2014 NewF1 Season - Cancelled

[HawkAussie]

Wow that was a terrible RNG for us.

[AustralianStig]

Here we are at Catalunya for qualifying for the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix. The driver line-up is unchanged once again, with Charles Pic still just under a month away from recovery for Caterham, however the big news is at Mercedes. The championship leaders have had an issue with their upgrades that were due to launch here and have been unable to fit them today. They will instead need to wait until Monaco, so they could be down on pace - we shall see! Let's head down to the track where Lewis Hamilton is about to set the first timed lap in Q1.

Q1:
And Hamilton is straight out with a strong time, 1:21.920 - we were expecting mid-22s today so Mercedes clearly aren't down on pace despite their upgrade issue. Webber is more around the range we were expecting, 1:22.458. Problem for Grosjean who runs through the gravel and loses a few seconds! Are we going to see him at the back of the grid again like Bahrain? Force India and Toro Rosso seem to be struggling for pace, although both make it into Q2 with Grosjean's blunder ensuring he joins the three small teams. Great job by Carlin who have both cars ahead of the Caterhams today, but up front it's all Mercedes once again.

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1.  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)      1:21.920
2.  Paul di Resta (Mercedes)       1:22.245 (+0.325)
3.  Mark Webber (McLaren)          1:22.458 (+0.538)
4.  Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)    1:22.590 (+0.671)
5.  Valtteri Bottas (Williams)     1:22.637 (+0.717)
6.  Pastor Maldonado (Williams)    1:22.648 (+0.729)
7.  Jules Bianchi (Ferrari)        1:22.650 (+0.730)
8.  Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)      1:22.666 (+0.746)
9.  Jenson Button (McLaren)        1:22.673 (+0.754)
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Red Bull)     1:22.707 (+0.788)
11. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)         1:22.819 (+0.900)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)       1:23.079 (+1.160)
13. Timo Glock (Sauber)            1:23.574 (+1.654)

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14. Nico Rosberg (Force India)     1:23.661 (+1.742)
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)  1:23.914 (+1.994)
16. Adrian Sutil (Force India)     1:23.933 (+2.013)
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)  1:24.316 (+2.396)
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18. Vitaly Petrov (Carlin)         1:24.891 (+2.971)
19. Max Chilton (Carlin)           1:25.018 (+3.098)
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham)   1:25.267 (+3.347)
21. Christian Klien (Caterham)     1:25.429 (+3.510)
22. Kevin Magnussen (Russian Time) 1:25.861 (+3.942)
23. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)        1:25.864 (+3.944)
24. Jolyon Palmer (Russian Time)   1:26.299 (+4.379)

107% time: 1:27.654

Q2:
Hamilton again sets a strong time, slightly slower with a 1:22.080 - can anyone come close this session? Di Resta does, only fractionally outside it with 1:22.124! The order this session is largely unchanged, although Force India make gains and Sauber drop a little. Vergne was unable to complete a lap when his alternator blew, ensuring he will start 17th tomorrow.

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1.  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)      1:22.080
2.  Paul di Resta (Mercedes)       1:22.124 (+0.044)
3.  Mark Webber (McLaren)          1:22.309 (+0.229)
4.  Jenson Button (McLaren)        1:22.380 (+0.300)
5.  Jules Bianchi (Ferrari)        1:22.576 (+0.496)
6.  Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)    1:22.617 (+0.536)
7.  Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)      1:22.624 (+0.543)
8.  Kamui Kobayashi (Red Bull)     1:22.702 (+0.622)
9.  Valtteri Bottas (Williams)     1:22.747 (+0.667)
10. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)    1:22.781 (+0.700)
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11. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)         1:22.853 (+0.773)
12. Adrian Sutil (Force India)     1:23.061 (+0.981)

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13. Nico Rosberg (Force India)     1:23.329 (+1.249)
14. Timo Glock (Sauber)            1:23.537 (+1.457)
15. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)       1:23.827 (+1.747)
16. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)  1:24.198 (+2.118)
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)  No time

Q3:
Hamilton looks unstoppable, but let's see if he can make it three from three sessions! He falters, his time only a 1:22.309! Di Resta goes a bit slower with a 1:22.381. Webber managed a 309 last session, can he beat that to go to pole? No! He has a poor lap only managing a 1:22.603! Button has a lockup and posts a high 22, Bianchi can only hit a 22.764, Vettel beats that by .004, Alonso's in the 1:22.6s, Kobayashi in the .8s, as is Bottas and Maldonado, despite having a KERS issue manages to take P7 with a 1:22.776. Hamilton is on pole and Mercedes have locked out the front row for the second race in a row!

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1.  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)      1:22.309
2.  Paul di Resta (Mercedes)       1:22.381 (+0.072)
3.  Mark Webber (McLaren)          1:22.603 (+0.294)
4.  Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)      1:22.638 (+0.329)
5.  Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)    1:22.760 (+0.450)
6.  Jules Bianchi (Ferrari)        1:22.764 (+0.455)
7.  Pastor Maldonado (Williams)    1:22.776 (+0.466)
8.  Kamui Kobayashi (Red Bull)     1:22.816 (+0.507)
9.  Valtteri Bottas (Williams)     1:22.859 (+0.549)
10. Jenson Button (McLaren)        1:22.990 (+0.681)

[HawkAussie]

We would like to give Davide Rigon a chance to compete for Ferrari in his local GP as he has performing good in the GP2.

[AustralianStig]

Unfortunately I'm pulling the pin on this. While I had a great time running NewF1 and NewGP2 I've just lost interest and don't have the drive to put the required amount of time into this to run it to the level of detail that I deem acceptable.

Thanks everyone for your support and the laughs, nail-biting finishes and moments of madness this series produced.