"Angry" Rosberg takes pole in Mexico

Nico Rosberg has taken his 4th consecutive pole of the 2015 Formula 1 season at Mexico, beating his team mate to the top by just 2 tenths of a second. In a post qualifying interview, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff described to us that Rosberg took pole because he was "angry". It was an impressive effort after Hamilton was on top of him on in both Q1 and Q2.

Pole sitter Nico Rosberg (right).

It was an interesting and entertaining qualifying session(s) and sadly for McLaren's Jenson Button he was out before the first session even began. His car had a problem that the team couldn't identify and with him already receiving a 50 place grid drop they figured he would be starting from the back either way.

Into Q1 and Mercedes were on the pace quickly whilst Red Bull and Ferrari chose to save a set of mediums and went straight to soft tires. Most teams believe that the medium compound will be the preferred race tires. At the end of Q1 Button, Stevens, Rossi, Nasr and Alonso were all knocked out. No surprises there.

Valtteri Bottas in action.

Heading into Q2 we began to see more pace from Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams. Force India looked strong enough to challenge for Q3 but would need to overcome Toro Rosso and Lotus. Early in Q2 Kimi Raikkonen's session was ended with brake problems after he spun at Turn 1. This means he is likely to be starting from 18th or 17th on Sunday. It was unlucky for Kimi as he is in desperate need of a strong result. Towards the end of Q2 the rain began to spit lightly and many thought that Q3 would be an inters session, pushing Red Bull into a strong position. Q2 ended with Raikkonen, Ericsson, Maldonado, Grosjean and Sainz in the drop zone. This saw both Force India's, Red Bulls and 1 Toro Rosso (Verstappen) surprisingly into Q3.

Pastor Maldonado goes through the difficult stadium section on route to his P13 grid slot.

The rain stopped though and Q3 was dry. It saw Mercedes out straight away with Rosberg going faster than Hamilton. Hamilton bounced back to go fastest on his 2nd lap with Rosberg to swiftly reply with an even faster lap. Something seemed to surprisingly click for Nico Rosberg as he looked on another level than his rivals. Towards the end of the session, Hamilton didn't improve thus handing pole position to Rosberg. Behind them Sebastian Vettel was in third and was "giving it everything" but it wasn't enough as he was quite far off Mercedes pace. He finished 3rd. The altitude of the track continued to bring Red Bull into play at Kvyat out qualified team mate Ricciardo for 4th. A distance 6th and 7th was Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa for Williams respectively. The Williams never looked threatening as they struggled for grip through the slow stadium section. Verstappen was alone in 8th and will be looking to cause and upset in the race. Rounding out the top 10 was both Force India's with local hero Sergio Perez ahead of team mate Hulkenberg. Force India are confident that there race pace is more impressive and now they shift full attention to Sunday where they will be looking to cause a stir in the points.

Fans out in force for local hero Sergio "Checo" Perez.

The official order without penalties applied is:

1) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
6) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
7) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
10) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
11) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
12) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
13) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
14) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
15) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (5 PLACE GRID PENALTY)
16) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
17) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
18) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
20) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda (50 PLACE GRID PENALTY)

So what should we be watching for in tomorrows race? Firstly, Turn 1, lap 1. We saw it in Japan and last time out in the US. Lewis Hamilton isn't afraid to get dirty and aggressive. I personally thought that in the US his wheels clearly weren't on full lock and the move on Rosberg was misjudged and wrong. However the run to Turn 1 in Mexico is just a little under 1km and slip stream should see 2 cars going through there side by side. Further back, can Williams get a jump on the Renault powered cars and and can Force India truly bounce back from a disappointing qualifying? Find out tomorrow when the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix gets underway!

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Hamilton wins 3rd World Title in Austin thriller - US Grand Prix 2015

Lewis Hamilton has been crowned the 2015 Formula 1 World Champion after he took victory at the 2015 US Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg (2nd) and Sebastian Vettel (3rd) did not manage to score enough points to mathematically stay in the championship for the last 3 rounds.

Lewis Hamilton is the 2015 World Drivers Champion!

The race started off in intermediate conditions with Rosberg leading from pole with Hamilton behind in 2nd. Going up to Turn 1 Lewis Hamilton pulled a very risky and arrogant move up the inside by not turning the wheel fully which in turn led his team mate to run wide, dropping him (Rosberg) down to 4th.

However during the first part of the race run in intermediate conditions Mercedes were not the dominant team and Nico Rosberg was dominating Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo briefly led the race and pulled out a huge 9 second lead over the Mercedes. It wasn't to be though as once the switch over to slicks was made on lap 18-19 and Mercedes completely began to dominate to the end.

Red Bull were the strongest in the rain.

Even though when the slicks were on the Mercedes were the fastest on paper, 2 safety cars and 2 Virtual safety cars threatened to ruin the Constructor Champions day. During the first safety car period for Ericsson on lap 24, Sebastian Vettel pitted for mediums to go to the end, whilst Mercedes opted to stay out on softs and do a two stop race to the end. At this point it looked like Ferrari were best suited to win the race, but a VSC period laps later saw Rosberg get a free pit stop and get back ahead of Vettel. Had safety cars and VSC not played a part in pit stops Mercedes would still likely have won, but had only 1 safety car been deployed, Ferrari would have been in the hot seat to win.

There was 8 DNF's throughout the race with crashes and reliability problems. First to retire was Will Stevens on the first few laps and Valtteri Bottas following just laps later, both due to first corner incidents. Grosjean and Raikkonen retired with brake problems whilst Felipe Massa pulled up for an unknown reason. Marcus Ericsson called a safety car out when he lost power on the start of the back straight. Hulkenberg collided with Ricciardo taking him out of the race whilst Daniil Kvyat spun into the wall at the penultimate corner completing the 8 DNF's.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg retired after colliding with Ricciardo.

