In a thrilling final qualifying session of the 2010 Formula 1 Grand Prix, Williams F1 rookie driver Nico Hulkenberg claimed his maiden pole more than a second faster than the following championship contenders.
Qualifying was declared wet due to the rain preceding the sessions. The usual suspects were eliminated in Q1 along with Force India's Adrian Sutil. Sutil was pipped by his own team mate Tonio Liuzzi in the final moments of the qualifying session. Liuzzi nearly had a collision with Sutil in the qualifying session after Liuzzi who had an off track excursion joined back right in front of Sutil, who was on a fast lap. Sutil evidently was unhappy with team mate and it does look like all is not well within Force India. Force India F1 are yet to announce their driver line up for next year.
Jenson Button was the next causality in Q2. Button failed to impress and he along with Nico Rosberg were among the lead drivers to be eliminated in Q2. The track was drying out fast towards the end of Q2 which made Q3 all that more interesting as teams had to chose between dry and intermediate tyres for Q3.
Everyone started out with inters in the final qualifying session, in order to set a banker lap. But soon the track was too dry for inters and most drivers struggled in the final sectors of the lap. All the drivers soon entered the pits for dry tyres with less the 5 minutes remaining in the session. Lewis Hamilton was the first to claim provisional pole on dry tyres. But the real star of the session was Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg was the most comfortable with his setup and was easily setting fast sector times.
Championship leader Alonso claimed provisional pole on his dry set of tyres, but soon the lap times tumbled and the flying Nico Hulkenberg claimed provisional pole. Sebastian Vettel claimed second followed up by Mark Webber. Hamilton moved up to fourth. At the end of the qualifying session it seemed that Hulkenberg had done enough to claim the first pole of his career but the German wasn't satisfied. On his final flying lap he went even faster, more than a second of the pack of the championship contenders.
Hulkenberg's pole had added another interesting dimension to this years championship battles. While it remains to be seen if he can convert this pole to a win or a podium, he certainly is in a position to shake up the championship a bit. Fernando Alonso would be the most disappointed having qualified in 5th. While its not too bad a position, he must ensure that the Red Bull's do not close up to him after this race. For Jenson Button his title defence seems to be all but over.
Interestingly Hulkenberg is most likely without a race seat at the end of this year if Pastor Maldonado were to claim his drive. Hopefully Hulkenberg can pull something special out of this race to turn things his way. Hulkenberg has been very impressive in the later half of this season.
