F1 Singapore Quali Results & Report: Alonso Takes Pole, 5 Title Contenders to Start in Top 5

What Happens When an Island is a Happy Place for Alonso

11:14am EST —Fernando Alonso made it two poles in a row for Ferrari winning pole position for the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix halfway through the final qualifying session, with second-place starter Sebastian Vettel unable to beat the Spaniard in their final flying laps. McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button with Mark Webber round our the top five starters, while Rubens Barrichello put in a good showing for Williams to start sixth. Michael Schumacher again made it into Q3, qualifying in what feels like his typical ninths. It was a mixed-emotion day at Ferrari, with pole-sitter Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa starting last after an electronic issue kept him from posting a time in Q1 and leaving him to start last on Sunday.

It was Red Bull all the way in both Friday practices, with Webber taking the lead as the circuit finally dried out after a typical late afternoon storm put standing water on the track an hour before the first practice. It was a topsy-turvy session, as Kobayashi, Schumacher, and Virgin Racing’s Glock spent quite a bit of time on the top of the timesheets in the middle of the session. It was the second session that brought representative dry times, as Vettel was the first and only driver into the 1:46s range, over a half second faster than his teammate Webber, who was second fastest, and a second or more faster than Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and the rest of the field. Alonso ended his session with twenty minutes to go when he went down an escape route (after being poised to set a very fast lap time) to avoid crashing and seemed to have stalled the car. According to Ferrari, “We need to wait until the car is brought back in the garage to understand what happened when Fernando was rejoining the track.” Vettel kept to the top of the timesheets for the final practice before qualifying on Saturday, leading Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, and Rosberg as the top five on a patchily damp circuit. Again, there were spins, but no major incidents.

Q1:
It was a bit of a procession to get out of the pits for the first sector of qualifying as twelve cars were on the circuit straightaway; while Hamilton was one of the first out, Button, both Ferraris, Red Bulls, Williams, and a few others remained in the garage. The track was delcared dry, though there were a few wet spots, “It looks that there are still some damp patches at turns 3 and 5,” according to Ferrari. Four minutes in and only five drivers had not headed out, with early “fast” times set by Liuzzi, Glock, and other new teams until Hamilton went straight to the top, followed by Kobayashi. Button and Vettel were fastest and second fastest, with Schumacher’s time also eclipsing Hamilton’s, and Liuzzi rouding out the top five with thirteen minutes left in the twenty minute session.

Alonso was soon fastest, but he lost that time to Vettel, both of them the only drivers in the 1:47s range as Alguersuari was a surprise in third, only to be moved backward by Webber’s 1:47.794, with Button fourth fastest. The session was stopped with just over ten minutes left for Massa stopped on the circuit with a suspected engine issue. His session was over before he could set a time. According to Ferrari, “The engine stopped but we need to see what exactly happened once the car will be brought in the garage.” Hulkenberg was the first one back onto the circuit as everyone but his teammate and Alonso stayed in the garage. Neither Williams, Sutil, nor Kubica had set a time, along with the luckless Massa. With seven minutes left in the session, Vettel remained at the top, followed by Alonso, Webber, Button, Alguersuari, Hamilton, Schumacher, Rosberg, Heidfeld, and Liuzzi as the top ten. Still, Barrichello, Kubica, and Sutil had not set a time, until Barrichello went straight to eleventh with his first time. Ferrari also tweeted, “Loos like a problem with electronic management of the gearbox but we need to wait until the car is back in the pit.” Sutil was off to tenth with his first lap.