The strongest race for me was by far run by Max Verstappen after making smart moves and staying patient. Mistakes from other cars allowed him to move up to a strong 4th place, equaling his best finish in Formula 1. Results like this will only reinforce that fact that Verstappen deserves a drive next season as it looks more likely that Toro Rosso won't exist in 2016.

Also another mention to Sergio Perez who had another strong finish with 5th place for Force India. He took his tires many laps and showed true skill in keeping the car out of trouble and waiting for the perfect time to pass Fernando Alonso for 5th. Perez is definately a driver to watch in 2016 as the new b spec Force India seems to suit Perez more than Hulkenberg.

The start of the race.

Lastly Jenson Button drove a typical Jenson race as he continued to fight and took home a strong and unexpected 6th place finish for McLaren-Honda. The Honda power unit seemed to hold up well on the long straights at COTA and it definately it proved reliable which was the main reason McLaren did so well today. Unlucky for Fernando Alonso to miss out on points.

Here is the order:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
5) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
6) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
7) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
8) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
10) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
11) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
12) Alex Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
13) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault (DNF)
14) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes (DNF)
15) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari (DNF)
16) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (DNF)
17) Felipe Massa - Williams (DNF)
18) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes (DNF)
19) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes (DNF)
20) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari (DNF)

So Lewis Hamilton is the World Champion and Mercedes are Constructors Champions leaving the mid field teams to be the most important ones in the championship now. McLaren v Sauber v Toro Rosso and Force India v Red Bull? It was a great race to watch today in the US and every team and driver had ups and downs. The next race will be run in Mexico and its a circuit that will favor a strong power unit. More to follow.

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Rain and Thunderstorms disrupt any suitable running in Texas - Practice 1 and 2 Analysis

Heavy thunderstorms and rain have severely disrupted Friday's practice session's for the 2015 US Grand Prix. Practice 1 saw limited running with the best times being set on intermediate tires. Unfortunately Practice 2 was abandoned as the weather worsened into a full blown thunderstorm.

Thunderstorms stopped FP2 from being run.

From the running we did have in practice 1, Nico Rosberg appeared to be the king of the conditions. He was 1.2 seconds up on the next best time from Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull. Kvyat's team mate Daniel Ricciardo, finished 3rd just 3 tenths behind his team mate, rounding off a decent session for the Milton-Keynes based unit.

So what have we learned? Not much really. This running can't be a 100% representative of what we will see on Sunday, but it can't be 0% either as it appears the thunderstorm isn't going to stop any time soon.

Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton.

The teams which impressed from practice 1 were definitely both Renault powered teams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso. They finished 2nd and 3rd as well as 4th and 7th respectively. Daniil Kvyat led Ricciardo whilst Carlos Sainz led young gun Max Verstappen. These results are very out of place and the worsening conditions seem to favor the strong chassis both teams possess. Both teams will be one to watch if qualifying and the race are held in wet/intermediate condtions.

Renault aside, Williams looked relatively strong in there car which comes as a massive surprise given there cars track record with rain and there common strategy of running heavy fuel in practice. However we can't be sure if Williams opted to run the heavy fuel today which leaves the result a little in the dark on whether there is any more pace to find. Another team to watch on Sunday.

The team which didn't impress in practice 1 were Force India. They had a weak session with both cars outside the top 10. Sergio Perez led Nico Hulkenberg in 12th and 14th respectively. However I wouldn't be too worried if I was them as both drivers did only set 4 laps. Barely enough to make a judgment that they are weak here.

Force India didn't get much running in FP1.

Honestly there isn't too much to say about the on track action from FP1 and the endless walking around waiting for FP2 to never start. Off track news coming out of the US Grand Prix is that Jolyon Palmer has been selected to drive along Pastor Maldonado at Lotus next year. This is positive for Palmer himself who has appeared in countless practice sessions for the team this year. I hope he has a strong debut in 2016.

Jolyon Palmer has been confirmed to drive for Lotus in 2016.

So with limited Friday running, the teams all now focus on FP3 and pray to the weather gods that it can clear it, even though it likely won't. It should be a very interesting and exciting qualifying and race to follow. Can Mercedes stay on top in the changeable conditions, its all theres too lose and the conditions don't do anyone favors. More to follow.

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2015 Russian Grand Prix - Qualifying Analysis: Hamilton's Turn 13 mistake costs him 2nd consecutive Sochi pole.

Nico Rosberg has taken pole position for the 2015 Russian Grand Prix after a brilliant lap saw him take the pole by 3 tenths from team mate Lewis Hamilton. After the initial laps were set Nico was on top, but when Lewis went out on his second run he ran wide at turn 13 and conceded the pole. The session was held in the dry throughout and it saw many teams scrambling for the most track time possible after the oil leak in Practice 1, rain in Practice 2 and Carlos Sainz's severe accident in Practice 3.

Pole sitter: Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

The first session saw Mercedes in 1st and 2nd and the only team not to equip the super soft rubber. Carlos Sainz did not take part in the session as he was still recovering in hospital from his crash in FP3. Yellow flags were out early in the session as Pastor Maldonado lazily spun his Lotus on the out lap. Early pace was being set by Nico Rosberg as he matched the 2014 pole time with a 1:38.556. The only vibe to take away from Q1 is that the Mercedes looked strong. The car looked planted in the corners and fast down the straights as they kept a comfortable gap to Ferrari in 3rd and 4th. With Q1 ending it saw Fernando Alonso, Marcus Ericsson, Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi all knocked out (Carlos Sainz was the 5th person not to make Q2 as he did not participate). McLaren looked much stronger than Sauber throughout, but Felipe Nasr drove exceptionally to push McLaren's Fernando Alonso into the drop zone. Every team but Manor-Marussia had 1 car into Q2.

