2016 European Grand Prix grid

2016 European Grand Prix

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Row 11. Nico Rosberg 1’42.758
Mercedes
2. Daniel Ricciardo 1’43.966
Red Bull
Row 23. Sebastian Vettel 1’43.966
Ferrari
4. Kimi Raikkonen 1’44.269
Ferrari
Row 35. Felipe Massa 1’44.483
Williams
6. Daniil Kvyat 1’44.717
Toro Rosso
Row 47. Sergio Perez* 1’43.515
Force India
8. Valtteri Bottas 1’45.246
Williams
Row 59. Max Verstappen 1’45.570
Red Bull
10. Lewis Hamilton No time
Mercedes
Row 611. Romain Grosjean 1’44.755
Haas
12. Nico Hulkenberg 1’44.824
Force India
Row 713. Fernando Alonso 1’45.270
McLaren
14. Esteban Gutierrez 1’45.349
Haas
Row 815. Felipe Nasr 1’46.048
Sauber
16. Rio Haryanto 1’45.665
Manor
Row 917. Pascal Wehrlein 1’45.750
Manor
18. Carlos Sainz Jnr* 1’45.000
Toro Rosso
Row 1019. Jenson Button 1’45.804
McLaren
20. Marcus Ericsson 1’46.231
Sauber
Row 1121. Jolyon Palmer 1’46.394
Renault
22. Kevin Magnussen** 1’46.348
Renault

*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change
**Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change, pit lane start

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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68 comments on “2016 European Grand Prix grid”

  1. Someone should follow the Merc drivers! They keep disappearing before getting their weights checked! After qualifying, after the race they disappear into the mechanics, I guess there needs to be some limit here.

    1. That does remind me of a DTM race a few years back, when the winner was disqualified because they noticed that while he was celebrating with his mechanics, one of them thought it would be funny to pour some water into his race suit, which led to the race officials having to disqualify the poor wet driver!

      1. @pwaa I think there are grounds for suspicion. Ham and Ros have never gone straight to the scales, it’s getting rather suspicious. Check it out for yourself, from at least australia 2016

        1. Please what could they be hiding ? @keithcollantine pls reply

          1. @wil-liam, especially since being disqualified for cheating by adding weight after race (only thing that would be of any use) , don’t you think @peartree that would be way too problematic for Mercedes allow themselves to risk it? (and here, being so far ahead especially)

          2. @bosyber I’m suggesting Merc is doing some trickery here, I say at least since the beginning of the year, Merc is playing with the drivers weight, the drivers open their suit and then jump to the mechanics or their helmets disappear or their cars get unsighted. I saw Herbie Blash snooping on Rosberg’s car and he handled his helmet, so I’m sure the FIA is always on the lookout that said I fear this is one grey area as drivers naturally lose an unpredictable amount of weight and it’s not worth to ruin the victory celebrations just because somebody maybe getting something like a 5kg advantage which is significant yet not easy to both police and also prove. I think it starts with the driver’s declared weights, I can’t believe most drivers being, short and gaunt are that heavy.

  2. What a drive by Perez! Poor chap will still start from 7th place

    1. Poor chap? It was his fault in the FP3, so he can only be ashamed of himself.

      1. Ashamed? after crashing and recovering like that? he went out and right all his wrongs, no room for shame here.

  3. Rosberg and Kvyat showed Hamilton and Verstappen their places.

    1. Nah, a couple of mistakes. No more than that.

    2. Massa too.

    3. Im not sure if you saw what happend during the Q’s…but Verstappen got screwed 2 times by Bottas. In his first run he had the same sectortime as Perez..and would have outpaced Ricciardo…..Bottas is a @%%$^$#

      1. Stop making excuses for Verstappen.

          1. Hahahaha

          2. Fernendo’s comment wasn’t there when I wrote my comment…

        1. Bottas was at fault

          Valtteri Bottas said that he had no choice but to try to overtake Max Verstappen on his Q3 qualifying laps after difficult circumstances left him twice chasing the Red Bull driver across the line.

          Verstappen was left furious after twice finding Bottas attempting a move at Turn 1 as they began what should have been qualifying efforts.

          Although Bottas understands that Verstappen had every reason to be unhappy because the incidents cost the Dutchman, he says that his Red Bull rival must understand that difficult situation he found himself in.

