After a bad races for McLaren Mercedes in Montreal and Magny-Cours, it is safe to say that they are back. Recently joined driver Heikki Kovalainen grabbed his first ever pole position while British hero Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in a week where he had to do something a little more special due to bad press. The man from Finland looked quicker than anybody all weekend in both practise and qualifying as he knows the track so well from his driving apprenticeship. He was actually half a second quicker than second-place Mark Webber who was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the weekend so far.
The other surprises included the lack of pace shown my Felipe Massa who will start tomorrows race in 9th place. Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen looked off the pace too until Q3 where he held provisional pole (for about 3 seconds) and will start P3 in front of Hamilton.
Robert Kubica was also relatively slow starting P10. BMW surely look like they’re waiting for next year to really step up their game however further development will be needed for this year although Nick Heidfeld finished in 5th place.
Q1 saw an early departure for Jensen Button, who looks very slow in the Honda. They really need to get some further investment to develop their car or Button may be on his way out. Nico Rosberg who was literally fighting with his car to keep it going in a straight line. His suspension problems really look to be hurting his season. Maybe he should have moved to McLaren when he had the chance.
David Coulthard will be slightly disappointed at coming out in Q2, only 6 hundreds of a second off the pace. He would have loved to be in the top ten for his last British GP. It’s hard to see why his car is so much slower than the sister car that Mark Webber drives but his invaluable experience will be missed by Williams. It will be very interesting to see his replacement, whether it is Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel (who also looked quick finishing in P8).
The race will be both exciting and eventful as no one knows what will happen especially after recent weeks. As usual, car setup, fuel load, strategy and the weather will play pivotal roles.
For the starting grid and qualifying times click here.