Force India had a very comfortbale qualifying to take 6th and 7th on the grid.

Q2 was a quiet session with no yellow or red flags throughout. It started with Lewis Hamilton on top with a time 6 tenths faster than Nico Rosberg. But Rosberg responded almost immediately to go 1 tenth faster than Hamilton, meaning Nico Rosberg was the favorite for pole heading into Q3. Further down the field Felipe Massa made mistakes on his critical lap which saw him manage a very disappointing 15th place. Daniil Kvyat, Felipe Nasr, Jenson Button, Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa were all knocked out and will start from 11th to 15th respectively. As mentioned earlier Massa was the big disappointment of the lot, but Daniil Kvyat would have been feeling just as bad as he narrowly missed out on a Q3 slot in front of his home crowd. Meanwhile Jenson Button was extremely happy with his unexpected 13th place for McLaren. Mercedes, Ferrari and Force India were the only teams to have both cars into Q3.

Felipe Massa, who was knocked out in Q2.

Into the top 10 shootout, and most people were out straight away as the tires were proving hard to get up to temperature. So hard that all drivers took an out lap, warm up lap and then hot lap. When the first hot laps were set, Nico Rosberg led the field from Lewis Hamilton on genuine pace. Sebastian Vettel was faster than team mate Raikkonen but only found himself in 4th as Valtteri Bottas stormed to a provisional 3rd place grid slot. As the final runs began, Nico Rosberg didn't improve on his time, leaving the door wide open for Lewis Hamilton to take pole. But for the first time this season Lewis Hamilton choked on a Saturday as he ran wide through Turn 13 effectively ending his lap. He pulled into the pits and conceded to give Nico the pole. Next to cross the line was the Bottas, Vettel and Raikkonen, the two Ferrari drivers were really threatning Bottas to improve his current 3rd place time or risk dropping behind them. Bottas responded calmly and beautifully to improve enough to get ahead of Ferrari and start from 3rd. Meanwhile Vettel led Raikkonen in the team mate battle between Ferrari in 4th and 5th. Next on the grid were the very quiet achievements of Force India, who managed both drivers into Q3 and really proved to be the best of the rest behind the top 3 of Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams. Nico Hulkenberg led Sergio Perez and they will be hoping for a strong race to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors. Grosjean followed in his Lotus with the lone Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen in 9th. The Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10 as the Renault engine continues to struggle on Russia's demanding long straights.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas who managed an exceptional 3rd place grid slot.

Tomorrows Grid will look like this after penalties have been applied:

1) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
3) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
4) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
5) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
6) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
7) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
8) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
10) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
11) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
12) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
13) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
14) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
15) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
16) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
17) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
18) Roberto Merhi - Manor-Ferrari
19) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
20) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda (35 Place Grid Penalty)

Overall the main notes to take out of qualifying looking toward the race. 1) Mercedes look very strong, there car looks like it was built for this circuit, but can they convert the strong 1 lap pace into long run pace as its believed Russia will be an "easy" one stop. 2) Ferrari are not second. Valtteri Bottas is 2nd, apart from Massa's troubles, Bottas looked faster than Ferrari throughout. Either Raikkonen or Vettel will have to work hard to get ahead of him for a podium. 3) Don't forget about Force India. They look very strong and most people are forgetting about the fact they breezed into Q3 without any worries. Out of all Q3 sessions that they have had both cars in this certainly looked the strongest and the most comfortable for them.

All will be revealed at lights out in just under 3 hours with Nico Rosberg leading from the pole.

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2015 Russian Grand Prix - Practice 1 Analysis: Ferrari WILL NOT supply Red Bull engines in 2016.

The first practice session for the 2015 Russian Grand Prix was cut short today by a diesel spill and bad weather. The times eventually set weren't very representative but give a rough outline of what we could see later in the weekend.

The intermediate tires had to be used as rain interrupted dry running.

Firstly the session was delayed by half an hour as a diesel spill on the track was deemed to be dangerous for the cars. When they did eventually get out on track it was relatively wet and teams such as Lotus and Mercedes choose not to run. As the track dried we got a limited amount of dry running but the more we got the more a rough outline of performance at the track was given to us. Sahara Force India appear to be strong here at Sochi as they topped the session with Nico Hulkenberg. Sergio Perez backed this effort up with a 4th place finish. Ferrari appear to be strong as Vettel finished in 3nd, 7 tenths adrift of Hulkenberg. Mercedes looked both strong and weak and Nico Rosberg finished in 2nd, just 0.052 seconds behind Hulkenberg and Hamilton could only manage 7th place as a late spin in the damp track saw him through a good lap time away.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

However the off track action made up for the lack of on track as Ferrari announce that they will not supply Red Bull or Toro Rosso a 2016 spec power unit next season. However Ferrari have said they will supply a 2015 spec engine to 1 team, hinted at being Toro Rosso over Red Bull. This means Mercedes have said no, Ferrari have said no, they've divorced Renault and another 2 teams is the last thing that Honda need. It is imminent that the Red Bull brand will most likely leave Formula 1.

Bernie Eccelstone (left) and Maurizio Arrivabene (right)

Personally Red Bull have pushed the scales to hard, and now they've tipped to a point where leaving F1 is there only option. Could we potentially a Ross Brawn like effort from Christian Horner perhaps?

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Russian Grand Prix 2015 – Preview: Pirelli tyre choices could benefit Ferrari in Sochi.

Round 14 of the 2015 Formula One season takes us to Sochi Autodrom, Russia for only the second Russian Grand Prix after the inaugural race was run in 2014. It saw Lewis Hamilton take the win and Mercedes wrap up the constructors championship after a year of dominance.

