Championship leader Nico Rosberg takes a vital pole position for the European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, as his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed out in Q3.
Rosberg glanced the wall during his own final run at the Baku city circuit, but still did enough to claim the top grid slot by nearly eight tenths of a second.
The Canadian Grand Prix winner had earlier set the fastest time of all in the first sector but went off at Turn 15.
Hamilton regrouped and tried again, matching Rosberg’s pace in the first sector, but clipped the inside wall at Turn 12 and broke the front-right suspension on his Silver Arrows.
That caused the session to be red-flagged, and eventually left Hamilton down in tenth position, without having set a proper time in Q3.
It was a messy qualifying for the defending champion, who went off during each segment.
Sergio Perez therefore finished the session second quickest for Force India, but he will start seventh thanks to having to change the gearbox following a crash at the end of final practice.
Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel set identical lap times, over four tenths down on the Force India, but Ricciardo takes the honour on the account of being first across the timing line so inherits the front row position.
“Oh come on, you’re joking!” rued Vettel, after Ferrari broke the bad news over team radio.
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa rounded out the top six, ahead of Daniil Kvyat, the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who almost collided with Bottas during their first runs in Q3.
Romain Grosjean’s Haas came within a tenth of making the top ten, but ended the session P11, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. The Force India driver spun on his first run in Q2 and was only P12 on his second attempt, complaining over team radio about a miscommunication of his run plan.
The Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr was P13, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda and Esteban Gutierrez, who went off at Turn 7 on his final flying lap.
Felipe Nasr got Sauber through to Q2 for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix, but couldn’t go any quicker in Q2 so finished up P16.
Manor-Mercedes enjoyed a competitive qualifying session, but missed out on making the Q2 cut by less than two tenths.
Rio Haryanto was fractionally faster than Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein, and both were quicker than Jenson Button’s McLaren-Honda, which wound up P19 after backing out of his final flying lap in Q1.
He ended up 0.054 seconds down on Wehrlein and cursing over team radio.
Marcus Ericsson was P20 for Sauber, despite grazing a wall on his final lap, while Renault pairing Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer brought up the rear of the grid.
Qualifying standings, Baku:
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m42.758s
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m43.966s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m43.966s
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m44.269s
5 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m44.483s
6 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.717s
7 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m43.515s*
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m45.246s
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 1m45.570s
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2m01.954s
11 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m44.755s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m44.824s
13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m45.000s
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1m45.270s
15 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1m45.349s
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m46.048s
17 Rio Haryanto Manor-Mercedes 1m45.665s
18 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1m45.750s
19 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1m45.804s
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1m46.231s
21 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m46.348s
22 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m46.394s
*Grid penalty due to a gearbox change
Qualifying story as reported by Formula1.com:
Nico Rosberg dominated qualifying for the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, with the pressure telling on Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton, who hit the wall at Turn 11 of the punishing Baku City Circuit. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo will join Rosberg on the front row of the grid, as Hamilton finished 10th.
Force India’s Sergio Perez was an impressive second fastest ahead of Ricciardo, but will receive a five-place grid penalty for his gearbox change following his FP3 crash.
Fourth place went to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (with an identical time to Ricciardo), ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen, Williams Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the top ten.
Rosberg owned Q1. His gearbox had been checked as a precaution after FP3, but all was well and he soon set the pace, beating Hamilton’s opening 1m 44.259s with 1m 44.136s, then improving that to 1m 43.685s as his team mate went down the Turn 15 escape road and then headed for the pits.
Making up for his FP3 crash, Perez was third from Ricciardo, with Kvyat a surprise fifth from Bottas and Sainz. Raikkonen and Vettel were only 11th and 13th.
The Manors missed Q2 by a fraction, as Felipe Nasr took 16th for Sauber with 1m 45.549s to Rio Haryanto’s 1m 45.665s and Pascal Wehrlein’s 1m 45.750s. The Banbury cars were joined on the eliminated list by Jenson Button’s troubled McLaren, which took the Briton down the Turn 15 escape road at one stage.
