Melbourne Qualifying: Hamilton leads McLaren charge as Ferrari mess up
17 March, 2012
Lewis Hamilton survived an early scare before powering to the first pole position of the 2012 season in Melbourne
Mar.17 (PVM) Lewis Hamilton claimed the first pole position of the season when he powered to top spot on the grid in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, leading a McLaren clean sweep of the front row with Jenson Button setting the second fastest time as Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen struggled.
Top three (L to R) Romain Grosjean (third) Lewis Hamilton (pole position) and Jenson Button (third)
Third quickest was Romain Grosjean in the Lotus E20 who has shown impressive pace and remarkable composure during the opening days of the season. He is definitely a more mature driver than the one who was given an ill-timed opportunity back in 2009 with Renault.
Hamilton, who started from pole in the 2008 Australian GP, peaked at exactly the right time was the only driver to go below the 85 seconds mark with his time of 1 minute 24.922 seconds and his final run was simply mega.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back here and to get off to such a good start. It’s mine and Jenson’s first one-two in qualifying. I’m massively proud of the team. They never give up and this is the result of that. I think it’s going to be incredibly tough this weekend and intense throughout the race. The team need to be on point and so do Jenson and I,” said Hamilton who survived a Turn 1 scare early on in the session.
Button, as has become his trademark, kept his powder dry until it really mattered and delivered a lap which was just shy of his team mate’s best and setting the scene for what could well be a McLaren show down down under, tomorrow.
Jenson Button second fastest in the McLaren MP4-27
The 2009 Australian GP winner said, “First of all, congratulations to Lewis and the team. We’ve done a very good job this winter and I think we’ve proved that today. The lights haven’t gone out yet but this is a great first result for us on Saturday. I think it’s looking like it’s going to be a very exciting season. We were close in the first two qualifying sessions but Lewis had the upper hand. I was close but it wasn’t quite enough.”
Grosjean’s return to the big leagues is going according to plan, he knows he is lucky to be given a very rare second chance by Lotus and he is adamant that this time things will work out. The Frenchman delivered a well calculated performance to head up the second row on the grid with the third fastest time, comprehensively outshining his high profile team mate.
The 2011 GP2 Series champion said, “It’s a fantastic job from everyone. It’s fantastic to be back in F1 and today I’m very proud. A few people believed in me through the toughest time and I’m back – almost at the top!”
Sebastian Vettel watches as Michael Schumacher is weighed after qualifying
Seven times world champion and four times Australian GP winner Michael Schumacher oozed confidence throughout the session in the much improved Mercedes, claiming fourth spot on the grid with a strong final run which saw him tantalisingly close to pole.
“It’s been pretty pleasant all weekend long. The car handled very well, as predicted. I’m just grateful that we did a reasonable job. The guys did a great job in the factory,” said Schumacher.
Next up and oddly subdued were the Red Bull pair, local hero Mark Webber and world champion Sebastian Vettel – fifth and sixth respectively. The RB8 at this stage not the weapon they had at their disposal at the same time last year.
Webber summed up his session, “We are aware where we need to improve and that’s something which we will look at. I don’t know what happened to Seb on his last lap, it looks like he made a mistake. I didn’t have KERS either but I’m satisfied with the job I did in Q3. It was one run and not a bad lap. The pace to the front was not overly surprising. You take your hat off to people who have done a reasonable job.”
Mark Webber in the Red Bull Racing RB8
Vettel commented, “It was a bit [of] driving into the unknown but in the end it came out as we expected. McLaren did a massive step from Q2 to Q3. I should have been a bit better. I made a mistake so that’s down to me, probably [cost me] one or two places. Now we focus on the race tomorrow. I never allowed myself to get used to starting at the front – it was something special. The race will be long and tough for the drivers to get back into the rhythm but I’m looking forward to the race and looking to pass a few people.”
Nico Rosberg was seventh in the other Mercedes AMG W03, with Pastor Maldonado in the Williams FW34 eighth, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg ninth and the other local hero Daniel Ricciardo making up the top ten in his Toro Rosso STR7.
Drama struck early in the session when Raikkonen failed to make it out of Q1 after making a mistake in his final fast lap run, meaning that the 2007 world champion will start his comeback race from 18th on the grid.
