Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
Saturday 24 August 2013
Car 1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Position: 2nd, (3rd Practice – P1, 1:48.327)
“It wasn’t clear if the first lap we did in Q3 was the lap on intermediate tyres – so it was hard to know where we were today. We went out on slicks to start, which was quite entertaining as it started to rain pretty heavily. We then went onto intermediates and it still wasn’t clear what would happen. It looked like there was more rain coming, so we all rushed to get a lap, but then it stopped and the circuit came back very quickly. The last lap tuned out to be the fastest with the circuit drying. It was difficult to know how fast you could go, I saw Lewis catching and thought I could have gone a bit quicker here and there, but in the end it was quite close across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. I’m happy today; the boys did a good job with the change from slicks to intermediates which got us an extra lap and it was a good day for the team.”
“It wasn’t clear if the first lap we did in Q3 was the lap on intermediate tyres – so it was hard to know where we were today. We went out on slicks to start, which was quite entertaining as it started to rain pretty heavily. We then went onto intermediates and it still wasn’t clear what would happen. It looked like there was more rain coming, so we all rushed to get a lap, but then it stopped and the circuit came back very quickly. The last lap tuned out to be the fastest with the circuit drying. It was difficult to know how fast you could go, I saw Lewis catching and thought I could have gone a bit quicker here and there, but in the end it was quite close across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. I’m happy today; the boys did a good job with the change from slicks to intermediates which got us an extra lap and it was a good day for the team.”
Car 2 MARK WEBBER, Position: 3rd, (3rd Practice – P3, 1:48.533)
“It was a difficult session to make all the right calls, but in the end I think we got most things right. I think it’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, but in the end we did most things pretty good I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS going on and off in the session, but it’s the same for everyone. It was a ballsy thing to go slower on the second to last lap to save the tyres, when you’re still not sure if the track will improve for the last lap, but in the end it worked out and I’m happy to be up there for tomorrow’s race.“
“It was a difficult session to make all the right calls, but in the end I think we got most things right. I think it’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, but in the end we did most things pretty good I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS going on and off in the session, but it’s the same for everyone. It was a ballsy thing to go slower on the second to last lap to save the tyres, when you’re still not sure if the track will improve for the last lap, but in the end it worked out and I’m happy to be up there for tomorrow’s race.“
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “A really tense and exciting qualifying through all three sessions where the weather played its inevitable part. The boys did a tremendous job on the final turnaround in Q3 to get both cars back out on track so quickly, which enabled Mark and Sebastian to get three timed laps each; their last laps were enough to put them second and third on the grid. So, despite the opportunity to get everything wrong today, we managed to get most of it right. It’s good to be starting second and third for tomorrow’s race, which will no doubt see the weather play a part.”
(Renault) THIERRY SALVI: “I’m sure everyone will say it, but we almost won the lottery, we just came up one number short! But a great effort from the team to finish P2 and P3, putting us in a perfect position for the race. We already know the power and the speed is there in the dry, so tomorrow it will be a case of staying on top of the fuel numbers, maps and tyres to take every opportunity.”
The Best of Belgium
As we mentioned yesterday, Spa has provided plenty of great racing moments and as such we asked our Facebook followers to nominate their top Belgian GP moments. And the overwhelming favourite?
1. Mark’s overtake of Fernando Alonso at Eau Rouge in 2011.
Nathan Wong called it “a huge move”, while Anne Shaw said it “still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up” and Brian Montford said it was “just ballsy, in true Aussie style”. To add to the eulogising, Adrian Ruzsicska who said “I couldn’t help but pause for breath even when watching a replay” and Tarish Bhatt thought it was so good he filled his top two places with the move.
Nathan Wong called it “a huge move”, while Anne Shaw said it “still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up” and Brian Montford said it was “just ballsy, in true Aussie style”. To add to the eulogising, Adrian Ruzsicska who said “I couldn’t help but pause for breath even when watching a replay” and Tarish Bhatt thought it was so good he filled his top two places with the move.
After that the most popular were: Ricardo Zonta being the filling in a Mika Hakkinen/Michael Schumacher overtaking sandwich in 2000 and the Top 3 was rounded out by the moment in 1992 when Eric Comas crashed heavily in practice and Ayrton Senna parked at the side of the track and went to the Frenchman’s aid.
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