Nico Rosberg takes pole position ahead of Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton for tomorrow’s race as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start at on the last row of the grid.
17/09/16
Q1
Nico Rosberg sets his first time of a 1:45:316 but team-mate Lewis Hamilton beats him on 1:45:167. Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen are next of the big runners to complete a lap of a 1:44:964 and a 1:45:036. Daniel Ricciardo is next on a 1:44:255 while Sebastian Vettel is encountering problems? Yes, something is broken on Vettel’s car and he is way off the pace in sector 1 alone. Vettel can’t improve and will line-up for tomorrows race in 22nd place. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson makes it through to Q2 beating beating both Renaults, Manors and team-mate Felipe Nasr. Daniel Ricciardo is quickest ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen.
Out: Vettel – 22nd, Ocon – 21st, Wehrlein – 20th, Palmer – 19th, Nasr 18th and Magnussen – 18th.
Q2
Marcus Ericsson is the first to set a lap and its a very uncompetitive time of a 1:48:230. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are next to set their lap times on a 1:43:020 and a 1:43:471. Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen set their lap times on a 1:44:159, 1:43:933 and a 1:44:112. With 2 minutes to go, the cars head out for their final runs. 20 seconds to go and Romain Grosjean is in the wall in sector 2, the replay shows that into the braking zone, he lost the rear of the car and ended up in the barrier. With less than 10 seconds to go, Jenson Button has pulled up in the final sector having hit the wall with his left-rear tyre, causing a puncture. Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg make it through despite the late drama. Nico Rosberg is quickest ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.
Out: Ericsson – 16th, Grosjean – 15th, Gutierrez – 14th, Button – 13th, Massa – 12th and Bottas – 11th.
Q3
The start of the final qualifying session is delayed by 10 minutes as the barriers are repaired due to Grosjean’s crash. Nico Hulkenberg is the first to set a lap of a 1:44:954. Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Rosberg are next on a 1:43:741 and a 1:42:584. Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen are next to set a lap of 1:43:843, 1:43:288 and a 1:43:540. Rosberg is on provisional pole but will it remain after the second and final runs. None of the drivers are improving, the track hasn’t improved but Ricciardo improves massively in the final sector. Where will it put him? 2nd, ahead of Hamilton but behind Rosberg on pole.
Top 10: Perez – 10th, Alonso – 9th, Hulkenberg – 8th, Kvyat – 7th, Sainz – 6th, Raikkonen – 5th, Verstappen – 4th.
Top 3: Hamilton – 3rd, Ricciardo – 2nd and Rosberg – 1st.
Qualifying results
1.Rosberg 2.Ricciardo 3.Hamilton 4.Verstappen 5.Raikkonen 6.Sainz 7.Kvyat 8.Hulkenberg 9.Alonso 10.Bottas 11.Massa 12.Button 13.Gutierrez 14.Ericsson 15.Magnussen 16.Nasr 17.Perez* 18.Palmer 19.Wehrlein 20.Grosjean* 21.Ocon 22.Vettel
Perez* was given an grid penalty of 8 places after he after failed to slow down under double waved yellow flags caused by Grosjean’s crash.
Grosjean* received a 5 place grid drop after a gearbox change.
