to seeing many more exciting battles on our tyres.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: ”I am very happy to see Rubens win. He first used our F1 tyres in 1997 so it is fantastic that he still has the competitive spirit to win in this highly competitive sport. We are pleased with the performance of both the soft and the super soft Bridgestone Potenzas today. The circuit improved very rapidly, as expected, and as a result drivers could be competitive using the super soft over a stint at the start. The soft was the more consistent tyre however, and we even saw one-stop strategies. Regarding Kazuki Nakajima’s tyre, we believe it was a puncture and we are investigating this with the team.”

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Today’s Qualifying Times

01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:39.498
02 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:39.532
03 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:39.563
04 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:39.789
05 J. Button Brawn GP 1:39.821
06 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.144
07 N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.185
08 F. Alonso Renault 1:40.236
09 M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.239
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:40.512
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:38.826
12 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:38.846
13 T. Glock Toyota 1:38.991
14 R. Grosjean Renault 1:39.040
15 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.514
16 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:39.531
17 K. Nakajima Williams 1:39.795
18 J. Trulli Toyota 1:39.807
19 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.925
20 L. Badoer Ferrari 1:41.413

Post Qualifying Car Weights

Below is the weight of each car (with their fuel load included) following qualifying for the European Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.

Pos  Driver                             Weight (kg)

 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes        653.0

 2.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes        655.0

 3.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes          662.5

 4.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault        654.0

 5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes          661.5

 6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari                 661.5

 7.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota         665.0

 8.  Alonso       Renault                 656.5

 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault        664.5

10.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber              657.5

11.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber              677.0

12.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes    672.5

13.  Glock        Toyota                  694.7

14.  Grosjean     Renault                 677.7

15.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari      688.5

16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes    692.5

17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota         702.0

18.  Trulli       Toyota                  707.3

19.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      678.5

20.  Badoer       Ferrari                 690.5

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running?

“Today we saw a further improvement from the track, even though we did lose almost half an hour of running in the morning practice session. There was a good improvement in tyre performance from both tyres related to the track improvement so we have good confidence for tomorrow. To see a KERS car on pole makes things interesting, as it is difficult to imagine a non-KERS car getting ahead at the start.”

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s race?

“The super soft tyre is around 0.3-0.4 seconds faster than the soft tyre, however it is more susceptible to the lateral graining that we see here. The track improvement today however means that the super soft looks better than it did yesterday for its race duties, so actual strategy choices tomorrow will be interesting. To assist us with data we will analyse the strategies in today’s GP2 Series race too. Looking at today’s skies, I do not think we will have need of Bridgestone’s intermediate and wet tyres for the race.

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Luca Badoer - 20th: ”Obviously, I’m a bit disappointed as it’s never nice to be last in any situation, but I always knew it would be tough. As I’ve said before, this weekend is a sort of test for me and the team and that is how we are tackling it. However, I do feel the situation is better than yesterday as the more laps I do, the more confidence I gain and the better it gets. Tomorrow it will be important to finish the race and that will be my target. I feel good physically and I have no problems on that score. For sure, if I’d had two days testing under my belt, it would have been a different story.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 6th: ”Honestly, this was one of the best qualifying sessions of the season, even if we are not as quick as those on the front row. Our final result will depend basically on how the start goes. It will be very important to make up a few places, because if we end up behind a slower car, then the race is compromised. I think we are reasonably competitive in race trim, as could be seen in Q3, while we are struggling a bit on light tanks. So far, it’s been a good weekend and I am happy with the performance of the F60.”

Stefano Domenicali: ”Sixth place for Kimi Raikkonen can be judged as a positive result, because it probably reflects our current potential, while Luca’s last place was widely predicted: returning to racing after so much time, furthermore on a track not known to him and one that is difficult to get to grips with, is a daunting task for him. Tomorrow, our race will be divided in two: on one side we will be aiming for a positive result to defend our third place in the Constructors’ classification, which should be within our ability, while with Luca we will try and finish the race, to obtain sufficient experience to tackle the forthcoming rounds in a different fashion.”

Chris Dyer: ”Qualifying had two sides to it for us. It was a very difficult day for Luca, who continued the process of learning about the car and the track. Lap after lap his confidence increased, but it was not enough to get him off the last place on the grid. The situation was definitely not helped by the red flag in FP3 which cost him valuable time. On the other hand, Kimi performed well, especially in Q3, where he did a great lap. Starting from sixth on the grid is a solid base from which to have a good race tomorrow.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development:

Today was all about track improvement. The surface started very dirty, as we would expect so we heard the usual comments about lack of grip. We saw quite a bit of rear lateral graining which comes from the traction and braking demands on this circuit. We also saw some front lateral graining on some cars too. This is unusual, but comes from the heavy braking on the initially dirty surface.”

