No wonder Nico Rosberg exclaimed 'damn it!' over the radio. Fierce rival Lewis Hamilton had just pipped him to pole position by the tiniest of margins - seven thousands of a second to be precise - in one of the closest qualifying sessions in recent memory.
It was not just the Mercedes pair - who set up an enthralling race, starting on the front row - separated by fractions of a second.
The consistently excellent Daniel Ricciardo was just a couple of tenths behind, slightly faster than his more illustrious team-mate, Sebastian Vettel. The Australian will be waiting to pounce, with his outside shot of championship glory in his first year with Red Bull very much alive.
Fresh from the departure of the chairman Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari threatened for much of the qualifying hour, only to fade at the death.
But then I'm not going reward your laziness. Click here for the whole thing.
10.22 Morning folks. We sail tonight for Singapore, don't fall asleep while you're ashore. Not that you're likely to take off to the land of nod during this particular race: Singapore is fast, it's bendy and for those who don't even like Formula 1, the scenery is glitzy and spectacular. There are few sights in the world quite like Singapore at night and the race around the Marina Bay street circuit under lights means that -- and don't shoot me for this -- Monaco has been eclipsed as the easiest GP on the eyes.
There's a burning question in Formula 1 and it's one that we may well uncover the answer to tonight: does Nico Rosberg have the nerve for this? Normally so cool in front of the journalists that he makes Prince look like George Costanza, Rosberg seemed twitchy after defeat to his rival Hamilton in Italy. There was the massive conspiracy between McLaren and the Illuminati error in that race that allowed Hamilton to take the win and close the gap in the title chase. There was the exasperation in his Jack Bauer-esque 'Damn it!' when he discovered thatHamilton was on pole. Singapore is low on straights, instead it's corner after corner after corner after corner after... well, you get the idea. It's tight and claustrophobic out there and that may well suit Hamilton, who will be confident of shrinking that 22-point gap.
We sail tonight for Singapore, take your blankets from the floor, wash your mouth out by the door, the whole town's made from iron ore. Heave away boys, heave away.
No comments:
Post a Comment