MELBOURNE, March 14 - World champion Lewis Hamilton secured pole position, leading a Mercedes one-two at Australian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, with a lap time of one minute 26.327 seconds at Melbourne’s Albert Park.
Hamilton’s 39th career pole came from a dominating performance. He bids to win for the first time in Melbourne since 2008.
Qualifying Results ¶
Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Williams was third fastest in 1:27.718, ahead of four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel for his new Ferrari team.
Nico Rosberg, who looked as if he would miss out on the front row after taking to the grass, hit back with a flying 1:26.921 final lap, still six-tenths off his fierce rival.
"It’s a great start to the weekend. We found a good balance today and it was about trying to push those laps," Hamilton said.
"Last year showed that even though I didn’t win that first race it wasn’t the end of the world.
"But of course the plan tomorrow is to have a better start to the season and today is the first step in that direction."
Rosberg, who went on to win last year’s race, is optimistic about his chances even though he was significantly slower than Hamilton’s best lap.
"It’s not because of the pace difference, for sure, Lewis was quick but I didn’t get my laps together today," the German said.
"So I’m not worried about pace at all to be honest. But races are always a different thing so maybe I can even turn it around tomorrow."
Other Notable Performances ¶
Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was fifth ahead of Valtteri Bottas in a Williams and Australian Daniel Ricciardo struggled to keep up, finishing seventh in his Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) filled out the top 10.
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, set to become the youngest ever Formula One driver at 17 years and 166 days in Sunday’s race, was among the five drivers eliminated in Q2.
After Sauber’s legal turmoil this week, finally resolved when Giedo van der Garde gave up his seat despite a court ruling in his favour, Nasr got to within 0.076sec of Q3.
Struggles for McLaren ¶
The struggling McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen both failed to make Q2 after finishing 16th and 17th in the first stage and will start on the back row of the race grid.
Button, a three-time Australian Grand Prix winner, was a substantial 2.836sec off the pace, emphasising the McLaren’s problems since their incomplete off-season testing.
The last time Button qualified as low as 17th was at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Australian GP Grid ¶
Starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix after qualifying on Saturday:
- 1st row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
- 2nd row: Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams-Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari)
- 3rd row: Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams-Mercedes)
- 4th row: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull-Renault), Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Toro Rosso-Renault)
- 5th row: Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Mercedes), Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Lotus-Mercedes)
- 6th row: Felipe Nasr (BRA/Sauber-Ferrari), Max Verstappen (NED/Toro Rosso-Renault)
- 7th row: Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Red Bull-Renault), Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
- 8th row: Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India-Mercedes), Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber-Ferrari)
- 9th row: Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Honda), Kevin Magnussen (DEN/McLaren-Honda)
