This late afternoon qualifying session was supposed to produce the first real picture of the current hierarchy among the eleven teams. With the aim of doing a single very fast lap – one aspect of qualifying that has remained the same for this year – the result ought to have reflected the pecking order down pit lane. However, the threat of rain turned to reality towards the end of Q1 and clouded the issue.

Fernando Alonso was reasonably happy with fifth place, while Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake in the treacherous conditions right at the end of Q2, clipping the wall with the front of his F14 T which meant he was a spectator for rest of the afternoon, although he probably would not have made the cut to the top ten shoot-out anyway. He will have a tough race tomorrow, trying to make his way up the order from twelfth place.

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