          “You either abort, or you try to overtake, try to get back on your line and have a good lap with a nice top speed,” he explained

          “Today I was fighting for the track position a couple of times but it didn’t work out.”

          Difficult choice

          Bottas said that before the first incident at the start of Q3, he had not expected Verstappen to be going for a qualifying lap immediately.

          And by the time he realised what the Dutchman was up to, it was too late for him to try to build up a bit of a gap to the Red Bull.

          “I thought, and the team thought, that Verstappen was on a double out lap, as they had been doing all weekend,” explained Bottas.

          “I got the confirmation of that myself when exiting Turn 16. I saw his ERS lights flashing, so he was not in the [engine] mode yet. I was trying to get a good gap so I could get a nice slipstream to the lap and open the lap, but then he pulled away in Turn 19.

          “So I found out at Turn 19/20 that maybe he was going for the lap and at that place you cannot back off any more as you lose all the straight line speed. So I thought the only option for me was to try to overtake.

          “But it ruined his lap but also my lap. I got some dirt on my tyres and I don’t even call that a lap – there was a lap time on the board that put me for P8.

          “Then the second run I had the red flag with Lewis [Hamilton]. I went out again after the red flag, but I don’t think the lap would have been mega.

          “I felt with the tyres we lost quite a bit of temperature with the red flag, and there was just a bit of traffic. Everyone was trying to gain a track position and opening the lap I knew there was probably not much time left, so I didn’t have time to leave a proper gap to Verstappen.

          “Again I saw my only opportunity was to try to fight for the track position and try to overtake, but I couldn’t do it again. Again it ruined my lap and his lap.

          “I think it was really unlucky – and I was driven into really difficult decisions and situations today. Not my day at all.”

          When asked if he intended to speak to Verstappen, Bottas said: “I wasn’t planning to. He lost something with that, but he has to understand that I was also fighting for my track position and for my qualifying result. It can happen I guess.”

      2. Bottas can’t get tired of being an idiot.

      3. The first time was Verstappen’s mistake, Bottas saw him go wide and went through. That was minor though.

        The second time (the one that counted) Bottas was plain foolish. He knew that manoeuvre would ruin both their laps, but still did it. It was his own fault for not leaving enough space to start the lap

  4. Well done Hamilton!

  5. Shocking by Hamilton’s standards, well done to Nico, he delivered when it mattered and made no mistakes.

    I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race, few fast cars (Ham, Per, Ves & Hulk) out of place.

  6. Rivals tell Hamilton to stop causing yellow flags :D

  7. Bottas ruin Verstappen lap twice!

    1. Yeah, absolutely ridiculous. First time, actually, was fine, he has legitimate reason to pass, but his move wasn’t good enough so he forced Verstappen off which isn’t allowed. Second time was just being vindictive.

    2. how is that? it was verstappen who blocked bottas when went off the track.

    3. Verstappen was overreacting a lot to the two incidents, and Bottas did nothing wrong in the first incident.

      1. Nothing wrong but force him off the track, which, you know, isn’t allowed even during a race?

        1. Sviatoslav (@)
          18th June 2016, 17:40

          What? Verstappen simply made a mistake and that is why he landed into the off-track zone. Bottas simply reacted to that.

    4. I’m not a professional, but it seems to me that the best way to avoid having your lap ruined in this manner is to be faster than the driver behind you.

      1. Both Bottas actions were in the first corner… and as we all know, it is a complete lap to know if your are faster, so bottas was way to close behind to be faster than a slower car.

        Besides that I think this will make the race really awesome. Hamilton and Verstappen behind of some slower cars.

        As showed last year Max will show that overtaking is an art!

  8. Once again Button is outqualified. I think he was quite good last year but this year he seems to be struggling. Vandoorne must de enjoying this!

  9. Should be an easy win for Rosberg. I don’t care if Ricciardo or Vettel jumps him at the start, with that kind of speed advantage and such an easy track to overtake nothing is going to stop Rosberg from winning except for himself locking up or crashing.

    Should be an interesting battle for 2nd though, Vettel and Ricciardo matched each other on pace today, I wonder who can claim 2nd in the race. Lewis will try to be in that competition but I doubt he can make up the time lost overtaking slower cars.