F1 Singapore FP1&2 Results and Report: Vettel Takes Charge in 2nd Practice After Webber Fastest in Slow, Damp FP1

What Happens When Singapore Doesn’t Dry Out Quickly

11:07am EST — It was Red Bull all the way in both Friday practices for the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix, with Mark Webber taking the lead as the circuit finally dried out after a typical late afternoon storm put standing water on the track an hour before the first practice. It was a topsy-turvy session, as Kamui Kobayashi, Michael Schumacher, and Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock spent quite a bit of time on the top of the timesheets in the middle of the session. It was the second session that brought representative dry times, as Sebastian Vettel was the first and only driver into the 1:46s range, over a half second faster than his teammate Webber, who was second fastest, and a second or more faster than Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and the rest of the field. Alonso ended his session with twenty minutes to go when he went down an escape route (after being poised to set a very fast lap time) to avoid crashing and seemed to have stalled the car. According to Ferrari, “We need to wait until the car is brought back in the garage to understand what happened when Fernando was rejoining the track.”

F1 Monza Results & Full Race Report: Alonso Wins in Italy With Fast Pit Stop

What Happens When the Crowd Goes Wild

9:24am EST — Fernando Alonso romped to victory in the 2010 Italian Grand Prix, his first trip to Monza as a Ferrari driver, beating out Jenson Button and Felipe Massa.  While Button got Alonso at the start, it was the Ferrari crew that gave the Spaniard a pit stop a second faster than McLaren’s for Button, allowing Alonso to fight off Button for the lead, despite ebing on colder tires.  Fourth-place finisher Sebastian Vettel could also thank his Red bull crew for putting in the fastest stop of the race to keep him in fourth when he stopped on the final lap.  Lewis Hamilton was out on the first lap, after colliding with Massa and damaging his right front suspension.  Nico Rosberg had a good race to finish fifth, but some of the closest racing in the final laps was between Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg for sixth, with the Australian coming out victorious, but angry after Hulkenberg kept hokding him off by cutting through the chicane.

Alonso kept the hopes of the tifosi alive with a run to pole for the 2010 Italian Grand Prix during Saturday’s qualifying, with Button attempting to catch him but not coming quite close enough to do more than start beside him on the front row.  Massa was quick all session and started in third as Mark Webber hauled his Red Bull into fourth as he and sixth-starting teammate Vettel seemed unable to catch the Ferraris or McLarens.  Hamilton started fifth.  Both Williams drivers made it to Q3, with Nico Hulkenberg outpacing Rubens Barrichello, as they started eighth and tenth, respectively.  Nico Rosberg again will start the race in the top ten in seventh, also again outqualifying teammate Michael Schumacher, who did not advance beyond Q2 and started twelfth.  Robert Kubica, who was quick through most of qualifying only managed ninth.  Kamui Kobayashi had some sort of technical issue on the grid and started from the pit lane.

The sun was shining brightly as the cars got away in Italy, Button had a good start to take the lead from Alonso through Turn 1 after Alonso pushed him to the right, as Massa came up beside Alonso to fight for second, with Hamilton soon up the inside of Massa in the second chicane and damaging his right front suspension when the two came together, ending the Briton’s day.  By the end of the first lap, Button had a half second on Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, and Kubica as the top five.  The Red Bulls were down in seventh and ninth, with Schumacher splitting Vettel and Webber.  Sutil pitted on L2 as Kobayashi’s gremlins forced him to a stop on the track.  Soon enough Alonso was right behind Button and searching for a way around the reigning world champion.  The top five remained unchanged through the first five laps, with Hulkenberg, Vettel, Schumacher, Webber, and Buemi the rest of the top ten at the end of L5.

F1 Monza Quali Results & Full Report: Alonso Wins Pole From the Pit Lane

What Happens When the Tifosi Go Insane

9:02 am EST — Fernando Alonso kept the hopes of the tifosi alive with a dominant run to pole for the 2010 Italian Grand Prix, with Jenson Button attempting to catch him but not coming quite close enough to do more than start beside him on the front row.  Felipe Massa was quick all session and will start in third as Mark Webber hauled his Red Bull into fourth as he and sixth-starting teammate Sebastian Vettel seemed unable to catch the Ferraris or McLarens.  Lewis Hamilton will start fifth.  Both Williams drivers made it to Q3, with Nico Hulkenberg outpacing Rubens Barrichello, as they will start eighth and tenth, respectively.  Nico Rosberg again will start the race in the top ten in seventh, also again outqualifying teammate Michael Schumacher, who did not advance beyond Q2 and will start twelfth.  Robert Kubica, who was quick through most of qualifying only managed ninth.

