Massa beats Alonso for first time in almost a year

2011 Hungarian GP qualifying analysis

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Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Hungaroring, 2011

Fernando Alonso will start a race behind his team mate for the first time since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver looked strong in the first two parts of qualifying, but slipped to fifth in Q3.

Here’s all the data from qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Qualifying times in full

  • Having been fastest in the first two parts of qualifying, Fernando Alonso slumped to fifth in Q3. He wasn’t able to match his time from Q2, despite the track conditions improving.
  • Sauber preferred to save a set of tyres for Sergio Perez instead of sending him out for a lap that probably would not have advanced him far beyond tenth on the grid. It also gives him a free choice of tyres for the start of the race.
  • Similarly Sebastien Buemi did not do a lap on super-softs in Q1 as he was already carrying a five-place penalty from the last race.
DriverCarQ1

Q2 (vs Q1)

Q3 (vs Q2)
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull1’21.7401’21.095 (-0.645)1’19.815 (-1.280)
2Lewis HamiltonMcLaren1’21.6361’21.105 (-0.531)1’19.978 (-1.127)
3Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’22.0381’20.578 (-1.460)1’20.024 (-0.554)
4Felipe MassaFerrari1’22.1301’21.099 (-1.031)1’20.350 (-0.749)
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’21.5781’20.262 (-1.316)1’20.365 (+0.103)
6Mark WebberRed Bull1’22.2081’20.890 (-1.318)1’20.474 (-0.416)
7Nico RosbergMercedes1’22.9961’21.243 (-1.753)1’21.098 (-0.145)
8Adrian SutilForce India1’22.2371’22.000 (-0.237)1’21.445 (-0.555)
9Michael SchumacherMercedes1’22.8761’21.852 (-1.024)1’21.907 (+0.055)
10Sergio PerezSauber1’23.0671’22.157 (-0.910)
11Paul di RestaForce India1’22.9761’22.256 (-0.720)
12Vitaly PetrovRenault1’23.0701’22.284 (-0.786)
13Kamui KobayashiSauber1’23.2781’22.435 (-0.843)
14Nick HeidfeldRenault1’23.0241’22.470 (-0.554)
15Rubens BarrichelloWilliams1’23.0751’22.684 (-0.391)
16Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso1’23.2851’22.979 (-0.306)
17Pastor MaldonadoWilliams1’23.847
18Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso1’24.070
19Heikki KovalainenLotus1’24.362
20Jarno TrulliLotus1’24.534
21Timo GlockVirgin1’26.294
22Vitantonio LiuzziHRT1’26.323
23Daniel RicciardoHRT1’26.479
24Jerome D’AmbrosioVirgin1’26.510

Team mate comparisons

Compare the best times of each team’s drivers in the last part of qualifying in which they both set a time.

  • Before this race, Alonso had out-qualified Massa for the last 16 races in a row – a streak going back to last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
  • This was the closest gap between two team mates – Massa ahead by just 15 thousandths of a second.
  • Despite being out-qualified by his team mate for the tenth time in 11 races, Jarno Trulli is still happy with his revised car: “The new power steering system has transformed the car for me and I’m so much happier now – it’s really like night and day.”
TeamDriverLap timeGapLap timeDriverRound
Red BullSebastian Vettel1’19.815-0.6591’20.474Mark WebberQ3
McLarenLewis Hamilton1’19.978-0.0461’20.024Jenson ButtonQ3
FerrariFernando Alonso1’20.365+0.0151’20.350Felipe MassaQ3
MercedesMichael Schumacher1’21.907+0.8091’21.098Nico RosbergQ3
RenaultNick Heidfeld1’22.470+0.1861’22.284Vitaly PetrovQ2
WilliamsRubens Barrichello1’23.075-0.7721’23.847Pastor MaldonadoQ1
Force IndiaAdrian Sutil1’22.000-0.2561’22.256Paul di RestaQ2
SauberKamui Kobayashi1’22.435+0.2781’22.157Sergio PerezQ2
Toro RossoSebastien Buemi1’24.070+0.7851’23.285Jaime AlguersuariQ1
LotusHeikki Kovalainen1’24.362-0.1721’24.534Jarno TrulliQ1
HRTDaniel Ricciardo1’26.479+0.1561’26.323Vitantonio LiuzziQ1
VirginTimo Glock1’26.294-0.2161’26.510Jerome D’AmbrosioQ1

Sector times

Here are the drivers’ best times in each sector.