He managed 1m 45.804s before having to back off on a faster lap. Marcus Ericsson hit a wall and that left his Sauber 20th on 1m 46.231s, and Jolyon Palmer had his best qualifying run in comparison with Renault team mate Kevin Magnussen to lap in 1m 46.394s to the Dane’s 1m 46.348s. Unfortunately, that still left them on the back row.
Q2 looked super-close until Rosberg banged in a fantastic 1m 42.520s just as Hamilton was having to back off his own fast lap when Nico Hulkenberg spun his Force India in Turn 16. Team mate Perez had just gone fastest until Rosberg’s effort, as Ferrari also came into play with Vettel in third. In eighth place with five minutes to go, Hamilton was suddenly looking vulnerable, as were Ricciardo, Verstappen and Hulkenberg.
Verstappen rectified that with third place, the Dutchman pushing Hamilton to ninth, which became 10th when Romain Grosjean went ninth for Haas. The number-44 Mercedes then nosed off in Turn 7 when Hamilton locked up, and he was on the bubble, with two minutes left…
He made it – just. His lap was a second off Rosberg’s, at 1m 43.526s, but he was safe in P2. So was Ricciardo in P4 on 1m 44.141s, but that left Grosjean in the cold in 11th, missing Haas’s first Q3 by a fraction with 1m 44.755s. Hulkenberg’s spin proved costly – especially as Perez was third – leaving him 11th on 1m 44.824s. And there was a disagreement with his crew about when he should have pitted.
Sainz lost his chance to improve with a trip down the escape road in Turn 15, leaving him behind Kvyat for the first time, in 13th with 1m 45.000s. Fernando Alonso couldn’t stir his McLaren beyond 1m 45.270s, and a trip down the Turn 8 escape road left Esteban Gutierrez 15th on 1m 45.349s for Haas, as Nasr brought up the rear with 1m 46.048s.
Would Rosberg rule again in Q3?
It seemed not. Hamilton was four-tenths up on his team mate when he locked up and went off in Turn 15, and Rosberg had to back off his lap as a result, leaving Perez fastest on 1m 43.515s from Vettel on 1m 44.260s and Raikkonen on 1m 44.269s. Consternation ruled in the Silver Arrows camp as their drivers were seventh and eighth after the first runs. Red Bull were in trouble too, with Ricciardo sixth and Verstappen going off in Turn 1, then having a territorial dispute with Bottas.
It would all come down to the last attempts, and it was indeed Rosberg who came through, with 1m 42.758s. But Hamilton’s disastrous session ended when he walloped the wall in Turn 11 with his right-front wheel, also spoiling Verstappen’s best lap as the red flag was deployed with two minutes and five seconds remaining.
That left the survivors to scramble for the chance of a final fast lap, and what a scrap it was as Bottas and Verstappen immediately restarted their turf war and spoiled each other’s efforts.
Crucially, Ricciardo jumped from seventh to third with 1m 43.966s, as Vettel improved with the same time but losing out by setting it a fraction later. Raikkonen did not improve on his 1m 44.269s so dropped to fifth ahead of Massa on 1m 44. 483s, Kvyat on 1m 44,717s and Bottas on 1m 45.246s, none of whom improved either. But Verstappen did, his 1m 45.570s lifting him ahead of Hamilton, who was stuck on 2m 01.954s.
What a race is in prospect, as Rosberg seeks redemption after two poor races, Hamilton faces another fightback, and Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel and Raikkonen smell blood in the water.
The provisional grid will line up: Rosberg, Ricciardo; Vettel, Raikkonen; Massa, Kvyat; Perez, Bottas; Verstappen, Hamilton; Grosjean, Hulkenberg; Sainz, Alonso; Gutierrez, Nasr; Haryanto, Wehrlein; Button, Ericsson; Magnussen, Palmer.
Despite setting the second quickest time in qualifying. Force India’s Sergio Perez will drop down five places on the grid after a gearbox change. Formula1.com has the details.