Q1:
Glock was the first man onto the track, getting some clear space as no one joined him until Liuzzi and Schumacher got going as well.  The first five minutes were filled with non-typical drivers at the top of the timesheets as the session got started.  Halfway through Q1, Hamilton led Massa, Alonso, Button, Rosberg, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Vettel, Webber, and Kobayashi as the fastest ten while Kubica and Sutil joined the new teams in the knockout zone, neither of them having set a time to that point.

The top six of Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Vettel, and Webber were in the garage, presumably happy with their realy times with four minutes left in the first third of the qualifying session.  Liuzzi had joined the new teams in the knockout zone as he was the only other driver in the garage with just three minutes left.  The team was reporting that “The car wouldn’t pick up and went into anti still [sic] in sixth. We’re still investigating,” on Twitter.  Kubica’s time eclipsed the Red Bulls for fifth fastest as the seconds ticked down while Buemi got himself safely out of the bubble by improving his time to twelfth.  Liuzzi kept dropping back as the Lotuses of Trulli and Kovalainen posted faster times across the line after the end of the session.  Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Vettel, Webber, Sutil, Hulkenberg, and Rosberg were the fastest ten at the end of Q1.

Knocked Out at the End of Q1:
18. Trulli 1:25.540
19. Kovalainen 1:25.742
20. Liuzzi 1:25.774
21. Glock 1:25.934*
22. di Grassi 1:25.974
23. Senna 1:26.847
24.Yamamoto 1:27.020
*Glock will drop to twenty-fourth starting position with a five place grid penalty for Virgin Racing’s work on his gearbox before qualifying, moving di Grassi, Senna, and Yamamoto up a position each.

Q2:
Alguersuari may have been the first driver onto the track, but it was a mad dash to get out there when Q2 began.  Two minutes into the session and only the Mercedes of Schumacher and Rosberg, with de la Rosa, remained in the garage.  They soon joined the fray.  “Both Felipe and Fernando went out on hard tyres, new set,” according to Ferrari on Twitter.  Hamilton was soon fastest, on a set of soft tires, with Alonso, Button, Kubica, and Hulkenberg the fastest five.  Five minutes into Q2 Buemi, Vettel, Barrichello, Massa, Schumacher, Rosberg, and de la Rosa were in the knockout zone.  Once he set a time, de la Rosa went to fourteenth, though still unlikely to move on to Q3.

Massa had moved up as well, while teammate Alonso took the fastest time away from Hamilton with at 1:22.297 and the session half over.  The knockout zone was less controversial at the halfway point, as well, with Sutil, Schumacher, Buemi, Kobayashi, Petrov, Alguersuari, and de la Rosa there, though it would seem odd that Schumacher’s pace of the weekend was so far behind and off teammate Rosberg’s, who was ninth fastest with just over five minutes left.  Vettel had jumped up from that ninth position to fourth fastest, with Alonso, Hamilton, and Massa faster and Kubica fifth fastest as the Ferraris were out on another set of soft tires.

Both Williams drivers had a likely possibility of making in to Q3, with Hulkenberg seventh and Barrichello tenth fastest while Sutil, Schumacher, Buemi, Kobayashi, Petrov, Alguersuari, and de la Rosa in the knockout zone with two minutes left.  Neither Hamilton nor Kubica were on-track, though Kubica’s teammate Petrov was posting laps in an effort to haul his Renault out of the knockout zone.  Kubica slid down the times as the seconds ticked down though he appeared unlikely to get knocked out, as Barrichello and Sutil traded tenth position and moving on to Q3.  At the end of the session, Alonso led a late-charging Button, Hamilton, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Hulkenberg, Rosberg, and Barrichello as those who moved on to fight for the pole.