  • Webber was surprised by his gap to Vettel in qualifying. Much of it came in the first sector, where Webber was almost half a second slower, and was even behind Nick Heidfeld’s time from Q2.
  • The temperature fell then rose during the session, whcih caught out some drivers including Vitaly Petrov: “The difficulty we had was warming up the tyres because the weather was so changeable. I also encountered quite a lot of understeer, especially in turn nine, which cost me two-tenths and practically put an end to my chance of getting in Q3.”
DriverSector 1Sector 2Sector 3
Sebastian Vettel28.481 (3)28.629 (1)22.550 (3)
Lewis Hamilton28.451 (2)28.780 (3)22.448 (1)
Jenson Button28.492 (4)28.939 (4)22.524 (2)
Felipe Massa28.413 (1)28.940 (5)22.898 (6)
Fernando Alonso28.541 (5)28.740 (2)22.767 (5)
Mark Webber28.940 (10)28.964 (6)22.563 (4)
Nico Rosberg28.543 (6)29.358 (7)23.063 (7)
Adrian Sutil28.788 (7)29.488 (8)23.169 (9)
Michael Schumacher28.869 (8)29.767 (12)23.178 (10)
Sergio Perez29.268 (14)29.688 (9)23.116 (8)
Paul di Resta29.054 (12)29.717 (10)23.485 (15)
Vitaly Petrov29.023 (11)29.731 (11)23.392 (13)
Kamui Kobayashi29.218 (13)29.884 (13)23.333 (12)
Nick Heidfeld28.887 (9)29.990 (16)23.423 (14)
Rubens Barrichello29.471 (16)29.980 (15)23.229 (11)
Jaime Alguersuari29.356 (15)29.900 (14)23.588 (16)
Pastor Maldonado29.557 (17)30.332 (17)23.797 (19)
Sebastien Buemi29.579 (18)30.569 (18)23.879 (20)
Heikki Kovalainen29.851 (19)30.728 (19)23.783 (17)
Jarno Trulli29.933 (20)30.805 (20)23.796 (18)
Timo Glock30.270 (22)31.416 (22)24.608 (24)
Vitantonio Liuzzi30.297 (23)31.469 (23)24.557 (22)
Daniel Ricciardo30.258 (21)31.675 (24)24.546 (21)
Jerome D’Ambrosio30.350 (24)31.406 (21)24.564 (23)

Speed trap

Here are the drivers’ maximum speeds.

  • Mercedes retained their places at the top of the speed chart.
  • As usual McLaren don’t get as good straight line speeds with their DRS in qualifying – particularly Hamilton today.
PosDriverCarSpeed (kph)Gap
1Michael SchumacherMercedes300.5
2Nico RosbergMercedes298.3-2.2
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari298.0-2.5
4Adrian SutilForce India296.6-3.9
5Nick HeidfeldRenault296.6-3.9
6Felipe MassaFerrari296.0-4.5
7Kamui KobayashiSauber295.4-5.1
8Mark WebberRed Bull295.1-5.4
9Jenson ButtonMcLaren293.6-6.9
10Rubens BarrichelloWilliams293.1-7.4
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull292.2-8.3
12Paul di RestaForce India291.9-8.6
13Vitaly PetrovRenault291.9-8.6
14Pastor MaldonadoWilliams291.3-9.2
15Sergio PerezSauber291.1-9.4
16Lewis HamiltonMcLaren289.7-10.8
17Daniel RicciardoHRT289.3-11.2
18Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso288.6-11.9
19Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso287.9-12.6
20Timo GlockVirgin286.5-14.0
21Jerome D’AmbrosioVirgin285.8-14.7
22Vitantonio LiuzziHRT284.9-15.6
23Heikki KovalainenLotus284.2-16.3
24Jarno TrulliLotus282.4-18.1

2011 Hungarian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    53 comments on “Massa beats Alonso for first time in almost a year”

    1. Unfortunately for Felipe he starts on the dirty side so Fernando will probably get the advantage.

      It’s a shame as he’s had some incredible starts this year and would have been good to see another one of them but it’s unlikely he can do anything on the dirty side.

