Here’s all the data from qualifying for the Indian Grand Prix.
Qualifying times in full
- Vitaly Petrov missed out on a place in Q3 by the narrowest of margins. He matched Jaime Alguersuari’s Q2 time to within a thousandth of a second. Alguersuari progressed in Q3 because he had set the time time three minutes earlier. Had Petrov been able to replicate his Q1 time he’d have made it through.
- It mattered little in the end as he was one of five drivers to get penalties after qualifying. The others were Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and both HRT drivers.
- Timo Glock will be allowed to start the race despite failing to beat the 107% time due to his gearbox problem. See the updated grid here.
- Hamilton said he decided to save his tyres when he realised he wasn’t going to be able to beat Sebastian Vettel to pole position: “I was only a tenth down going into the penultimate corner, but I chose to abort the lap and save the tyres for tomorrow as it’s going to be a long race.”
- Kamui Kobayashi said Sauber struggled with tyre warm-up as they had in Korea: “The pace of the car was certainly good enough for Q2, I was convinced about it and I also think our race performance should be alright. However, in qualifying it took me a lot of time to warm up the tyres, and then in the end I was unlucky. I had just started my final flying lap when Felipe [Massa] came out of the pit lane in front of me.”
| Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1’26.218 | 1’24.657 (-1.561) | 1’24.178 (-0.479) |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 1’26.563 | 1’25.019 (-1.544) | 1’24.474 (-0.545) |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1’26.473 | 1’25.282 (-1.191) | 1’24.508 (-0.774) |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’26.774 | 1’25.158 (-1.616) | 1’24.519 (-0.639) |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’26.225 | 1’25.299 (-0.926) | 1’24.950 (-0.349) |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’27.012 | 1’25.522 (-1.490) | 1’25.122 (-0.400) |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’26.364 | 1’25.555 (-0.809) | 1’25.451 (-0.104) |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1’26.271 | 1’26.140 (-0.131) | |
| 9 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1’26.608 | 1’26.161 (-0.447) | |
| 10 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1’26.557 | 1’26.319 (-0.238) | |
| 11 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’26.189 | 1’26.319 (+0.130) | |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’26.790 | 1’26.337 (-0.453) | |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1’26.864 | 1’26.503 (-0.361) | |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1’26.829 | 1’26.537 (-0.292) | |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1’26.766 | 1’26.651 (-0.115) | |
| 16 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | 1’27.479 | 1’27.247 (-0.232) | |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber | 1’27.249 | 1’27.562 (+0.313) | |
| 18 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 1’27.876 | ||
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | 1’28.565 | ||
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus | 1’28.752 | ||
| 21 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT | 1’30.216 | ||
| 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT | 1’30.238 | ||
| 23 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1’30.866 | ||
| 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin | 1’34.046 |
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.
- Daniel Ricciardo and Narain Karthikeyan shared a team for the first time this year. Ricciardo prevailed by a slim margin over the home driver: “I was up on my team mate but made a small mistake,” said Karthikeyan.
- Unlike Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber wasn’t able to get a second lap in: “It was tricky to work out the right strategy for qualifying. The tyres weren’t easy for one timed lap, so we had to work out how to do the right strategy – lots of teams tried different styles to get the best lap time out of the car. The first sector was tricky to get right on one timed lap. I could have done better in the first sector on my first lap in Q3; I couldn’t complete my second, as there were yellow flags after Massa’s incident.”
| Team | Driver | Lap time | Gap | Lap time | Driver | Round |
| Red Bull | Sebastian Vettel | 1’24.178 | -0.330 | 1’24.508 | Mark Webber | Q3 |
| McLaren | Lewis Hamilton | 1’24.474 | -0.476 | 1’24.950 | Jenson Button | Q3 |
| Ferrari | Fernando Alonso | 1’24.519 | -0.603 | 1’25.122 | Felipe Massa | Q3 |
| Mercedes | Michael Schumacher | 1’26.337 | +0.782 | 1’25.555 | Nico Rosberg | Q2 |
| Renault | Bruno Senna | 1’26.651 | +0.332 | 1’26.319 | Vitaly Petrov | Q2 |
| Williams | Rubens Barrichello | 1’27.247 | +0.710 | 1’26.537 | Pastor Maldonado | Q2 |
| Force India | Adrian Sutil | 1’26.140 | -0.363 | 1’26.503 | Paul di Resta | Q2 |
| Sauber | Kamui Kobayashi | 1’27.876 | +0.627 | 1’27.249 | Sergio Perez | Q1 |
| Toro Rosso | Sebastien Buemi | 1’26.161 | -0.158 | 1’26.319 | Jaime Alguersuari | Q2 |
| Lotus | Heikki Kovalainen | 1’28.565 | -0.187 | 1’28.752 | Jarno Trulli | Q1 |
| HRT | Narain Karthikeyan | 1’30.238 | +0.022 | 1’30.216 | Daniel Ricciardo | Q1 |
| Virgin | Timo Glock | 1’34.046 | +3.180 | 1’30.866 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Q1 |
Sector times
Here are the drivers’ best times in each sector.
