Once the cars finally got out on the track, things were a little nervy, to say the least. Mercedes looked colossal in the first session, leading the pack by almost two full seconds for much of Q1 and the first part of Q2. Let's hope that doesn't become a common occurrence, or the more fickle F1 fan amongst us will begin grumbling about 'the sport getting boring' and 'it's always the same team winning', with a combination of frustration and disappointment adorning their face. It looked as though Vettel's woes would continue, as he heard those immortal words coming across the radio, 'box! There's a problem with the car'. A few laps later, in Q2, and he was splitting the two Mercedes cars on the front row and proving that somebody could challenge the Silver Arrow.
The most shocking moment of the qualies was when the partisan BBC commentators claimed that, Fernando Alonso driving in to Kvyat was the Russian's fault. David Coulthard and Ben Edwards stumbled through reasoning like 'the man coming in to the corner is the man at fault' and 'Kvyat locked up and slid in to the side of the Ferrari', none of which was true. It didn't take a genius, whilst watching the onboard camera, to see that Alonso, unceremoniously and without warning, closed the gap that Kvyat was driving in and left him nowhere to go except through the Ferrari's side pod.
Vettel didn't finish qualifying completely unscathed. In Q3, he managed to run out of time and cross the line after the chequered flag, whilst everyone else began their final hot laps. He still qualified second, but will surely have to admit that it was an opportunity lost. The unusual thing about the session was that the result wasn't random at all, despite the rain and despite the unpredictable new cars. Hamilton and Rosberg were fastest, in the Mercedes, whilst the Red Bulls and the Ferraris were up there too. Hopefully rain doesn't postpone the race until Monday afternoon, and that something shakes the order up a bit.The Grid:
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