F1 News
Five things we learned from qualifying in Germany: Vettel can't catch a break!
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
With qualifying done and the German Grand Prix set to take place tomorrow, we sat down and pondered into the distance, thinking about what we've learned from this qualifying session. Here are the five things we learned!
1. Ferrari are their own biggest rivals
With both Charles Leclerc as well as Sebastian Vettel suffering mechanical failures during qualifying, it's been another case of Ferrari shooting themselves in the foot while being favourites for a weekend. The Scuderia topped the timesheets in all three Free Practice sessions but couldn't translate it into a pole position when it mattered most.
The Italians are still without a win this season as we have two races left before the summer break. Before they can beat Mercedes, they need to get their cars' mechanics under control. Once they can perform consistently throughout a weekend without any drama, then they can go at the Silver Arrows.
2. Max should've had his first pole position
With the Ferraris out of the equation, Mercedes not being at the races and with Lewis Hamilton not being at his physical best, this was the ultimate moment for Max Verstappen to step in and put his RB15 on pole position. The Dutchman still hasn't ever gotten a pole despite his six race wins, and he probably would've had it if not for a mistake at turn 8.
The 21-year-old has probably been the most impressive driver on the grid so far this season, but he'll want to get that maiden pole position sooner rather than later. Opportunities won't come much better than this one.
3. The midfield is closer than ever
P8 to P13 were separated by five-hundredths of a second at the end of Q2. Half a tenth, five places! That's the kind of close action we love seeing in F1. The midfield battle has been a terrific one this season, and it should produce another good race tomorrow.
Sprinkle in two Ferraris in that midfield, which is led by Kimi Raikkonen in P5 for Alfa Romeo, and it should be mayhem. Expect overtakes, hard racing, maybe a few collisions. We love the 2019 midfield!
4. Bottas is regressing back to old Bottas
The British Grand Prix might have been the final blow to Valtteri Bottas' confidence of being able to challenge for a title. The Finn was on the wrong end of a Safety Car situation and teammate Hamilton could pit and stay ahead. Heartbreaking for Bottas, who was finally going to get his first win since Baku to put his championship challenge back on track.
Maybe it drained his confidence in such a way that it seeped over into this weekend because the 29-year-old was nowhere near Hamilton in Q3. Almost half a second as well as two places between them, while Hamilton was suffering from an illness as well. Not good enough from Bottas. Is the 2.0 version of him still somewhere in there?
5. Lance Stroll finally breaks his streak
After 14 straight times of not making it out of Q1 in qualifying, SportPesa Racing Point's Lance Stroll has finally made it out of Q1 alive. It only gave him a P15 for tomorrow's race, but we think he'll be happy deep down to have broken his streak, which dated back to the Japanese Grand Prix last season for Williams.
Stroll is still yet to beat Pérez on a Saturday this season, but this a promising sign of improvement for the 20-year-old Stroll, who will still need to improve his one-lap pace to match his great racecraft on Sundays.
