Post by Brian W LawrencePost by Sir TimFor the third race in succession Vettel did not park his Ferrari where he
was supposed to after qually. Previously he has stopped in the pit lane and
sprinted across for the interview; this time he didn’t even bother with the
interview.
Is this just part of the current Ferrari policy of being as uncooperative
as possible with the media or is there something they don’t want us to see?
I believe the instructions say that they need to park there 'if they
take the chequered flag at the end of Q3'. Didn't Vettel pit before the
flag? His final lap was 1'43.3, over 30s slower than RIC's final lap.
That seems to have been the case in Baku too, but not Barcelona. His
final lap in China was also 30s slower than his best lap.
Did he need his final lap to get pole in Spain?
Actually from checking the times for the season so far it's more
'normal' for the top 3 to finish the session in the pits. Only 5 of
18 drivers set their best lap on their final lap. One other (RIC
yesterday) just failed to better his best lap. The other 12 finished
the session with a lap time generally at least 30s slower than pole.
OK, some may have rolled across the line to park on the grid, but
most likely they pitted. VET had 2 best laps (AUS & ESP), 3 slow and
one where he had been in the pits for 5m (AZB).
Instructions from 'Note to Teams' from Race Director:
"Should either of your drivers be among the top three at the end of
qualifying we would like to ask for your co-operation in following the
procedure below :
- If they take the chequered flag at the end of Q3 the fastest three
drivers should stop just before the pit entry line in front of the usual
1-2-3 boards which will have been placed on the track.
- Other than the team mechanics (with cooling fans if necessary),
officials and accredited television crews and photographers, no one else
will be allowed on the grid at this time (so please no driver physios
nor team PR personnel).
- Once out of their cars the interviews will take place on the grid, the
interviewer will be David Coulthard. At the same time team mechanics
should push the cars to the parc fermé in the weighing area.
- If one of the top three drivers is in the pit lane at the end of the
session the team should ensure that he goes directly to the pit entry
once the other drivers have arrived there."
It's only a request, not a mandatory instruction.