Knocked Out at the End of Q2:
11. Sutil 1:23.199
12. Schumacher 1:23.388
13. Kobayashi 1:23.659
14. Buemi 1:23.681
15. Petrov 1:23.819
16. Alguersuari 1:23.919
17. de la Rosa 1:24.044

Q3:
Half of the drivers competing in Q3 were out when the light went green with Massa out first.  A minute later and only Rosberg and the Williamses were still in the garage.  Alonso and Kubica were fastest in the first sector, with Alonso linking up a fast second sector as well to set an early time of 1:21.962, three tenths faster than teammate Massa who was second fastest with just under seven minutes left.  Massa soon lost his position to an f-duct using Button.  What had been a three team fight for speed looked to have reduced to just Ferrari and McLaren as the session was half gone and the drivers were back in the garage, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, and Barrichello never having set a time.

Four minutes left in the final portion of qualifying and only Massa, Barrichello, and Hulkenberg were on the track, as the other drivers began returning to fight.  Three minutes left and only Button was not out of the garage.  Massa was improving his time, but not enough to overtake Button.  Soon both were in the garage with two minutes left, though they did not remain there long.  Rosberg had yet to set a time with a minute and a half left, with Barrichello nearly six seconds off Alonso’s pace.  He improved, but only by time and not in position.  Multiple drivers were on a final flyer or were able to start one just before the checkered flag, though Alonso pitted, resting on his 1:21.  Button had the fastest time of all through the second sector, but it was not enough to catch Alonso as Massa stayed third, Webber moved up to fourth and dropped Hamilton (who was not using the f-duct as was Button) to fifth while Vettel was stuck in sixth.

Final Provisional Qualifying for the 2010 Italian Grand Prix:
1. Alonso 1:21.962
2. Button 1:22.084
3. Massa 1:22.293
4. Webber 1:22.433
5. Hamilton 1:22.623
6. Vettel 1:22.675
7. Rosberg 1:23.027
8. Hulkenberg 1:23.037
9. Kubica 1:23.039
10. Barrichello 1:23.328

F1 Monza FP1&2 Results and Report: Vettel Fastest Overall as Three Teams Fight in Italy

What Happens When It’s a Three-Team Battle

9:42am EST — It was a three-way fight between McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari to lead the Friday practices for the 2010 Italian Grand Prix.  McLaren took the win first, with Jenson Button’s fastest time in the first session, though he was very closely followed by Sebastian Vettel there, with Lewis Hamilton third fastest.  Button and Hamilton spent some time at the top in the second session, but the Ferrari pace on soft tires was not to be beat, until Vettel took the top position on the timesheets in the second session after Felipe Massa had a dramatic off at Parabolica while holding the session fastest time.  Fernando Alonso had taken the lead then, but lost the fight to Vettel.  The two were the only drivers to post times in the 1:22s range.  Button and Hamilton were fourth and fifth fastest in the second session, while Webber’s slower pace continued, posting the sixth fastest time in both session, when the second was ended fifteen minutes early with a water pressure issue.

PF1:
Button was fastest in the first practice at Monza, though he was closely followed by Vettel, with teammate Hamilton, Kubica, and Rosberg rounding out the fastest five. It was a slow-starting session, with fast times not set until about halfway through as the teams used their time for the in-season testing they are denied.  Red Bull used aero paint and has a splattered set of cars, McLaren went for a large rear wing, and Toro Rosso tried out the f-duct for the first time, six races before it will be banned for next season.  Kovalainen lost considerable time with continued hydraulics issues in his Lotus keeping him from the circuit.  Similarly, Bruno Senna had a set-back with a brake fluid leak that kept him from running more than eight laps.  For Ferrari, Alonso and Massa were eighth and ninth, while Vettel’s teammate Webber was sixth fastest.  Schumacher had another bad day, posting the tenth fastest time, five positions behind younger teammate Rosberg.