- Jenson Button came under scrutiny as he was the first driver to pass through the scene of Massa’s crash as the yellow flags came out. The sector times show nine other cars were quicker than him through sector two, which Button was almost at the end of when Massa crashed. There has been no indication he, or any other drivers who passed through the yellow flag zone, might get a penalty.
- Red Bull are strong in sectors two and three but not in the first where straight-line speed is all-important.
| Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 41.277 (5) | 22.226 (1) | 20.675 (1) |
| Lewis Hamilton | 41.009 (1) | 22.521 (5) | 20.944 (4) |
| Mark Webber | 41.407 (7) | 22.261 (2) | 20.840 (2) |
| Fernando Alonso | 41.097 (2) | 22.371 (4) | 20.944 (4) |
| Jenson Button | 41.099 (3) | 22.931 (10) | 20.920 (3) |
| Felipe Massa | 41.359 (6) | 22.295 (3) | 21.057 (6) |
| Nico Rosberg | 41.214 (4) | 23.054 (12) | 21.157 (7) |
| Adrian Sutil | 41.728 (8) | 22.918 (9) | 21.494 (14) |
| Sebastien Buemi | 41.747 (9) | 22.868 (7) | 21.404 (10) |
| Jaime Alguersuari | 41.962 (15) | 22.821 (6) | 21.430 (11) |
| Vitaly Petrov | 41.756 (10) | 22.896 (8) | 21.328 (8) |
| Michael Schumacher | 41.764 (11) | 23.070 (13) | 21.369 (9) |
| Paul di Resta | 41.843 (12) | 23.176 (15) | 21.484 (13) |
| Pastor Maldonado | 41.944 (14) | 23.074 (14) | 21.478 (12) |
| Bruno Senna | 42.036 (16) | 22.938 (11) | 21.549 (15) |
| Rubens Barrichello | 41.877 (13) | 23.382 (17) | 21.565 (16) |
| Sergio Perez | 42.097 (17) | 23.355 (16) | 21.684 (17) |
| Kamui Kobayashi | 42.129 (18) | 23.569 (18) | 21.873 (19) |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 42.862 (20) | 23.839 (20) | 21.864 (18) |
| Jarno Trulli | 42.970 (21) | 23.826 (19) | 21.956 (20) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 43.075 (22) | 24.485 (21) | 22.477 (23) |
| Narain Karthikeyan | 42.805 (19) | 24.885 (23) | 22.320 (21) |
| Jerome D’Ambrosio | 43.544 (23) | 24.855 (22) | 22.467 (22) |
| Timo Glock | 44.488 (24) | 26.114 (24) | 23.253 (24) |
Speed trap
Here are the drivers’ maximum speeds.
- Since their recent exhaust-blown diffuser upgrade, the Toro Rosso cars have featured more often among the quickest cars through the speed traps.