    1. Do not underestimate the walls and the SC.

    2. It will be hard for him to overtake Perez and both Williams on the straight.

  10. Great job by Ric…he is really shining. Also a good opportunity for Ferrari to score some healthy points although they are getting bust up by RBR as challengers to Mercedes.

    Lewis, hope he doesn’t moan about the track or sunlight! Morale of the story…never have the mouth open with your brain closed.

    1. @neelv27: I can’t agree more :)

    2. Hamilton was right. Drivers were moaning like babies about the track, the fact that Ham crashed doesn’t change that. Your comment doesn’t hold water.

      1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
        18th June 2016, 15:25

        But let’s wait to hear what he says, it might be just as @neelv27 says.

        1. Precisely! Hamilton hasn’t spoken yet, so @neelv27 is prematurely judging.

    3. Also, if the sun hit his eyes (like Coulthard mentioned) and Hamilton confirms it, then that’s what happened. It’s not an excuse if it’s true.

      1. I foresaw comments like yours, isn’t the same true for the tunnel in Monaco? Also it wasn’t the first time he’d passed through there to be blinded by it, if that’s what you mean.

        1. I don’t believe that the sun an issue @sravan-pe, I’m just parroting what David Coulthard said.

          1. Fair enough. :)

    4. I guess you were waiting to say that all day.
      He was right about the moaning though. He crashed like so many others but that does not make his statement wrong and he is not “moaning” about crashing. He just didn’t do a good job. It was not the fault of the track but his.

      1. Did Hamilton blame the track … NO, did he blame the sun … NO, did he blame the car …NO, it strikes me that some dummy need to keep HIS mouth shut until HIS brain is in gear.

    5. david mcgrory
      19th June 2016, 3:27

      lewis cant complain mercedes power down that massive straight it will be a shock if hes not at least 2nd tomorrow

  11. Well done to Rosberg, fast and clean. Ferrari should thank Hamilton for the top 5 start. Ferrari and Hamilton were nowhere today.

    1. And well done to Ricciardo too.

  12. So Marko was right. 1.2s behind.

    1. Didn’t he say they’d lose 1.2 seconds on the main straight?… but then there is the rest of the lap/straights where they are presumably losing a bit of time.

  13. What an exhilarating quali that was!
    Rosberg was sublime (I HAD predicted a pole time of 1:42.758 but changed it between FP3 and Q, damn it).
    Kudos to Perez, the Manors and Ricciardo!

    Commiserations to Hamilton.

  14. You take a cheap shot at your rivals and the next day crash and qualify 10th in the fastest car.. lol

    1. Hahahahahahahjaa i was thinking the same… that’s why you should never spit to the sky.. cuz the thing will come back to your face..

  15. Worst quali from Hamilton in years … dominates all three free practice sessions and then screws up qualifying big time, hope he gets through the first lap and gives us some entertainment but once again he will be looking at damage limitation.

    Great result for Perez, shame about the penalty and well done Ricciardo.

  16. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    18th June 2016, 15:28

    Those Manors should try to stay calm tomorrow. The track is so narrow that they can thrive from others’ mistakes. Just a point from them in the season and Sauber can be packing home forever.

    1. True. They definitely won’t get overtaken so easily!

  17. Still I Rise
    18th June 2016, 16:04

    He saw that new 2pac movie trailer on his dashboard freaked out and crashed. 😂

    1. Still I Rise
      18th June 2016, 16:29

      BTW that was a joke I know Lewis like me is also a huge 2pac fan.

  18. juampa_valve_rde
    18th June 2016, 17:30

    Srsly? Most of you seem to be completely ignoring that Checo nailed P2 con an SFI, half a second off Nico’s Merc. That was effing brilliant! And a pity that gearbox change. Ric lap also really a thing to watch with such engine.

    1. I’m reading quite a few comments above praising Perez tbh.

  19. I don’t know if it pays off for HAM to change some engine parts and setup for the overtaking race he needs now. In my eyes, it is safer to start from the pit lane than from 10th, and Baku seems the best circuit to have to overtake a few cars extra.

  20. This is a very exciting grid! :) I think that we will have a very interesting race!

Comments are closed.