Final Times for Monza FP1:

	Driver	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Jenson Button	1:23.693		28
2.	Sebastian Vettel	1:23.790	+.097	27
3.	Lewis Hamilton	1:23.967	+.274	25
4.	Robert Kubica	1:24.120	+.427	25
5.	Nico Rosberg	1:24.129	+.436	30
6.	Mark Webber	1:24.446	+.753	26
7.	Tonio Liuzzi	1:24.512	+.819	19
8.	Fernando Alonso	1:24.543	+.850	24
9.	Felipe Massa	1:24.648	+.955	22
10.	Michael Schumacher	1:24.756	+1.063	26
11.	Nico Hulkenberg	1:24.841	+1.148	28
12.	Paul di Resta	1:24.923	+1.230	23
13.	Vitaly Petrov	1:25.292	+1.599	25
14.	Sebastien Buemi	1:25.318	+1.625	29
15.	Pedro de la Rosa	1:25.320	+1.627	20
16.	Kamui Kobayashi	1:25.334	+1.641	24
17.	Jaime Alguersuari	1:25.897	+2.204	19
18.	Timo Glock	1:26.772	+3.079	19
19.	Jarno Trulli	1:26.898	+3.205	12
20.	Lucas di Grassi	1:26.956	+3.263	17
21.	Heikki Kovalainen	1:27.374	+3.681	14
22.	Bruno Senna	1:28.256	+4. 563	8
23.	Rubens Barrichello	1:28.516	+4. 823	4
24.	Sakon Yamamoto	1:29.870	+6.177	17

FP2:
An hour into the session and Button led Hamilon, Alonso, Vettel, and Rosberg as the fastest five.  Only Bruno Senna had not set a time in the second practice session.  Hamilton had not run for much of the session, posting the second fastest time on an early flying lap after joining the rest of the cars on track.  Just five minutes after the one-third mark and Hamilton’s time overtook his teammate, by five hundredths.  The top five were the same, barring that change, with Rosberg, Massa, Hulkenberg, Sutil, and Barrichello the top ten.

The running order still had not changed much at the halfway point of the session, adding to the fact that so little can be gained from analyzing these practice sessions with the lack of in-season testing.  Hamilton’s time still led Button’s, with Alonso, Vettel, and Massa the fastest five.  The Ferraris were gaining on their lower-top-ten times from the first practice as some of the teams moved to the softer tires.  Alonso had led Massa most of the session, but the drivers traded places with forty minutes left to run.  Senna managed to get back into the car to attempt to set some times with just over thirty minutes left as Hamilton returned to the garage with end-plate damage on his right front.  Only seven drivers were on the track then.  Meanwhile, Massa was heading out for his first run on the soft tires.  He went fastest, eclipsing Hamilton, Button, Vettel, and teammate Alonso, setting the fastest session and weekend time of 1:23.061.

Senna was back into the garage and Alguersuari was stopped on the side of the track near della Roggia with twenty-five minutes left.  Massa had a quite dramatic off through the gravel at Parabolica, just before Alonso took his fastest time, but avoided the tire barrier to keep going.  Vettel immediately took Alonso’s glory by setting the fastest time, though they were the only two to manage a 1:22s lap time with twenty minutes left.  Button was setting times very far off the pace, presumably with heavy fuel.  All drivers but Webber, Buemi, de la Rosa, Trulli, and Kovalainen were in the garage making last minutes changes with fifteen minutes left.  Massa’s off ended his session while Webber stopped on-track in his sixth-fastest position, effectively ending his session as well, telling reporters that it was an issue with water pressure as a later-broadcast radio message to Webber indicated as well.