2014 Race winner, Lewis Hamilton.

However, this year’s race might not be as easy for the defending champions as Pirelli have opted to bring the super-soft and soft tires this year, over 2014s soft and medium combination. This was changed after Nico Rosberg did 52 of the 53 laps in 2014 on one set of Medium tires. One thing to remember this weekend is that the last time the 2015 season saw the super-soft and soft combination was in Singapore and it definitely suited Ferrari better as they managed to have there tires working in the optimum temperature range, However in Singapore the overall track and air temperatures are generally higher and that definitely played a big part in the pace difference, something Sochi cannot offer. So don’t expect Ferrari on top, but the Scuderia could be a whole lot closer to the Silver Arrows than previous rounds.

Pirelli Motosport director, Paul Hembery

The track suited Williams last year as Bottas finished on the podium and set the fastest lap which is the track record. The Fin will need a special performance this time if he is too defend it. The track on paper suits Williams as they will be strong through sector 1 and 2 with the massive straights and high to medium speed corners. Sector 3 is where they'll take the hit though, as it is low speed corners which demand good traction, something the Williams struggles with.

This will be an interesting weekend as it is very hard to predict the race result due to the race only being in its second year and the teams will all be using different tire compounds over last year. The track appears to suit a strong power unit as both Red Bull and Toro Rosso struggled for pace last year. 

An important battle to play out in Sochi will be Lotus vs Force India as they fight for 5th in the constructors championship. Lotus got closer to the 5th place spot currently occupied by Force India in Japan as they recorded there first double points finish of the season. The gap remains at 17 points and the teams will be going extra hard as Lotus desperately need the extra prize money that 5th place pays out at the end of the season (If Renault don't take over which is highly unlikely). Red Bull could also join this fight as they have the disadvanatge of the Renault power unit, which will see them become mostly uncompetitive for podiums. They will have the better chassis against Lotus and Force India and will excel in the tight and twisty 3rd sector, whereas Force India and Lotus will have it over Red Bull in the long straights through sectors 1 and 2.

Force India will be a strong fight with Red Bull and Lotus.

Overall it proved to be a relatively easy and boring race last season with Lewis Hamilton winning comfortably after Nico Rosberg threw away the victory with a massive lock up at Turn 2. The new tire compound choices should throw a spanner in the works and prevent someone from going from lap 2 to the end on 1 set of tires (as Rosberg did in 2014). I fully expect Mercedes to be dominant and Ferrari to be just behind them. Williams should find themselves alone in 3rd with Red Bull, Lotus and Force India fighting for the 4th row of the grid in Qualifying. Action gets underway with Practice 1 getting underway at 10:00am local time.

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2015 Japanese Grand Prix - Race Analysis: Team by Team - Mercedes back to normal as Red Bull come out losers in Suzuka.

The 2015 Japanese Grand Prix was a good race for some, and one to forget for others. Lets go team by team with analysis and see who came out winners.

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton, 1st and Nico Rosberg, 2nd

It was back to usual running for the Silver Arrows at Suzuka as they picked up there 8th 1, 2 finish this season. The circuit which demands power as well as downforce was a much better suit than Singapore to Mercedes package. Nico Rosberg took the pole from Lewis Hamilton but lost the advantage right from the start. Lewis pushed Nico wide on the exit on Turn 2 and he dropped 4th behind Vettel and Bottas. Rosberg jumped Bottas and Vettel in his first and second pit stops to finish 2nd, whilst Hamilton led comfortably throughout to take 1st.

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg (right)

Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel, 3rd and Kimi Raikkonen, 4th

Ferrari had to play second fiddle to Mercedes in Suzuka. After a dominant race in Singapore many people were interested to see if the Scuderia's pace was permanent. It turned out to be a fairytale and Ferrari never looked threatening all weekend. Both Vettel and Raikkonen proved that there long run pace is much better than 1 lap pace after qualifying saw them only manage 4th and 6th respectively. Vettel jumped Bottas on the start and found himself 2nd behind Hamilton. He stayed there most of the race and got caught napping in the second pit window as Ferrari were too slow to protect from Mercedes undercut and he eventually finished 3rd. Kimi however only went forward, he managed to go from 6th to 5th off the start, and then play the undercut perfectly to jump Bottas in the second stops and finish 4th. Since Ferrari choose to undercut Bottas with Raikkonen, they had to wait an extra lap to box Vettel which cost him 2nd.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel locks up.

Williams - Felipe Massa, 17th and Valtteri Bottas, 5th

Williams definitely did not have a good day after qualifying promised a lot. The team looked to be on par with Ferrari in qualifying as Bottas and Massa took 3rd and 5th respectively. Massa's day got off badly as he touched tires with Ricciardo off the start, puncturing his front right and dropping him to last. He never recovered and only overtook both Manors to finish 17th. Valtteri Bottas pitted early on lap 12 from 3rd to protect himself from an undercut from Nico Rosberg in 4th. 4 laps later Rosberg behind pit and it proved to early for Williams as Rosberg caught and overtook Bottas on lap 17 down the inside of the final chicane. Bottas would then be jumped by Raikkonen in the second stops and only managed to finish 5th.

Williams Driver Felipe Massa and his first lap puncture.

Red Bull - Daniel Ricciardo, 15th and Daniil Kvyat, 13th

Red Bull's promising FP3 pace was prevented from being turned into strong race results by a heavy crash for Kvyat in qualifying which saw him start from the pitlane and Ricciardo receiving a puncture off the start from Felipe Massa. Daniel Kvyat's race didn't get better after his big qualifying crash as he had brake problems throughout the race which saw him locking up and subsequently struggling on tires. However Kvyat kept fighting and managed a sneaky move on Marcus Ericsson late in the race when the Sauber driver slowed down to let Kimi Raikkonen through, Kvyat managed to also sneak through securing himself 13th place. Daniel Ricciardo didn't have an exciting race until the last lap where he made a dive from miles back on the brakes on Marcus Ericsson. The Sauber engineers thought Ricciardo was attempting to take there driver out. The move didn't stick and he settled for 15th. These results saw the team drop further behind Williams in the constructors and put Force India in a position to attack for the 4th place spot.

