Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/608340
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2015 55 Sport FORMULA 1 Rosberg on pole as Vettel knocked out in Q1 Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit MERCEDES' Nico Rosberg beat team mate Lewis Hamilton by a comfortable 0.377s in Saturday's Abu Dhabi qualifying to clinch a sixth consecutive pole position. By contrast, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel - expected to be among Mercedes' biggest threats - will start 16th af- ter failing to progress beyond Q1 thanks to a misunderstanding over his position. By way of consolation for Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen took third, nar- rowly beating the flying Force India of Sergio Perez. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth for Red Bull, followed by Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who was separated from team mate Felipe Massa by the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz completed the top ten. As Q1 saw Hamilton fastest on Pirelli's supersoft tyres on 1m 40.974s, Ferrari spent much of the session on softs, and when Romain Grosjean improved late on to go 10th for Lotus, Vettel found him- self left on 1m 42.941s - the time he set on softs - after backing off when he thought he had done enough to progress. He thus missed the cut by 0.012s. Fernando Alonso was another former champion to lose out, with 1m 43.187s his best for McLaren af- ter a late left-rear puncture. Marcus Ericsson had a technical problem on his Sauber, which limited him to 1m 43.838s, while at the back Will Ste- vens had an easier ride than of late, comfortably beating Marussia team mate Robert Merhi 1m 46.297s to 1m 47.434s. However, Stevens will drop five grid places as a penalty for his team making an unscheduled change of his Control Electronics unit. In Q2 Hamilton again set the pace with a 1m 40.758s on supersofts, with Rosberg next up and Raikko- nen some way off in third with 1m 41.612s. Sainz bumped his Toro Rosso team mate Max Verstappen out of Q3, with 1m 42.482s to 1m 42.561s, as Jenson Button's 1m 42.668s left him an encouraging 12th for McLaren. Pastor Maldonado was 13th on 1m 42.807s for Lotus, ahead of the Sauber of Felipe Nasr on 1m 43. 614s. Grosjean never got a run, as his Lotus developed a gearbox problem. He tried to get a lap in right at the end, only for the E23 Hybrid to roll to a silent halt in Turn 8, thus end- ing the Frenchman's final qualifying session with the Enstone team. Rosberg came back at Hamilton in Q3; the champion's first effort was a disappointing 1m 41.016s as the lap faded in the final sector. Rosberg demolished that easily with 1m 40.738s, the fastest lap yet in the weekend. Perez was their closest challenger, on 1m 41.184s. Hamilton took back the initiative with 1m 40.614s on his second run, but Rosberg wasn't finished and came through to regain pole with 1m 40.237s. Behind them, Raik- konen got it right for 1m 41.051s to snatch third from Perez, who was nonetheless an excellent fourth with 1m 41.184s. Ricciardo's 1m 41.444s left him fifth, with Bottas sixth on 1m 41.656s, fractions ahead of Hulken- berg on 1m 41.686s. Massa was eighth with 1m 41.759s, and Kvyat's second run was an improvement to 1m 41.933s for ninth. Sainz did 1m 42.708s for 10th. Thus with penalties taken into ac- count the provisional grid will line up: Rosberg, Hamilton; Raikkonen, Perez; Ricciardo, Bottas; Hulken- berg, Massa; Kvyat, Sainz; Verstap- pen, Button; Maldonado, Nasr; Grosjean, Vettel; Alonso, Ericsson; Merhi, Stevens. Qualifying results - 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. N. Rosberg Mercedes 01:40.237 12 2. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:40.614 12 3. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:41.051 14 4. S. Perez Force India 01:41.184 18 5. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:41.444 17 6. V. Bottas Williams 01:41.656 19 7. N. Hulkenberg Force India 01:42.686 15 8. F. Massa Williams 01:42.759 20 9. D. Kvyat Red Bull 01:42.933 22 10. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:42.708 17 11. M. Verstappen Toro Rosso 01:42.521 14 12. J. Button McLaren 01:42.668 12 13. P. Maldonado Lotus 01:42.807 13 14. F. Nasr Sauber 01:43.614 14 15. R. Grosjean Lotus no time 11 16. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:42.941 7 17. F. Alonso McLaren 01:43.187 5 18. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:43.838 7 19. W. Stevens Manor 01:46.297 7 20. R. Merhi Manor 01:47.434 8 Alonso surprised by sabbatical talk FERNANDO Alonso says he was "the first to be surprised" at Ron Dennis' comments that he could take a sabbatical next year if McLaren-Honda remains uncom- petitive. After his brief 2007 stint at the team, Alonso returned to McLaren in 2015 for its reunion with Japa- nese manufacturer Honda, signing a deal through the 2017 campaign. But Honda has struggled to pro- duce a reliable and competitive engine. "I have an open mind. Some ideas have involved those sorts of con- siderations – sabbatical years," said Dennis at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when asked about Alonso's future. Alonso, however, was quick to deny the suggestion when asked for his view. "That's not the plan. The plan is to work very hard," Alonso com- mented. "My intention and my aim is to race next year and to win next year, or at least be competitive. "As I said in the TV pen this af- ternoon, I was the first to be sur- prised about Ron's comments. "I know that it's up to me now to answer and interpret what he meant with those comments, but I think it's much better to ask him, because I was the first to be sur- prised." Alonso also denied suggestions that he could re-assess the situa- tion after the first pre-season test of 2016, depending on how com- petitive the McLaren-Honda pack- age appears to be. "At the first test, if we are second or ninth, it will not change my ap- proach or my intention to keep winning that season, it's only one test," Alonso made clear. Alonso will start Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 17th posi- tion, five places behind team-mate Jenson Button, after suffering a puncture on his final Q1 lap. Fernando Alonso