Pastor Maldonado led a Williams resurgence
The Iceman admitted, “I slowed down because we were supposed to have time for one more lap and I guessed we didn’t. Nobody told me when I slowed down that I had to hurry up. There’s no point to blame anybody and everyone is as disappointed as me. It’s a bad start.”
It was also heartbreak for the legions of Ferrari fans as they had to endure one of the worst qualifying days in memory for the team as Fernando Alonso got onto the grass braking into Turn 1 which caused the finicky F2012 to snap viciously out of control and embed itself in the gravel trap. The furious Spaniard stormed away from his car which at this stage of the game is a huge flop. A ten minute red flag period ensued as marshals cleared the gravel trap.
Alonso’s time was good enough for 12th on the grid, and no doubt there was more pace in the double world champion but it was hardly on tap and will take a monumental effort to match the pace setters – not the ideal way to go racing.
His team mate Felipe Massa was on the back foot throughout qualifying, scraping into Q2 but then going no better than 16th. The Brazilian’s do-or-die season getting off to the worst possible start.
Alonso did not mince his words afterwards, “I think I touched the grass and unfortunately there is the gravel and you stop and finish qualifying. It’s a shame. I think we possibly could be a bit better, maybe top 10. What we need to concentrate on is the top speed. We are a little bit too slow at the moment – we are not quite quick enough. We need to change the direction quickly if we are to challenge for the championship. We have to react.”
Qualifying – Melbourne, 17 March 2012
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.800 | 1:25.626 | 1:24.922 | 14 |
| 2 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.832 | 1:25.663 | 1:25.074 | 15 |
| 3 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:26.498 | 1:25.845 | 1:25.302 | 21 |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:26.586 | 1:25.571 | 1:25.336 | 18 |
| 5 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:27.117 | 1:26.297 | 1:25.651 | 17 |
| 6 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:26.773 | 1:25.982 | 1:25.668 | 18 |
| 7 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.763 | 1:25.469 | 1:25.686 | 16 |
| 8 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:26.803 | 1:26.206 | 1:25.908 | 20 |
| 9 | 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:27.464 | 1:26.314 | 1:26.451 | 18 |
| 10 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:27.024 | 1:26.319 | No time | 16 |
| 11 | 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:26.493 | 1:26.429 | 12 | |
| 12 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:26.688 | 1:26.494 | 12 | |
| 13 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.182 | 1:26.590 | 12 | |
| 14 | 19 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:27.004 | 1:26.663 | 16 | |
| 15 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:27.469 | 1:27.086 | 16 | |
| 16 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.633 | 1:27.497 | 16 | |
| 17 | 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.596 | 11 | ||
| 18 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:27.758 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:28.679 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:29.018 | 8 | ||
| 21 | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:30.923 | 10 | ||
| 22 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:31.670 | 9 | ||
| DNQ | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.495 | 6 | ||
| DNQ | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.643 | 6 | ||
| Q1 107% Time | 1:32.214 |
De la Rosa and Karthikeyan did not qualify, after failing to meet the Q1 107% time.
Subbed by AJN.
Related posts:
- Melbourne Practice 3: Hamilton tops as Vettel and Schumi beach it
- Melbourne Practice 2: Schumacher fastest in topsy turvy session
- Melbourne Practice 1: Button quickest from Hamilton
- 2012 F1 Preview: Team-by-team season quick guide
- Practice 2: Vettel leads Red Bull charge
No-one considers Hulkenberg, destroying the highly rated Paul Di Resta in what, for him, is a totally new car.
That guy’s talent is incredible.
@ Butterfly
Why would you start insulting? You act like Alonso is your dad or something..
You’re just mad because during testing you always kept on saying: “ferrari will be there …”
Now don’t be mad and take it as a man.
@ Psych4191
yeah you u right abt vergne n ricciardo …they were impressive
but about massa n alonso..
ys the car was not good…but still alonso outpaced massa by a second and
alonso was at ‘partial’ fault during both fp3 n quali when he beached the car both times..so both massa n alonso weren’t impressive today..
n to ur notice, perez had a gear problem, otherwise he would also have been up there fighting..
also di resta n senna did pretty well as well…it’s just that their team mates extracted something extra from the car..