Most of the drivers were back out with ten minutes remaining, though none seemed to be setting particularly faster times.  Alonso was back out on soft tires, the “same set as before,” according to Ferrari on Twitter.  The top five were unchanged from the final minutes, with Vettel still leading Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, and Button.

Final Times for Monza FP2:

	Driver	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	1:22.839		27
2.	Fernando Alonso	1:22.915	+.076	32
3.	Felipe Massa	1:23.061	+.222	20
4.	Lewis Hamilton	1:23.154	+.315	22
5.	Jenson Button	1:23.210	+.371	38
6.	Mark Webber	1:23.415	+.576	23
7.	Rubens Barrichello	1:23.708	+.869	31
8.	Robert Kubica	1:23.709	+.870	32
9.	Nico Hulkenberg	1:23.852	+1.013	30
10.	Nico Rosberg	1:23.857	+1.018	29
11.	Adrian Sutil	1:24.181	+1.342	35
12.	Tonio Liuzzi	1:24.380	+1.541	36
13.	Vitaly Petrov	1:24.407	+1.568	21
14.	Michael Schumacher	1:24.448	+1.609	29
15.	Sebastien Butmi	1:24.517	+1.678	35
16.	Pedro de la Rosa	1:24.547	+1.708	32
17.	Kamui Kobayashi	1:24.785	+1.946	31
18.	Jaime Alguersuari	1:25.106	+2.267	24
19.	Jarno Trulli	1:26.204	+3.365	38
20.	Heikki Kovalainen	1:26.306	+3.467	41
21.	Lucas di Grassi	1:26.631	+3.792	31
22.	Timo Glock	1:26.676	+3.837	25
23.	Sakon Yamamoto	1:29.498	+6.659	5
24.	Bruno Senna	N/A	N/A	3

F1: Post-Hungary Penalties Abound

What Happens When Someone Has to Take Charge

8:42pm EST — After the sometimes chaotic, sometimes mundane Hungarian Grand Prix (read the full race report here), the FIA assessed multiple penalties for multiple teams and drivers, all due to bad behavior.  Renault was fined $50,000 on top of the stop-go penalty served during the by Robert Kubica, for releasing the Pole directly into the path of Adrian Sutil, who was pitting into the Force India stall directly ahead of the Renault box.  The two cars were lodged together, ending Sutil’s race then and bringing Kubica back for a stop-go, and forcing his retirement a lap later.  Similarly, Mercedes was fined $50,000 for unsafe release, for releasing Nico Rosberg with the lose wheel that shot off his car and bounced down and through the pit lane, landing on a Williams mechanic and arguably causing the Renault/Force India incident by distracting the Renault lollipop man.  Finally, Michael Schumacher was handed a ten-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, the next race after the summer break, for his heavy handed driving whilst attempting to keep former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello behind.  The German lost the position anyway, but nearly forced Barrichello into the pit wall on the front straight, with all four of the Brazilian’s wheels (with half of the width of the left side tires) on the wrong side of the white line, and then across the pit exit into the grass.  Many paddock notaries called for one race ban, or similarly more harsh penalty, with Barrichello himself angrily suggesting Schumacher be black-flagged on the radio after the incident.

F1 Hungary Race Results & Report: Webber Victorious, Vettel Petulant, Schumacher Under Investigation

What Happens When Pit Lane Chaos Takes Over

9:42am EST — Mark Webber won a sometimes chaotic 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel joining him on the podium.  A lost endplate from Tonio Liuzzi’s Force India brought out a Safety Car that led to mass pit stops, which gave rise to a lose wheel from Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes bouncing through the mechanics.  At about the same time, Renault let Robert Kubica exit his box directly into the path of Adrian Sutil, who was pitting into the box just ahead.  The two cars were stuck together.  The restart further added excitement, as Webber, who had not pitted, led off into the distance, with Vettel holding up Alonso.  He incurred a drive-through for being more than 10 lengths behind Webber.  Felipe Massa, and Vitialy Petrov completed the top five finishers.  It was a bad day for Mercedes power, with Button finishing eighth, Hamilton out with a driveshaft issue, Schumacher eleventh after losing the final point to Rubens Barrichello, despite driving the Brazilian to the pit wall in an incident to be investigated after the race, and Rosberg out due to his lost tire.