Daniil Kvyat's car is recovered after his heavy crash in qualifying.

Force India - Nico Hulkenberg, 6th and Sergio Perez, 12th

Force India knew they would be a strong prospect at Suzuka as they had a strong engine and aero package. It didn't go 100% to plan though as Sergio Perez became the 3rd victim of punctures off the start and consequently he found himself in the gravel of Turn 1 and in last place. It was the opposite for Nico Hulkenberg as he managed to go from 13th on the grid to 6th place in the opening laps. Hulkenberg then knuckled down and had a relatively quiet race all the while holding onto 6th place proving to be the best of the rest behind Mercedes, Ferrari and the Williams of Bottas. Sergio Perez however had an action packed race as he fought his way through the field to eventually a strong 12th place. Perez indefinitely provided the best battle of the race as he attempted to get by Marcus Ericsson with Daniil Kvyat behind him. Perez caught Ericsson at the end of lap 42 and began to pressure him. Lap 44 Perez attempted a move round the outside of Turn 1 and 2 but brilliantly driving from Ericsson saw him hold position. Perez tucked in behind the Sauber driver up to lap 50 when he finally made a move stick as Ericsson ran just inches wide at Spoon, a small mistake that saw Perez get by. Perez ran out of laps to challenge the much slower Alonso for 11th and even Sainz for 1 championship point.

Force India's Sergio Perez

Lotus - Romain Grosjean, 7th and Pastor Maldonado, 8th

The last few weeks had been stressful ones for the Lotus team as they continued to have money debacles. After being locked out of there hospitality centers at the track the last thing the team needed was a bad result. However both Grosjean and Maldonado pulled together to find Lotus's first double points finish of the season, giving the team something to smile about. Like Hulkenberg both Lotus drivers drove quiet races and didn't have much action. Romain Grosjean finished 7th and recorded his 7th points finish of the season whilst Maldonado finished behind his team mate in 8th and recorded only his 3rd points finish of 2015.

Romain Grosjean of Lotus.

Toro Rosso - Max Verstappen, 9th and Carlos Sainz, 10th

The young guns of Formula 1 gave us a great show again in Suzuka as Verstappen went from 17th on the grid after a grid penalty and problems in qualifying to a 9th place finish. Sainz backed Verstappen up by finishing just behind him 10th. Carlos Sainz had some real pace during the race as he briefly held the fastest lap after his first stop. He also pulled off the first overtake off the race on Alonso round the outside of Turn 1. Verstappen showed some good racing intellect by pulling off a text book undercut on Felipe Nasr in the first stops. Overall not the most exciting day for the young guns, but a double points finish cannot be argued with.

Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz.

Sauber - Marcus Ericsson, 14th and Felipe Nasr, 20th (retired but was classified)

Sauber didn't score any points in Suzuka after a disappointing qualifying which saw both cars out in Q1. The team showed fight during the race with Marcus Ericsson managing to hold Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat up from lap 42 all the way through to lap 50 which effectively ended any chances for Perez to score points purely from brilliant defending. Felipe Nasr's day didn't get to much better from being jumped by Verstappen and Button in the pits after overtaking both of them round the outside of Turn 1. His race came to an end just laps from the finish with car trouble. He was classified as he did cover 90% of the race distance.

Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson.

McLaren - Fernando Alonso, 11th and Jenson Button, 16th

Not even a home race for Honda could see them pull something special out of the bag as the McLaren team continued to struggle at Suzuka. Alonso did well to gain 3 positions from his starting place of 14th and finish just outside points in 11th whilst Jenson Button could only manage a 16th place finish. The team were embarrassed by Fernando Alonso commenting that "They pass me on the straights like GP2, very embarrassing". The team was relatively quiet all weekend apart from Alonso's comments.

McLaren driver Jenson Button.

Manor - Will Stevens, 19th and Alexander Rossi, 18th

Last but not least was Manor-Marussia who again finished last 18th and 19th will Alexander Rossi beating his team mate Will Stevens after the brit was handed a penalty. Stevens did lead his team mate most of the race until a high speed spin at 130R which he managed to keep on the race track and stop facing the right way. It was a real bullet dodge as he only lost between 5 and 10 seconds from what could have been a heavy crash. The Manor's were quiet all race and we didn't see much action from them.

Manor driver, Alexander Rossi on the grid.

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2015 Japanese Grand Prix - Race Analysis: Hamilton wins comfortably in Suzuka as Ferrari don't challenge.

The 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has finished and it saw Lewis Hamilton finish 1st for the 41st time, equaling the great Ayrton Senna's record. It was the 8th 1, 2 for Mercedes this season with Nico Rosberg finishing 2nd. Sebastian Vettel picked up another podium for the Scuderia.

Race winner Lewis Hamilton.

The race was held over 53 laps and Lewis Hamilton led every lap. Lewis got the edge on pole sitter Nico Rosberg from the start when they went side by side into Turns 1 and 2. Lewis went up the inside and he squeezed Nico right out onto the curb, dropping him to 4th by the time they reached the esses. Vettel got the jump from 4th on Valtteri Bottas and he was ahead of the fin by Turn 1.

The first lap saw 3 punctures for Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez. They all pitted on lap 1. This saw the likes of Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Alonso the big gainers off the line, all going into the points by the end of lap 1.

The race start.

