F1 - Qualifying Times - Australian Grand Prix

[Rory Phoulorie]

Qualifying times - Australian Grand Prix.

1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 01:26.072
2. Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 01:26.493
3. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW-Sauber 01:26.556
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 01:26.755
5. Robert Kubica Poland BMW-Sauber 01:27.347
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault-Renault 01:27.634
7. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 01:27.934
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 01:28.404
9. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota-Toyota 01:28.692
10. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 01:28.871
11. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri-Honda 01:26.909
12. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 01:26.914
13. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault-Renault 01:26.964
14. Jenson Button Britain Honda-Honda 01:27.264
15. Alexander Wurz Austria Williams-Toyota 01:27.393
16. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari no time Q2
17. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda-Honda 01:27.679
18. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Ferrari 01:28.305
19. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault 01:28.579
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 01:29.267
21. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker-Ferrari 01:29.339
22. Christijan Albers Holland Spyker-Ferrari 01:31.932

all times unofficial

http://www.crash.net/news_View~cid~1~id~144650.htm

[Rory Phoulorie]

Agony and ecstasy for Ferrari in Melbourne.

Following more than three months of sandbagging, second-guessing and tearing up the test tracks, the truth was finally revealed at Melbourne today in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix � and it was Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari who emerged irrefutably on top of the pile.

Both the Finn and team-mate Felipe Massa had been consistently at the head of the timesheets throughout winter testing, and this form was borne out around the streets of Albert Park. While it was joy for the former, however, blasting his rivals quite literally out of the water with a stunning pole position lap more than four tenths of a second clear of anyone else, Felipe Massa's Melbourne jinx struck again with a gearbox failure that relegated him to a lowly 16th position on the grid, with it all to do in Sunday's race.

Alongside Raikkonen on the front row will be Fernando Alonso in his maiden grand prix appearance for McLaren, the Spaniard having repeatedly downplayed his expectations in the build-up to the weekend but finding the necessary speed when it mattered most. Alonso, indeed, was put under a good deal of pressure by rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who after outpacing him in Friday practice did likewise for most of qualifying, ultimately ending up an impressive fourth on the grid on his Formula 1 debut.

Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica showed BMW-Sauber's startling winter pace had been no bluff, lining up third and fifth respectively, with Giancarlo Fisichella a subdued sixth for Renault and fans' favourite Mark Webber an encouraging seventh for Red Bull Racing following a troubled off-season. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher will start eight and ninth after Toyota overcame a litany of problems, while Takuma Sato's tenth place marked an historic achievement for Super Aguri, as last year's back-of-the-grid team showed it means serious business in 2007.

With a fierce wind blowing around the track, tail-ender Christijan Albers was the first driver to head out of the pitlane at the start of the qualifying hour, in a Spyker that for all its dazzling new colour scheme looked rather a handful for the Dutch ace. He was closely followed by the Honda drivers, perhaps aware they would not be competing at the sharp end of proceedings this time around.

As the big guns waited patiently in the wings, Trulli soon moved to the head of the standings, before Hamilton became the first of the �grandee' representatives to show his hand, a full second clear of anyone else as the young Brit continued his scintillating form.

With even reigning double world champion Alonso unable to depose the GP2 king, Renault and BMW-Sauber left it tantalisingly late before putting in an appearance, while Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and the two Toyotas waited right until the session's dying moments to pull themselves clear of the dreaded drop zone.

While there were few surprises in the two Spykers and Toro Rossos failing to make the cut, however, one man who certainly would not have expected to be starting all the way back in 19th place in the opening grand prix of the new campaign was Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, who went offline in the final corner after encountering dust and dirt on the track right at the end of the session.

Perhaps more intriguingly still, with the second knock-out session just minutes away, the leading five contenders � Raikkonen, Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Alonso and Massa � were covered by less than seven hundredths of a second, with world champions Renault a lowly tenth and 14th.

Session two began in disastrous fashion for Toyota, with Trulli leaving the pitlane with the rear jack still attached and team-mate Schumacher slowing with gearbox problems, though late surges from both saw the red-and-white cars leap into the lower reaches of the top ten as the 15 minutes drew to a close. One team not so fortunate was Honda, with Rubens Barrichello the other high-profile victim of the first session chop, and Button failing to manage any better than 14th place as the Japanese squad struggles to hone the aerodynamic package on its strikingly eco-liveried new RA107.

Honda's blushes were not spared any by the superb performance of Super Aguri, as Anthony Davidson � embarking on his first full season in the top flight after six years of racking up the testing miles � falling just short of the top ten, and team-mate Sato incredibly making it into the final shoot-out. It marked the first time Super Aguri had ever got one of its cars into the top 16 on the grid, never mind both of them, and only served to rub further salt into Honda's wounds.

Up at the sharp end, it remained nip-and-tuck between McLaren team-mates Hamilton and Alonso, with the latter even resorting to bolting on a fresh set of tyres in his efforts to leapfrog the new boy. Over at Ferrari, meanwhile, it was a story of vastly contrasting fortunes, as Raikkonen made it all look effortless but Massa slowed dramatically with just over a minute left to run and pulled off the circuit with gearbox gremlins, his appalling track record in Melbourne upheld but his pole shot in tatters.

Aside from Massa, Button and Davidson the Williams duo and, perhaps more surprisingly still Kovalainen, also missed the top ten showdown. Having used his new tyres to good effect, Alonso ended session two fastest, a smidgen ahead of Heidfeld's BMW with Hamilton third.

Nobody was discounting Raikkonen, though � with good reason, as it would transpire.

http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~1~id~144651.htm

[Rory Phoulorie]

Questions that can now be asked:

1) When you want to win, go with the Finn?

2) Are Super Aguri, Mark Webber of Red Bull and Toyota running light fuel loads?

3) Have Honda taken sandbagging to a completely new level by sandbagging even in qualifying before blowing everyone away in the race?

4) Should Renault have brought in a more experienced teammate to partner Fisichella? Personally, I feel that if Fisichella could have put that car into sixth, then someone like Alonso could have put it on pole.

5) How many laps would Sato complete before he crashes out or into somebody?

[3stagevtec]

Well done to Super Aguri! hope they do well in the race... It seems as though McLaren, BMW-Sauber, Renault and Ferrari will be the teams to watch this year. I just hope Kimi has better luck this year than he had in the last few.. because you never know what might happen