Let’s start with my predictions for qualifying today (assuming dry track).
- Raikkonen - Ferrari
- Alonso - McLaren
- Massa - Ferrari
- Hamilton - McLaren
- Kubica - BMW
- Fisichella - Renault
Friday’s practice gave us a few hints as to how the teams are doing. Ferrari, leading 1-2 at the end of Friday, continued their dominating pace. McLaren led the first practice in the wet, but Ferrari hinted at their performance by having both drivers at the top in the final minutes of the afternoon session. Almost like a “fuck you” to the rest of the teams. McLaren is pushing hard, and I suspect Alonso was testing race fuel loads, while Hamilton was preparing for qualifying by running lower fuel loads. It’s his first time qualifying, and he’s been nervous about it. Expect his pace to be about the same as Friday afternoon.
Renault’s in trouble. Both cars were out due to fuel problems, so it looks like their legendary reliabiliy of last year is out the window. Alonso must be smiling in the cockpit of his McLaren. I did suspect that Fisichella ran out of fuel though, which means his afternoon pace would probably be the limits of the Renault car.
In a shocking surprise, customer cars Super Aguri actually outpaced Honda on Friday. Somebody at Honda will be pissed off that their “customer” is faster than the works Honda team. Ouch.
As for drivers, Alonso was great on the wet track. Hamilton did well in both the wet and dry sessions, I’m very impressed of how balanced a driver he is, considering this is his first F1 weekend. Let’s hope for a wet race… short of a tactical error at Ferrari, I believe that’s the only way we’ll see a McLaren win.
