Spanish Grand Prix 2010

Before the Grand Prix

In preparation for the first European race, many teams seriously updated their chassis. The Virgin team was able to solve their problem with the small size of the fuel tank by increasing the wheelbase of the chassis - not only to increase the fuel tank, but also for a completely new fuel system. In addition, a shark fin appeared on the VR-01 chassis. However, due to the volcanic eruptions in Iceland , which interrupted air traffic during the previous Grand Prix, only one car was able to be finalized to Barcelona, ​​it went to Timo Glock . After several overheating of Ferrari engines, which were both the main team and the client teams, she received permission from the FIA to finalize the motors. Due to accusations of tobacco advertising that caused the Marlboro barcode , Ferrari removed all of its traces before the weekend. The HRT team signed a contract with former Jaguar and Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klin as a test pilot, giving him the opportunity to replace Karun Chandhok in the first session of the free races. Clin’s superlicense expired because he hadn’t been racing for more than three years (the last time he participated in the Italian Grand Prix in 2006. The Austrian was able to take part in the practice, and his license was renewed just ten minutes before the start of free races ^{[2 ]} .

Free rides and qualifications

The first session of the free races was without incident, with the exception of the moment with the pilot Sauber Pedro de la Rosa , who deployed and he no longer left the boxes due to problems with the gearbox. McLaren pilots Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button led the protocol along with Michael Schumacher , who finished the session third. The German later admitted that the W01 updates gave him more confidence. The favorite of the local public Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was the eighth, between Renault pilots Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov . Heikki Kovalainen was once again the fastest pilot among the new teams, his Lotus T127 was four seconds slower than the Hamilton car and two seconds pilot Williams Nico Hulkenberg .

The second session was unpleasant for Hulkenberg. Twenty minutes after the start of the session, he flew into the gravel at the exit of the Campsa turn, the car turned around and it crashed into a protective barrier. A few minutes before the end of practice, Toro Rosso pilot Jaime Alguersuari stopped on the track due to problems with the car. The first time was shown by Sebastian Vettel , Mark Webber was two tenths of a second behind him, and Schumacher set the third time again. Alonso improved his time by moving up to the fourth line of the protocol, while McLaren riders in the person of Hamilton and Button rolled back to fifth and ninth positions, respectively. Jarno Trulli took the palm among new teams from teammate Kovalainen ^[3] .

In Saturday's training, as in the previous session, twenty minutes after its start, incidents began. When attacking a curb in the fourth turn, Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi flew out. Japanese Sauber C29 stuck in gravel, and the car of the Russian pilot crashed into a protective barrier and was badly damaged. Five minutes before the end of the stalled Mercedes engine in a car by Adrian Sutil . As a result, the first time was left to Vettel, although it was slower than he showed on Friday ^[4] .

Before qualification, Virgin and Vitaly Petrov pilots received a fine in the form of a loss of five positions at the start. The Russian lost his position due to a change in the gearbox ^[5] , and the pilots of the British team due to the fact that the engineers did not provide information on the gear ratios of the gearbox on time ^[6] .

In the first qualifying session, pilots of new teams (among which Trulli showed the best time) and Rubens Barrichello dropped out. The best time was shown by Mark Webber. He was able to stay on the first line and in the second session. And in the final part of the qualification Sutil (for the first time in a season), de la Rosa, Hulkenberg, Petrov, Buemi, Alguersuari and Luzzi could not get through. In the final part of the qualification, Fernando Alonso, leaving the boxes, almost hit Nico Rosberg , for which subsequently the Ferrari team received a fine of $ 20,000 ^[7] . Webber remained on the first line in the final session, ahead of team-mate by one tenth of a second. And Vettel, who became the second, by seven tenths of a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton ^[8] . After qualification on the car of Karun Chandhok, the gearbox was replaced and he lost five positions on the starting grid ^[9] .

Qualification

Notes

1. ↑ - Vitaly Petrov received a penalty and lost five positions at the start due to a gear change after an accident on free rides.

2. ↑ - Virgin pilots Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi received a fine for losing five places on the starting grid due to the fact that the team did not inform on time about gear ratios.

3. ↑ - HRT pilot Karun Chandhok also lost five seats due to a gear change.

Race

Notes

1. ↑ - Sebastien Buemi is punished with a fine “drive through the pit lane” for a dangerous exit from the pit lane.

2. ↑ - Jaime Algersuari is punished with a “pass through the pit lane” penalty for initiating a clash with Karun Chandhok .

• Note: Only 5 items are included in both tables.

• “Brilliant tie” - review of the Spanish Grand Prix 2010 (rus.)