Based on what we saw, the mercedes engine is far and away the best. McLaren and Mercedes look fit to go toe to toe tomorrow.
@kaka, Massa and Alonso couldn’t do anything about Ferrari stinking up the place. Nahrain was actually hilarious to me. He sucked something fierce. Also, I think Maldonado should be one of the best performers. He took a Williams and put it in the top ten. Vergne narrowly missed the top 10 in his debut, which is extremely impressive in a midfield car. For me it’d be:
1. Grosjean, 2. Maldonado 3. Ricciardo, 4. Vergne, 5. Hulkenburg
then:
1. Karthikeyan, 2. Di Resta, 3. Kimi, 4. Senna, 5. Perez
For Tomorrow, I fully expect this podium: 1. Button 2. Hamilton 3. Schumacher
The biggest thing I take from Ferrari isn’t that they’re stuck in Q2, it’s that they had to use the soft compound to get out of Q1.
FOR ME
best performers of the day:
1)hami, 2)romain, 3)schumi, 4)maldonado, 5)hulk and 6)charles pic
worst performers of the day :
1) narain, 2)massa, 3)alonso and 4)kimi
(compared to team mates and other circumstances)
except from the worst drivers of the day, all others did good
i’m a kimi lover and a hami hater by the way..
@ Psych4191
Agreed. I like your take on it. Better things to come for Kimi that’s for sure.
I think it’s a riot Ferrari got outdone by customer Ferrari’s.
Be great to have a proper 3 way team battle at the front with all 6 drivers capable of winning. Think Red Bull will get their rear end sorted. Paying the price for keeping it under wraps until the last day of testing. Maybe Lotus can join the battle also. Kimi not getting out of 1st quality probably the biggest surprise.
Be great to have a proper 3 way team battle at the front with all 6 drivers capable of winning. Think Red Bull will get their rear end sorted. Paying the price for keeping it under wraps until the last day of testing. Maybe Lotus can join the battle also. Kimi not getting out of 1st quality probably the biggest surprise.
@Tamburello, Kimi doesn’t feel as bad as Ferrari, because at least he knows he has a good car, just made mistakes.
This year is shaping up to be one for the record books. Rosberg, Schumacher, Hamilton, Button, Raikkonen, Vettel, Webber, and Grosjean are all in cars that can win tomorrow. Add in the mid-level teams that WILL reek havoc in inclimate weather at Toro Rosso, Sauber, and Force India, and this season will be very exciting. Williams doesn’t look bad either, honestly. Virgin and Caterham are both within striking distance of Q2, they just need another year or so. Meanwhile, HRT really just needs to pack it in. Worthless group they are.
Alonso at P12 no big surprise as the car is like a mess.but biggest surprise is vettel at p6 and webber outqualifying him.
Alonso arrogant bastard. He strands his car, and then tosses the stewards.
He should not be there. No one would miss him.
+ addition: Butterfly primitive idiot, should be banned here after his uneducated showing.
Glock & Pic did well to get through qualifying with no real running
@visz963:
Dude, you know what he did after beaching his car? He went to your home and f***ed your mother.
That bastard!
Great job, Michael… P4. Let’s see if he can get on the podium tmrw..
Alonso arrogant bastard. He strands his car, and then tosses the stewards.
He should not be there. No one would miss him.
Best Qualifying in a long time Mclaren & Merc are so close but were did that lotus come from?
Red Bull dare to question the legality of the Ross Merc when they have Newey lets use this until they find or question it working with them.
and finally the dragon is awake.
Go schumiiiii
Kimi prolly feels as bad as the Ferrari lot rightabout now But congrats to Romain.
Glad Mclaren got it right and hope the other teams abandon the step. (My opine)
Look at Toro Roso!
Looks to be an exciting season shaping up. I got tickets to the Indy Supercross – And then F1 race later on! SWEET!
Shumi is getting back to his old form
Great Start by Mclarens…. What happened to Kimi???….
Lewis is the KING!!! mclaren will kill vettel and red bull tommorow! Hahahahaha!!!
Woooow….. have we just witnessed the best qualifying session ever there. Fantastic stuff and what a year in prospect. Great to be back!
Great round by Lewis!
tbh, if perez did set a time. and if kimi never made a mistake, massa would have been out by Q1.