“We would expect the super soft to be the superior tyre for lap time, but the soft to be the superior tyre for consistency and therefore the favoured race tyre. The amount of circuit improvement over the weekend will be the key to the race. As the circuit improves, so car balance will change. The team that predicts the track improvement correctly for the race will be best placed to refine their car setup to suit. Even though it was very hot here, the track layout does not put as much force through the tyres as at other circuits so we do not predict problems with tyres overheating.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Luca Badoer - 18th: I am happy with the way things went today. I expected a difficult day and so it was. It was vital that I did not make any serious mistakes so that I could get through the programme we had established. Now we can begin to work on the car set-up to try and adapt it to my driving style. The team has not set me any specific goal for this weekend and I am pleased about that consideration because it is important I return to having full confidence in the car and with the world of the grand prix weekend. I am also grateful to Michael who wanted to be here this weekend. It is important for me to be able to count on his support, especially from the human point of view and of course, also in terms of technical matters.

Kimi Raikkonen - 11th: It was a positive day. I am happy with the handling of the car and the performance of both types of tyre we have here from Bridgestone. There’s no point in looking at the time sheet, because as usual on a Friday, it doesn’t tell us much. The first session was rather difficult as the track was very dirty and slippery, but in the second one the situation was much better. I think a podium finish is still a realistic target for us, even if a lot will depend on where we qualify.

Stefano Domenicali - team principal: My first thoughts today are with Felipe and once again, on behalf of the entire team I want to wish him a speedy recovery. From today, his seat in car #3 is occupied by Luca Badoer, who faces a difficult task, but he can count on the support of everyone in the knowledge that Ferrari has every confidence in him. Given his situation - a long time away from racing, an unknown circuit - the first day can be considered a positive experience for Luca. Clearly this weekend is something of a test session for him and that is how it must be judged. At this grand prix, it falls to Kimi more than usual to bring home a useful result to defend our third place in the constructors’ classification which, at this point of the season remains our realistic target.

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Fernando Alonso gave his supporters what they came to see by topping today’s final practice session during the closing stages. He almost went quicker on the next lap but spun during the final sector.

This wasn’t the only excitement for the Spainard today, who had an incident with Heldfeld, taking off his own front wing and putting the German out of the remainder of the session. Nick’s time radio said it all but we aren’t sure if he was labeling Alonso or just his move “plain stupid”!

Not a great first day results wise for Kimi or Ferrari with Raikkonen in 11th and Luca Badoer finishing 18th overall. Raikkonen seemed to be putting in a lot of long runs which means he must have been focusing on race pace but sadly his long stint on the super softs had to end early due to bad graining. Lets hope this afternoon’s press release brings some positives from today.

Brawn seemed to have the advantage over the Red Bull’s in the title battle, with Vettel finishing 9th and Webber having a fairly quiet day ending up 14th, in comparison to Button’s 2nd and Barrichello’s 3rd overall. The hotter temperatures must be helping the Brawns’ with their tyre management. Again we’ll just have to wait to hear from the drivers and see how things shape up for the rest of the weekend.

The only other notable incident from today’s action was Lewis Hamilton putting himself out of FP2 with a spin. He was taking his turn with the new nose cone (which McLaren only have one of this weekend) and lost the back end. This spin and light touch with the barrier, caused some front end damage to the ‘hanger’ which is used to connect the nose to the car. So with the new revised nose luckily unharmed but the hanger damaged, Lewis had to sit out today’s final session after only 3 laps as it wasn’t fixable in time for him to take part in FP2.

All in all it looks like it will be an exciting qualifying session tomorrow, even if the race proves to be boring like last years well hyped event!

Jemela Coventry

Free Practice One

Pos Driver        Team                      Time             Laps

 1. Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:42.460           19

 2. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:42.636  +0.176   16

 3. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:42.654  +0.194   18

 4. Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:43.074  +0.614   19

 5. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:43.088  +0.628   17

 6. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:43.209  +0.749   13

 7. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:43.225  +0.765   25

 8. Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:43.243  +0.783   19

 9. Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:43.345  +0.885   18

10. Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:43.384  +0.924   23

11. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:43.389  +0.929   30

12. Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:43.419  +0.959   20

13. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:43.637  +1.177   30

14. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:43.746  +1.286   22

15. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:44.040  +1.580   23

16. Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:44.126  +1.666   17

17. Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:44.356  +1.896   23

18. Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:44.638  +2.178   26

19. Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:44.732  +2.272   28

20. Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:45.840  +3.380   25

All timing unofficial

Free Practice Two

Pos Driver        Team                      Time             Laps

 1. Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:39.404           33

 2. Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.178  +0.774   33

 3. Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.209  +0.805   34

 4. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:40.385  +0.981   39

 5. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:40.503  +1.099   35

 6. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:40.596  +1.192   23

 7. Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:40.643  +1.239   34

 8. Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:40.681  +1.277   31

 9. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:40.723  +1.319   33

10. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:40.738  +1.334   31

11. Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:40.739  +1.335   39

12. Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:40.770  +1.366   32

13. Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:40.787  +1.383   35

14. Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:40.956  +1.552   37

15. Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:40.985  +1.581   30

16. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:41.156  +1.752   34

17. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.350  +1.946   29

18. Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:42.017  +2.613   37

19. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:42.089  +2.685   34

20. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:43.214  +3.810    3

All timing unofficial

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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