Turkish Grand Prix 2011: 2nd Qualifying session – Formula One highlights (Part 2)
The Ferrari machines were finally on track after waiting in the wings as Red Bull, McLaren Mercedes and Mercedes GP battled it out amongst themselves for the top 6 positions.
Fernando Alonso opted for the soft tyres understandably. Seeing that the scarlet car opted to come out relatively late, the softer Pirellis ensured a quick time after a series of corners as it takes less time to get to race temperature. After his first flying lap, the Spaniard crossed the start finish line with the 4th fastest time – An encouraging start.
Sergio Perez in the Sauber went 8th fastest after a neat lap. The Mexican has been growing in confidence since the start of this season and seems to get better with the next race – A prospect for the future, no doubt.
Nick Heidfeld has arguably been a revelation for Renault since the horrific accident to Robert Kubica. The young German driver was the official tester of the Pirelli tyre last season and looks to make full use of the exposure. However, this time round, he could only manage 15th fastest.
Moments later, Jaime Alguersuari ran 14th fastest in his Toro Rosso – Definitely room for improvement as the car handled reasonably well during free practice.
Michael Schumacher looked to be in hot water yet again during Q2. The seven time world champion effectively led the relegation zone – Was it going to be another fruitless struggle for the German driver? His teammate Nico Rosberg looked comfortable to clear the second hurdle; if not challenge the might of the top runners.
After an unsuccessful stint, the Renault team opted to call in Nick Heidfeld for a fresh set of rubber. The young German was classified 16th then. Jaime Alguersuari joined him soon after as Toro Rosso looked to mimic the French constructor’s strategy.
Vitaly Petrov was effectively the only man on track as the rest of the field dived into the pits for new tyres. The Russian driver was running on the soft compound Pirellis and looked to make full use of the empty track – The competition was so intense that even a lap time in the 1 minute 26 second range seemed to be a temporary advantage. The top 10 cars were all capable enough to finish a lap in that time. Stay tuned for an exciting 5 minutes ahead.
To be continued in part 3...
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