It was all Red Bull, all the time as Sebastian Vettel started from the pole.  He beat teammate Mark Webber to the position by four tenths of a second, with the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa the second row, and well back from the Red Bull pace.  Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, though his McLaren teammate Jenson Button did not advance beyond Q2 and will start eleventh.  It was another instance of Mercedes power not doing so well in Hungary, as Nico Rosberg will start sixth but teammate Michael Schumacher only qualified fourteenth.  Vitaly Petrov just pipped Renault teammate Robert Kubica for seventh, leaving the Pole to start eighth.  Pedro de la Rosa had a lovely qualifying session for Sauber, to start ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten starters for Sunday’s race.  Kamui Kobayashi had a five-place grid penalty for not stopping for scrutineering after qualifying.

The cars got away on a sunny afternoon, with Vettel taking the lead, while Webber tried to block a good-starting Alonso, who went on to attempt a pass on Vettel; he was unable to do so despite getting a wheel ahead.  It was Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa, and Petrov who had gotted around Hamilton to make the top five.  Kobayashi got a fantastic start to move up to sixteenth from his penalized start in twenty-third.  Hamilton made his way around Petrov on L2.  Meanwhile, Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso let go of its engine on the racing line, with oil and possibly bits of debris spewing behind.  By the end of L2, Vettel had a two and a half second lead over Alonso.  No one else, except for di Grassi about two seconds behind Buemi had a  gap in front or behind of more than a second on L2.

F1 Hungary Quali Results & Full Report: Vettel Takes Charge, Wins Pole by More Than Four Tenths

What Happens When Flexi-Wings Take Hold

9:12am EST — It was all Red Bull, all the time as Sebastian Vettel won pole for the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix.  He beat teammate Mark Webber to the position by four tenths of a second, with the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa the second row, and well back from the Red Bull pace.  Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, though his McLaren teammate Jenson Button did not advance beyond Q2 and will start eleventh.  It was another instance of Mercedes power not doing so well in Hungary, as Nico Rosberg will start sixth but teammate Michael Schumacher only qualified fourteenth.  Vitaly Petrov just pipped Renault teammate Robert Kubica for seventh, leaving the Pole to start eighth.  Pedro de la Rosa had a lovely qualifying session for Sauber, to start ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten starters for Sunday’s race.

Webber continued Red Bull’s authority over the rest of the filed in the final practice Saturday morning with a 1:19.574, nearly a half second faster than teammate Vettel.  Alonso and Massa were separated by fourth fastest Kubica, who has been expecting and experiencing a bit of Renault resurgence this weekend.  McLaren drivers Hamilton and Button were just outside the top five in sixth and ninth fastest, respectively, while Mercedes continued its not excellent pace with Rosberg and Schumacher eighth and twelfth.  Force India remained down in the standings after removing their blown diffuser, leaving just McLaren running one in Hungary.  Petrov was seventh fastest, with Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.

Q1:
Five minutes into the session and the first times were only just being posted, with Petrov, the first out, the first to the top.  He was not beat by Webber, nor the other thirteen runners until his teammate Kubica dispaced him as the fastest man on the track with a 1:22.309, only to lose his own position to Vettel.  Soon enough, Alonso was second fastest with Webber, Petrov, and Massa rounding out the top five.  McLaren seemed to have solved some of their problems, with Hamilton slotting into second fastest with the session almost half over.  In the knockout zone were Alguersuari, Trulli, Kovalainen, Glock, di Grassi, Senna, and Yamamoto.