- Red Bull’s straight-line speed is particularly weak here – even slower than the likes of Virgin and HRT.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
| 1 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 324.2 (201.4) | |
| 2 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso | 323.8 (201.2) | -0.4 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Sauber | 323.4 (201.0) | -0.8 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | 322.0 (200.1) | -2.2 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 321.3 (199.6) | -2.9 |
| 6 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 319.7 (198.7) | -4.5 |
| 7 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 319.6 (198.6) | -4.6 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 319.3 (198.4) | -4.9 |
| 9 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 318.6 (198.0) | -5.6 |
| 10 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 318.3 (197.8) | -5.9 |
| 11 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 318.0 (197.6) | -6.2 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 317.2 (197.1) | -7.0 |
| 13 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 316.5 (196.7) | -7.7 |
| 14 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 316.1 (196.4) | -8.1 |
| 15 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 315.9 (196.3) | -8.3 |
| 16 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 315.8 (196.2) | -8.4 |
| 17 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Virgin | 313.8 (195.0) | -10.4 |
| 18 | Timo Glock | Virgin | 313.6 (194.9) | -10.6 |
| 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT | 313.3 (194.7) | -10.9 |
| 20 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT | 312.9 (194.4) | -11.3 |
| 21 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 312.9 (194.4) | -11.3 |
| 22 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 312.5 (194.2) | -11.7 |
| 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | 308.3 (191.6) | -15.9 |
| 24 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus | 308.3 (191.6) | -15.9 |
2011 Indian Grand Prix
Image © Renault/LAT
cmckinleyF1 (@cmckinleyf1)
29th October 2011, 16:56
Just that extra 0.001 would have been very helpful for Petrov because he would have only needed to start a flying lap in Q3 to secure 8th on the grid (13th with the penalty) with his car number being lower than Sutil and Buemi so a potential 3 grid spots missed there
Tyson Evans (@bobtehblob)
29th October 2011, 16:57
“Daniel Ricciardo and Narain Karthikeyan shared a team fir the first time this year.” for* just a small typo :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th October 2011, 16:58
Fixed it, thanks Tyson.
George (@george)
29th October 2011, 17:29
@keithcollantine also “failing to beat the 10% time” should be 107% I assume.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th October 2011, 17:38
Yep! Thanks.
Neusalz (@dpod)
29th October 2011, 17:35
I guess this proves Narain isnt bad. I dont understand how so many people hate on him but he is a decent driver. I think now that he set an identical lap time to Ricciardo it is safe to say he has a chance to replace Webber at Redbull soon.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th October 2011, 20:36
I think Karthikeyan is not too bad a driver, although he probably is long past his peak by now. Still, there are quite a few drivers I think were more worthy of a drive for this year.
Neusalz (@dpod)
29th October 2011, 22:27
@bascb
Yeah, I agree that their could have been more deserving drivers but I do like having drivers from a wide variety of countries. Not saying nationality should be an important factor in choosing a line-up but just a welcome sight. I think he deserves a seat more than Maldonado in my opinion though.
Neusalz (@dpod)
29th October 2011, 22:28
there*
tflb1 (@)
29th October 2011, 23:56
The same Maldonado who just outqualified his teammate by seven tenths of a second, and not for the first time this year?
Neusalz (@dpod)
30th October 2011, 1:32
Yeah, the same Maldonado that has been out qualified 9 to 7 and out raced 6 to 5 by a driver who was never considered good and should have been out of the sport for many years by now.
tflb1 (@)
30th October 2011, 7:45
@dpod: Well, he’s doing considerably better than Hulkenberg did.
George (@george)
29th October 2011, 22:58
@dpod yeah, I feel vindicated for saying he’s better than Badoer now :D
Fixy (@)
30th October 2011, 19:46
@dpod Narain is no Vettel, but yet he has shown he can be quite matched with the other drivers. If he was so close to Ricciardo this either makes him a top driver or makes Daniel a mediocre one.
MattHT (@mattht)
29th October 2011, 17:52
My gut feeling for this race (and I only have one gut feeling about this race) is that Petrov will cause a collision again.
Cacarella (@cacarella)
29th October 2011, 22:44
Small typo in your post @MattHT, his name is spelled *Hamilton*
:)
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th October 2011, 23:18
@cacarella @mattht Now that’s just pure cynicism! ;)
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th October 2011, 23:17
@mattht Well, at least Schumacher should be able to avoid him this time, starting in front of him and all.
Cacarella (@cacarella)
30th October 2011, 0:10
@andrewtanner How did I forget about the Petrov – Schumacher incident!?! It must be my old age.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
30th October 2011, 9:07
@cacarella I’m forever forgetting things. So much to remember in this sport.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th October 2011, 23:26
There are some huge gaps between team mates.
Looks like a reasonably good weekend to have a Ferrari engine.
130R (@130r)
29th October 2011, 23:45
Impressive job by Narain Karthikeyan, cleary the better of the Indian drivers.
Himmat
30th October 2011, 2:37
What irony…