Sergio Perez is set to lose five places on the grid for Sunday’s afternoon’s 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe after Force India changed the gearbox on his car, which was damaged in the Mexican’s FP3 accident on Saturday.
Perez crashed heavily at the end of the final practice session, having lost control of the rear end of his VJM09 at Turn 15, in a near carbon copy of what happened to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo on Friday at the new Baku City Circuit.
With his previous gearbox having not completed the six consecutive events required by the regulations, the resulting penalty means Perez is expected to drop five places on wherever he qualifies in Azerbaijan.
Perez finished sixth fastest in FP3, three places down on team mate Nico Hulkenberg.
Sergio Perez admitted he was kicking himself for the practice crash that will turn his second on the Baku Formula 1 grid into a penalised seventh place for Force India.
The team has been quick throughout the European Grand Prix weekend, and Perez was the only man able to get within a second of Nico Rosberg’s polesitting Mercedes in qualifying.
But a crash right at the end of final practice forced a gearbox change and a five-place grid penalty, meaning his front row start becomes a seventh place.
“I’m still angry from the mistake this morning but I’m very happy,” said Perez.
“It’s a mixed feeling for me.
“The lap we put together in Q3 was very strong. It was a very difficult session for me, after the crash I lost some confidence, but to get it back and get in rhythm again was great.
“On this track it is so easy to make a mistake and damage your car. It happened to me at the worst possible time in FP3.
“With the penalty I’m starting seventh – the team deserves more than this.”
Perez had been third fastest on Friday, a position team-mate Nico Hulkenberg repeated on Saturday morning.
“We were expecting to be strong but not that good,” Perez admitted.
“The car has worked very well here. We struggled to understand what is making us so competitive.
“The lap has been one of my best in such a difficult place to get 100% out of the car.”
Hulkenberg will start only 12th, ruing a spin on his first run and miscommunication over timing on his second outing in Q2.
Perez’s penalty elevates Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull onto the front row alongside Rosberg.
Source: Autosport.com
Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton blamed a rare ‘off day’ for an error-filled qualifying performance on Saturday at the Baku street circuit that hosts Azerbaijan’s first grand prix.
The Briton, winner of the two previous races in Monaco and Montreal, will start in 10th place after clipping a wall and breaking his car’s suspension while Mercedes team mate and rival Nico Rosberg took pole position.
Hamilton also ran off the track twice.
The champion is nine points adrift of the German after seven races and hoped he might be able to regain the lead in Baku but that looks a tall order now unless misfortune strikes Rosberg.
“It just wasn’t a good one,” Hamilton told reporters.
“It was nothing to do with anyone else, it was just me not doing good laps,” he added.
“I just couldn’t get into a rhythm today. It wasn’t just in qualifying, it was in practice as well. Just an off day, unfortunately. An expensive day, but an off day today.”
Hamilton had been quickest in Friday practice and on Saturday morning, but said some overnight changes had affected the car’s handling and meant he could not brake at the same places as previously.
“It was just one of those bad days,” agreed Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “He was blindingly fast in the first sector but couldn’t put the sectors together.”
Sunday’s race in Baku should see plenty of action, with the circuit’s 2km straight the longest in the sport, but there is also the risk of frequent interruptions.
“The race I’m sure is going to be very exciting,” Rosberg told reporters.
“It’s one of the easiest tracks to overtake, so there’s going to be a lot of changing places I think, probably a lot of safety cars as well, exciting re-starts and everything.”
The German side-stepped attempts to get him to comment on Hamilton’s remarks on Friday that some drivers — Rosberg included — were ‘moaning’ too much about track conditions and safety.
The Briton had also explained how he saw no point in inspecting the track on foot and questioned the value of simulators.
“Fine. It’s his opinion,” said Rosberg, who said he was unaware of the comments until after qualifying. “I was definitely one of the guys questioning today and I still do.
“Everybody has their own approach. He’s a three times world champion so he must be doing something right.”
Source: Reuters