After the uneventful Valencia Grand Prix, the Formula One cartel headed to Silverstone and was struck by the Great British weather. But the unpredictable weather brings unpredictable results and qualifying certainly showed it. The big news before it all started was that Red Bull practice driver, Daniel Ricciardo, has been granted a place on the Hispania team, replacing Karthikeyan. The other news surrounded the FIA's decision to ban the blown diffuser that helps drivers accelerate during the corners for less down force. This in itself wasn't controversial but disappointing, the controversial side came from McLaren and Mercedes who still have the blown diffuser type system because 'it's how their engines work'. This has led to the other big teams feeling handicapped but in the end the results showed otherwise.
Debutant Ricciardo's first qualifying session behind an F1 car finished with a 'Karthikeyan-style' last place, followed by Liuzzi in twenty-third. Still unsurprisingly, D'Ambrosio starts twenty-second but his Virgin team-mate Glock out-qualified Trulli's Lotus into twentieth place. The other shocks from Q1 saw both Toro Rosso's get eliminated at the hands of Kovalainen but Alguersuari will start ahead of Buemi in eighteenth. The rain came down mid-way through the session which left the final minutes of the session un-fought and Alonso came off the track but was luckily able to continue. Although Webber was fastest in Q1, Williams' Pastor Maldonado was second quickest, suggesting a shock could well be on the cards this weekend.
Q2 saw Kovalainen finish seventeenth but was as high as eleventh at one point before everyone made a mad dash to the line. Heidfeld continues his qualifying hoodoo by starting sixteenth in tomorrow's race, his team-mate Petrov finishes fourteenth with Barrichello stuck in between. Michael Schumacher recorded his worst finish in qualifying and starts thirteenth tomorrow with Perez and Sutil ahead of him in twelfth and eleventh. Massa was the fastest in Q2, showing that Ferrari are still competing this season.
Q3 had surprise entrants with Maldonado, Di Resta and Kobayashi all making into the final shoot-out. Rain again interfered with the final moments of the session and it yet again provided unusual results. After McLaren's supposed advantage, Hamilton will start tenth tomorrow with Rosberg just ahead of him. Kobayashi managed eight with Maldonado seventh and Di Resta sixth. Button will yet again start behind his rivals in fifth as the Ferrari's occupy the second row, Alonso out-qualifies Massa yet again. This means that Red Bull still reign at the top of qualifying but Mark Webber finally found the anti-dote to temporarily stop Vettel and the Aussie will start from Pole for tomorrow's race.
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