Hamilton set the pace early with the fastest lap and he pulled away from Vettel straight away. The first overtake we saw was from Marcus Ericsson as he passed Fernando Alonso round the outside at Turn 1. As we neared the 10 lap mark many people were pitting, including Valterri Bottas who undercut from 3rd trying to get in front of Vettel in 2nd. This also protected him from Rosberg in 4th. Bottas didn't get Vettel but he definitely closed up through the pit stop phase. Some people opted for the hards in the 2nd stint (Raikkonen, Rosberg, Vettel) and some opted for the mediums (Hamilton, Bottas)

In the 2nd stint Rosberg really closed up on Bottas for 3rd place and on lap 17 made an overtake through the last chicane. Rosberg then undercut his 2nd stop and Ferrari were caught napping as Sebastian Vettel was jumped by the now flying Rosberg. However it was't all bad for the Italian tram as they managed to get Raikkonen ahead of Bottas for 4th.

However Rosberg's pace wasn't enough and he finished a mere 16 seconds off Hamilton. Vettel did close the gap considerably to his compatriate for 2nd place, but didn't make a move.

Sebastian Vettel

Meanwhile there was no crashes or retirements in the race anywhere with the biggest moment being Will Stevens having a big spin at 130R. He had no damage and he ended up facing the right way and only lost a little bit of time. Daniil Kvyat struggled throughout the race with bad brakes and he was really struggling. Felipe Nasr didn't finished but was classified as he completed 90% race distance. This means it is only the 5th time in Formula 1 that there hasn't been a retirement from a race.

Overall the order finished:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
5) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
6) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
7) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
8) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
10) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
11) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
12) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
13) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
14) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
15) Daniel Riccardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
16) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
17) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
18) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
20) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari

The best race for me went to Nico Hulkenberg who finished in 6th place after starting from 13th on the grid. He was one driver who really stayed out of trouble and ran his own race which saw him pick up some points which Force India desperately needed since Lotus have just had a double points finish. Sergio Perez couldn't back Hulkenberg up after a lap 1 puncture ruined his race.

As I just said, Lotus also drove a great race after having problems all weekend with money. It will be a big confidence boost for the team to see they are still capable of scoring points, and to have both drivers doing it will put a smile on everyones face.

Toro Rosso also managed to have a double points finish in 9th and 10th with Max Verstappen getting the better of Carlos Sainz. They drove well and Sainz did very well after needing a wing change on his 2nd stop.

Williams really lost out at the top with Massa's race being ruined 10 seconds into the race and Bottas losing 3rd, then losing 4th and eventually only managing 5th. Ferrari definitely showed Williams that they have the better long run pace.

Felipe Massa received a puncture on lap 1.

The best battle of the race was for 12th position between Ericsson, Perez and Kvyat. Ericsson on older tires managed to hold off the very quick Perez and Kvyat for many laps until he ran a little wide at spoon, and Perez needed no other invitation, getting ahead before 130R. It was the first of many moves that stuck for Perez. Kvyat followed laps later through the chicane as Ericsson let through Raikkonen.

More to follow on the Japanese Grand Prix

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2015 Japanese Grand Prix - Practice 3 Analysis: Ricciardo gives Red Bull a fighting chance

The final practice session for the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has ended and to the delight of almost everybody the rain stayed away. We finally saw roughly what the pecking order would be for qualifying and Mercedes managed to up one on there Ferrari counterparts.

The session saw Nico Rosberg finish on top with a lap time of 1:33.995, 3 tenths ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton. The blood red Ferrari couldn't match the Mercs in the qualifying runs as they found themselves a full second adrift in P6 and P8. To be fair though Sebastian Vettel (P8) lost a lot of time on his lap from Daniil Kvyat. However when Mercedes and Ferrari ran there longer runs Sebastian Vettel appeared to be much faster than Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen, with 1 tenth separating all 4 drivers at one point. A difference between the two teams could be set up as Martin Brundle pointed out when he was track side at Degnar 1 and 2. He stated that the Ferrari looks "weak" through both Degnars. However these times aren't 100% representative as we can't be fully sure of the fuel loads that both teams ran.

Red Bull had a strong session on one side of the garage with Daniel Ricciardo finishing a very strong 3rd for the Milton-Keynes team. Results like these are what Red Bull need as they consider leaving the sport. Ricciardo drove 22 laps and as far as I was aware he didn't make any major mistakes during the run. He had pace on the hard tires as well as the mediums in the quali simulations. On the other side of the garage Kvyat was really struggling as he ran wide twice through Degnar 2. For me this will be a corner to watch for Kvyat in qualifying as it appears he isn't full on top of it. Ricciardo wasn't the only one strong on Hard tire runs though as 20 minutes in all 4 Renault powered cars were in the top 5.

Another consistent performer and surprise from FP3 was Williams who were in the top 6 when the Hard tires were being run. They then managed to keep that pace up when running the qualifying simulations. I did think Williams would be strong here as the mainly high speed and medium speed corners would suit there engine and chassis package. For them, Turns 11 (Hairpin) and 16, 17, 18 (Casino Triangle) will be important as they are the slowest and need good traction, something Williams have struggled with.

Once again Toro Rosso also prove to be relatively strong here with there high quality chassis. Toro Rosso would have been a very strong prospect if they had a better engine in the back.

Overall the session finished like this:

1) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
3) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
4) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
5) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
6) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
7) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
8) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
9) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
10) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
13) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
14) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
15) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
16) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
17) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
18) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
20) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari

Daniel Ricciardo was the star of the session and he is definately one to watch in qualifying. He was driving unbelievely fast in FP3 and outclassed his car. With Ferrari and Mercedes fighting for the pole, Ricciardo could throw a spanner in the works.

Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis: Kvyat puts Red Bull on top as they show strength in wet condtions.

Practice 2 for the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix has finished and once again we saw limited running as rain affected most of the session. Daniil Kvyat drove his Red Bull to the top of the time sheets and bettered the efforts of both Mercedes who followed closely in 2nd and 3rd.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

The session started off with intermediate conditions and they looked to be improving to perhaps even have slick running. However that wasn't the case as with about 30 minutes to go in the session the rain picked up and we saw full wet conditions. This affected Fernando Alonso as the McLaren missed the inters running due to an unscheduled engine change which saw him miss the first hour of the session. He finished 18th with a time on the full wets.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso had a very disrupted session with an engine change.