      1. You never know. Alonso hasn’t looked so sharp here.

      2. He’s been great at the starts this year, though!

        1. Both have made decebt starts in 2011.

          1. Fernando’s starts have been decently recently, but were awful at the start of the year

      3. Lets hope he manages to have a good start nontheless. Its great to see he was finally able to beat Alonso in qualifying.

      4. I agree. I’m pretty sure we’ll get the usual picture in the race – Alonso on the podium and Felipe lost somewhere between 10th and 5th place.

      5. Now that we have a wet track they will hopefully have a more equal footing.

    2. It’s good for him but general Ferrari performance is disappoingting.

    3. “The closest gap was between the two McLaren drivers, Hamilton out-qualifying Button by less than five-hundredths of a second.”

      The Ferrari’s where closer

      1. I was going to say that.

      2. Indeed they were – have changed it, thanks.

    4. Massa beats Alonso for first time in almost a year

      4th place? Not a great result. But you can’t imagine how happy I am, Alonso not taking pole was worth it ;)

      1. Anyone have an idea whats the quali record for beating teammates? I imagine Senna is far up .. Fangio, Stewart .. Rosberg, Schumacher (in different eras) .. Jim Clark sure beat his teammates a lot in qualifying. But does anyone have an idea whats the longest streak and who beat his teammate the most in qualifying?

      2. I would’ve been happy too, had it not been for Marcus Ericsson’s win-costing penalty in GP2, for which he couldn’t have less blame. :(

    5. Closest gap was between the Ferraris, not the McLarens .. or not?

      1. I noticed that also!

    6. well done massa it’s now 2 years on from his accident and that is how long sid watkins said it would take for him to be back 100%. So i hope this is the start of a stronger felipe.

      1. Great point TheBrav3! Let’s hope he is back to 100% now, it would be great to see a rejuvenated Felipe start mixing up the championship with some podiums and possible wins.

    7. Also nice for him that this happened on this particular track. Good psychological boost, for sure ;)

      1. You mean until “Fernando is faster”.

        1. Boring! don’t you think its about time people like you got over yourselves? Not that other teams have ever used team orders…(switch to fuel saving mode, Jensen etc..)

    8. Seriously wonder why Timo Glock signed a contract with Virgin.

      Now he’s fighting the HRTs.

      1. We Want Turbos
        30th July 2011, 17:19

        Mclaren partnership 2012, expect them to be mixing it with Lotus next year!!

        1. Still… he deserves a much better car.

          1. Yeah, I mean, to go from fighting for regular points and podiums to being promised the chance to be “mixing it with Lotus” isn’t what he deserves.

        2. Not quite. The Mclaren partnership doesn’t begin until the start of next year. By which time next years car will… or should be mostly underway.

          The Mclaren tech should only kick in later in the season.

          I just hope Virgin try to make their car like the front runners rather than be different.

      2. Yes, a massive pity that the peak of his career is wasted at Virgin.

        It’d be great to see him in a decent car soon, but there really aren’t many opportunities.

        1. It’s such a shame Toyota pulled out when they had such a promising looking car for 2010. I honestly believe they would have been in the hunt with the Big 3, they probably would have dropped back to 4th by season’s end, but it would have made last year’s championship even more exciting! And poor Glock would have had a decent car for another season.

      3. Two words.

        Wind. Tunnel.

