The Q1 session for the Chinese GP produced a very strange result with Nico Rosberg setting the pace, ahead of Vitaly Petrov and the two Ferraris, while Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber missed the cut and will start 18th on the grid. Sebastian Vettel was sixth behind fifth-placed Michael Schumacher, while Paul di Resta was seventh in his Force India, ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s Renault, Rubens Barrichello in the Williams, Jenson Button’s McLaren and Sergio Perez in the Sauber.
Compounding the odd order, Lewis Hamilton was 12th, ahead of Adrian Sutil, Sebastien Buemi, Pastor Maldonado’s Williams, Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber.
Those missing out were Webber, the two Lotuses, the two Virgins and the two HRTs.
Weird.
joeblogsf1 
Go ahead and call me a conspiracy theorist, but Webber out in Q1? Come on already; two cars built identically being so far apart from one another? Helmut Marko is getting his way this season by preventing Webber from fouling Vettle’s pitch. Enough to keep him out of the running; then, mark my words, suddenly Webber’s car will be competitive again. I know, it doesn’t make sense in the real world, but neither did Piquet Jr.’s deliberate crash in Singapore, and this has just as much subtlety. This explains Webber’s body language since before the season started; meetings were held and decisions made.
Surely the thing to do is to take the KERS system off Vettel’s car and put it on Webber’s.
For me this looks very similar to the Alonso/McLaren relationship in 2007. Lots of technical problems in one car and almost nothing in the other. At the end the FIA had to put a comissary in McLaren in order to prevent any more unfortunate incidents involving the Alonso`s car and it was quite succesful in that matter and Alonso got a lot more points than Hamilton in the last races.
I think that Webber should do the same and in fact is probably what he asked when he went to the FIA after the Q1.
@markdartj
That’s just silly talk. Teams would never cripple one car.
But, I do believe that Webber is on his way out of RB, and he knows it. That would easily spoil his performances.
@markdartj – Possible but unlikely. Anyway, all Mark’s bitching and moaning at key times last year won’t have made him the teams favourite so if he find’s himself in their pocket now he won’t need to look far to find someone to blame… the bathroom mirror tomorrow morning perhaps.
I couldn’t agree with you more – a team that wins the previous year’s championship , and the first three races still having problems with “the #2” driver’s car?
1 race , yes , 2 races ,maybe but 3 in a row?
This is a disgusting way to try and end the career of a very good driver .
Put it in the fence Mark and walk away , you have/ need nothing to prove and you are far better than that crap that is being served to you at the moment.
I dont know whether I entirely agree, but it does seem rather unusual that one cars KERS is working & the other isnt, any comment, Joe? Were a long way from the action.
Really it is all explained when you look at the rubber used. Beyond that, the decisions are the only thing weird, not the results.
Quick follow up, does china give the press gallery a window or not? On TV we knew webber was on the hard during the lap, so unlike as you say in your Q2 wrap up, it was did not come out later. I mean this with no ill intention, simply wondering if the press is being pushed to the lot between two Johns and a waste disposal area.
P.S. Just moved to Vancouver, BC from Montreal/Toronto/Waterloo Ontario and now can say whole heartedly that it is hard following F1 on the West Coast when the fly away races start at midnight and the European races will start at 2-4 am. This is really going to test my dedication.
Mad-elph
Yes, the press centre has windows. The problem is that it is eight stories above the track
At least RBR can take parts from Webber car now like Silverstone with out problem when they need it and dont have to explain to the world that Webber is out of contention….lol…
@ Mad-elph, Welcome to the left coast. I’m just a few score miles to the south of you in Anacortes WA, and I have been getting up for years at all odd hours of the night to watch the races live. You get used to it; although the race does have to pass the acid test for excitement or it’s easy to doze off. Fortunately SPEED replays the race either later in the day, or Monday morning. Wait until LeMans comes around. One question though: When F-1 was on ITV, you guys up in Canada got their coverage (as well as SPEED’s). Do you now get BBC’s coverage?
@ OXO, The team doesn’t have to “cripple” Webber’s car. Maybe they just don’t quite develop it with the same resources that Vettel’s car gets. If I would have said something about Piquet Jr’s crash in Singapore, that would be called “silly talk” too. One can only wait and see.