Daniil Kvyat was the star of the session as he managed to finish ahead of two Mercedes that look back to normal. Even with many drivers struggling, there were little mistakes from the Mercedes team which makes Kvyat's lap more outstanding. Many people were struggling in the changeable conditions. Early on Sergio Perez was complaining of a lot of understeer and he couldn't match the initial pace of Kvyat. 18 minutes into the session Pastor Maldonado ran across the grass on the exit of Turn 2. It was a lazy mistake and it looks as though he was too busy adjusting settings on the wheel. Minutes later Sebastian Vettel ran wide at Turn 1 and came inches to beaching himself in the gravel trap. Then 41 minutes into the session Max Verstappen took a trip through the gravel at the hairpin (Turn 11) after he locked up going into the slowest corner on the Suzuka track.

Then running was really disrupted as the rain began to come down, and for a period of 10 minutes Fernando Alonso had the track to himself as he got in some valuable wet weather running. Towards the end of the session both Mercedes and Ferrari's joined him on the track as they practiced starts at the end of the pit lane.

Ferrari front wings.

Once again though most of these times are highly irrelevant as wet weather times can't reflect race pace in dry conditions on Sunday. This means that the most important session now becomes Saturday Practice 3 as teams will have a choice to check long run pace or simulate qualifying. The teams will probably opt for the long run pace to see if the option tire can run long enough too run the two stop strategy.

This is how the running finished:

1) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
2) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
4) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
6) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
7) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
10) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
13) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
14) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
15) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
16) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
17) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
18) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
19) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Mercedes) did not set a laptime.

As I said earlier these times are relatively irrelevant as the wet running cannot dictate the pace of the cars in the dry. Free Practice 3 will definitely be a session to watch! Catch it tomorrow!

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Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis: Wet conditions interrupt running in Suzuka.

The very wet Friday Practice 1 session has finished and to be 100% honest you can't gain anything from the very little running. Only 12 times were set as 8 cars choose not to run in the conditions.

Fans at Suzuka.

The session was mainly run in the full wet tires and we had to wait 55 minutes before we saw the first timed laps from Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso's. These times were set with full wet conditions and were round the 1:51s. The first person to run the inters was Valtteri Bottas, but it proved to early as he had a big moment on the exit of Turn 2 and found himself 5 seconds off Verstappen's pace.

As more times were set towards the end of the session, more drivers began to struggle in the conditions that were balanced between full wets and inters. Most notably Felipe Massa who was complaining of understeer as he struggled to get his Williams through the first sector. Felipe Nasr also had a moment at Spoon curve as he went wide and nearly found himself in the gravel. Kimi Raikkonen also had a moment right as the chequered flag fell when he went wide at Turn 1.

Sebastian Vettel

There hasn't been anything to learn in this session in terms of Mercedes and Ferrari as wet conditions can't show us true pace. Ferrari appear confident, whilst Mercedes seems very worried as they believe that Ferrari now have a power unit on par with the Mercedes. The rain is set to continue through Friday Practice 2 and we will likely see a very rushed and very interesting Saturday Practice 3.
There wasn't much on track action in this session but there was plenty to talk about off the track. Lotus continue with financial troubles, there freight for this weekend arrived late and they didn't do any running in Practice 1 supposedly because they can't afford a crash. Red Bull are also still having problems for there 2016 campaign. The team is likely to be Ferrari powered but many reports are coming out saying the team won't be Red Bull sponsored next year. Another bit of news from the paddock is the announcement that on Tuesday Haas F1 will announce there 2015 race drivers. Many drivers are still in the running for the two seats from Esteban Gutierrez, Jean-Eric Vergne and even the possibility of Romain Grosjean.

Marcus Ericsson.

Overall the strongest looking car from this practice session was definitely the Toro Rosso as Carlos Sainz topped the session with Max Verstappen in 6th, Obviously these times are highly irrelevant but a definite pattern throughout the season is that the Toro Rosso is a very strong car in wet conditions.

Overall the session finished like this:

1) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
2) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
3) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
4) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
5) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
7) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
8) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
9) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
10) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
11) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
12) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda

Drivers who didn't set times:

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
Jolyon Palmer - Lotus-Mercedes
Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari
Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda

The second Friday Practice session is set to get underway in just under 2 hours. Heavy rain continues to pelt the Suzuka circuit and it looks as though it will be a very similar session to this one. Saturday Practice will be the most crucial session this weekend if the teams can't have normal running on the Friday.

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Japanese Grand Prix 2015 - Preview: Will Mercedes Singapore woes follow them to Suzuka?

With the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix just a few days away now, the Formula 1 season is really heating up. Lewis Hamilton goes into the race with only a 49 point gap to Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari. Mercedes were beaten on genuine pace in Singapore by both Ferrari and Red Bull. The team has no explanation, and all fans are wondering will this pace continue over to Suzuka?

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton

Theoretically this track should really balance the Ferrari and the Mercedes on pace. The problem is we aren't 100% sure whether Ferrari were fast in Singapore or Mercedes were slow. Martin Brundle stated that the altered layout in Singapore was about 5 tenths slower than the 2014 version. In 2014 Mercedes took pole with a time of 1:45.681, whereas in 2015 Hamilton set a 1:45.300. He was 3 tenths faster in 2015, which if you take the track change into account makes it a total of 8 tenths faster in 2015. However in the Hungarian Grand Prix's Nico Rosbergs 2014 pole time (1:22.715) vs Lewis Hamilton's 2015 pole time (1:22.020) its a 7 tenths difference. This to me shows that Mercedes continued with relatively normal pace in Singapore, which means Ferrari have made massive gains on the Silver Arrows.