    9. That last corner FA just couldn’t get it right,but the real news is JB got his act together…

      1. Not really. JB did his usual performance which is 2-3tenths away from his teammate. The only reason this time those 2-3 tenths weren’t there was because Hamilton screw up his second attempt too. Alonso and Hamilton seem to do everything together lately.

        1. Why did your last sentence make me think of Nicole soon to be or not to be Hamikton (forgot her name). Bad me, bad bad me ..

          1. Nicole is history. Lewis only had eyes for Fernando now.

            (singing voice) Love is in the air…..

            http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/NatzandtheRatz/360025361.jpg

    10. If Alonso improved for Q3 as much as the top two did, he would easily have been on pole. What happened there? It’s not like Alonso to choke in Q3. Anyway it puts Massa’s achievement in dimmer light. Good for Button getting back on Hamilton’s pace after getting embarrassed in Germany.

      1. Hamilton was on the prime tyre for Q2 and Vettel was probably just not pushing as much.

    11. If you add all of Vettel’s and Hamilton’s best sectors together, they come to:

      Vettel: 1:19.660

      Hamilton: 1:19.679

      Only 0.019s of a different, only a shame that Hamilton didn’t make that mistake in the last corner, and went wide at turn 9.

      Come on Lewis :)

    12. sunday race wishful thinking:

      1. hamilton
      2. button
      3. alonso
      4. vettel
      5. webber

      1. I would give vettel a DNF, but don’t mind the rest except for Hamilton to win.

        1. Wanting a driver to get a DNF is not really any improvement on the same driver winning 6/10 races.

      2. If you want to maximize the odds of a close title fight, you need to put Alonso right behind Hamilton–as vice-pursuer.

        For Hamilton this is the point where he needs to look at last season and really focus on risk taking analysis. He now has a car that can do the job, if things happen right behind him. He can’t do as he did last year in Monza, Singapore, Suzuka.

        1. Singapore and Suzuka were hardly his fault. In Singapore Webbber forgot where the break pedal was and collided with Lewis, and at Suzuka, his gearbox gave up.

    13. Perez has extra tyres, the choice of compounds and a knack of going long stints between pitting… its setting it up for the obvious isnt it? I wonder which unfortunate frontrunning car is unlucky enough to come out of their 1st pit stop behind him…

      1. I’m thinking if Perez plays his cards right, the top 10 is a certainty, he may even finish 7th, or possibly higher if one of the top guys screws up. I will laugh if Alonso yet again gets stuck behind another slower car, and it happens to be Perez this go around.

        1. If Perez starts on the soft tyre, than he can do a near-replica of Kobayashi at Valencia in 2010, whereby he uses the soft tyre for his first 2 stints, then switches to the super-soft for the last 10 or so laps and is one of the fastest drivers on the track

          1. The soft tyre is 8 tenths of a a second slower though. I think he’ll have to use his S-Softs on at least two stints or he’ll be left behind.

        2. He’ll overtake him, take him out, take himself out .. anything but stay behind for a while. Alonso doesn’t seem as patient as last year and as he said, there is nothing to lose anymore.

      2. lets see how he will do with a wet/green track today.

    14. Webber now says he understands where he lost time… ‘all in S1’ and says that S2 and S3 were identical to Vettel… err, think again MW.

    15. Hopefully massa will show alonso who is boss as soon as possible for me personally as alonso is a bad loser we saw that at his time at mclaren he could not keep up with the pace of lewis hamiltonb and often spat his dummy out as he needs a weak partner to do well. Alonso is a jumped up prat in my opinion and is a bad loser, also his actions in the 2008 singapore gp where he claimed he did not know naything about nelson piquet crashing and team orders for him to win was plain lie.

    16. I’m surprised Perez wasn’t given a penalty for blocking Petrov. A replay at the end of Q2 showed Petrov slowing rapidly at turn 12 because Perez was in the way and the Mexican didn’t move over.

    17. Even with a mistake in the last corner, Lew managed FASTEST sector time! Seb has to really up his game int he race!

    Comments are closed.