In Another World

That’s exactly where Lewis Hamilton was today. He was untouchable throughout the three qualifying sections and took a dominant pole position.

Judging by the timings, Lewis is making a killing in that last sector. Over the course of qualifying the Ferrari’s, Kubica and Kovalainen could match him in sectors one and two. But Lewis in sector three was something to behold. You can’t see it, but it’s there.

Sector three consists of a hairpin, the long back straight, a chicane and a short sprint to the line. By most tracks, that is nothing of a sector. So for Hamilton to pull off on average three tenths of a second advantage is something to behold. He said beforehand that he could take that chicane better than anyone else.
He proved that today. The gap he has over the rest of the field is something we haven’t seen since the days of Schumacher.

Kubica popped up out of nowhere to join him on the front row. Raikkonen and Alonso take up row two, a great effort from the Spaniard. Be interesting to see how he is on fuel tomorrow. Another star man of the day was Rosberg with fifth , with Massa beside him. Kovalainen ended up a disappointing seventh with Heidfeld eight. Barrichello kept his nose down and snuck in unawares to secure ninth whilst Webber finished out the top ten. The Aussie didn’t run in Q3 due to damage on his in-lap.

The condition of the track could be a major concern tomorrow. While track break-up is not abnormal, it is during a qualifying session. Trulli and Webber saw the track fall away from them and on some of the on-board shots we saw around the hair-pin, drivers were taking it very tight. All eyes will be on the organisers to see how to sort it. The last thing F1 needs is another track scandal in North America. It might not come to that severity but drivers were taking it extremely easy out there today.