So realistically Ferrari's form could continue in Suzuka. The track does suit a car that has a strong chassis which can grip to the left and right medium speed esses, whilst a car which can take fast corners like 130R at maximum speed. There is a need for a competitive power unit at Suzuka because of the long straight that precedes the penultimate right/left chicane, a good spot for overtaking. The Red Bull and McLaren's will find themselves on the end of many overtakes through the third sector.

Layout of the Suzuka Circuit

Suzuka won't fully discount Red Bull, but it definitely won't have them near the top of the field. Sector 1's twisty esses will suit the RB11 strong chassis, but the final sector's straight will put a lot of strain on the failing Renault power unit. Singapore was definitely a race the team targeted to go well at so expect potential for engine penalties here in Suzuka.

If Mercedes don't improve there pace from Singapore, Williams could be a team on par with them. The slow corner traction problems of the Williams (which has been there weakness all year) seemed be solved and that was clearly evident from Valtteri Bottas 5th place in Singapore. There are only a few slow corners in Suzuka (Turn 11 hairpin and Turn 17 chicane) and Williams will be hoping nail them.

Felipe Massa at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The battle for 5th will probably once again be advantage Force India as it clearly showed in Singapore the much stronger aero package they have over Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber. Lotus will then have the power unit advantage over Sauber (unless they are running the new Ferrari spec power unit, which I can't confirm at this stage) but Toro Rosso have showed that they have the chassis to deliver. We could see the unique situation where Toro Rosso get Force India in sector 1, but Force India will bounce back in sector 3 with the Mercedes power unit. The battle in the midfield for sector 2 will be an interesting one.

Sahara Force India driver Sergio Perez (MEX)

Honda will probably find themselves struggling and on level with Sauber. Manor will again occupy 19th and 20th.

This is how I roughly predict the pecking order to be in Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

1) Ferrari
2) Mercedes
3) Williams-Mercedes
4) Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Sahara Force India
6) Toro Rosso
7) Lotus-Mercedes
8) Sauber-Ferrari
9) McLaren-Honda
10) Manor-Ferrari
The Japanese Grand Prix will begin on Friday the 25th of September and go through to Sunday the 27th of September. It is a 53 lap race which could have the potential to show both rain and shine. It will truly be a test of Mercedes and Ferrari.

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Singapore Grand Prix 2015 - Qualifying Analysis: Vettel takes advantage of Mercedes struggles to seal a brilliant pole.

It has finally happened. The Mercedes power unit dominance in the V6 Turbo Hybrid era has ended with a brilliant pole position lap from Sebastian Vettel in the prancing horse at this years Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel stormed to pole with a 1:43.885 lap, 5 tenths ahead of his nearest rival Daniel Ricciardo.

Pole sitter: Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari

The Mercedes problems from Friday Practice 3 continued onto qualifying as they didn't top Q1, Q2 or Q3 only managing a mediocre 5th and 6th place on the grid. It is Mercedes worst qualifying since the 2013 US Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton only qualified 5th with Rosberg in 14th. This is also the first time since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix that a Mercedes powered car hasn't been on pole.

Mercedes only managed 5th and 6th.

Everyone has been talking about the amazing performance of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari and a lot of people have forgotten about Kimi Raikkonen who managed an excellence 3rd place on the grid to really back his team mate up. He couldn't quite make it a 1, 2 for Ferrari as Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull spoiled the party. Ricciardo had a great lap after a poor first sector and mediocre second sector but he bounced right back to go purple in the final sector, leaving millimeters between him and the wall in Turn 21. Daniil Kvyat backed his Red Bull team mate up with a career best 4th place on the grid.
Williams would have also been happy with there grid slots as they overcame there traction problems and got both cars into Q3. Bottas got the better of Massa though and finished 7th with the Brazilian coming home in 9th place. Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso split the two Williams and finished in 8th.

Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10 as he managed to squeeze into Q3 for Lotus. He didn't have his team mate to back him up as Pastor Maldonado showed his inexperience and why he truly is a payed driver as he could only managed 18th place on the grid. There really is no excuse for such a poor effort when your team mate can get up to 10th.

It was unlucky 11th again for Nico Hulkenberg after he missed out on Q3 due to yellow flags on his final run. They were bought out after Carlos Sainz hit the wall coming out of Turn 19. This disrupted the laps of everybody and saw both Force India's, McLaren's and Sainz himself instantly lose there chance to get into Q3. Force India will have been very disappointed after thinking they were in for strong Q3 points.

Daniel Ricciardo starts from the front row for Red Bull.

The last 5 slots on the grid were Maldonado as well as both Saubers and Manor-Marussias. Felipe Nasr led that pack in 16th, with his team mate Ericsson behind in 17th. Then came Maldonado's poor effort with Will Stevens getting the better of his team mate in the Manors taking the back row.

The grid order for Sunday looks like this:

1) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
2) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault
3) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
4) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault
5) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
7) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
8) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault
9) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
10) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
11) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
12) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
13) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
14) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault
15) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda
16) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
17) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
18) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
19) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari (5 Place Grid Penalty)
20) Alexander Rossi - Manor-Ferrari (5 Place Grid Penalty)

For me, Practice 3 and Qualifying has raised so many questions. Can Mercedes still win at Marina Bay? Red Bull gave them a real fight last year, as Lewis Hamilton feared his tires blowing up. Is 5th too far back for them? They haven't showed any long run pace and I don't think they have fixed there degradation problems. Can Red Bull win for the first time in 2015? This is realistically there last shot, and Daniel Ricciardo is pretty well placed to take Vettel off the line. Can Ferrari hold on and take there third win of the season and achieve the target they set for themselves at the start?

I can't wait for all these questions to be answered when the lights go green in just under 12 hours!

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