It’s the time of the year that tests any F1 fan to the limits! Getting up for the Australian Grand Prix is always a joy and tests any loyal fan in the early stages of a long season, especially a 5am start on Saturday morning. Those of you who did respond to those alarm clock calls weren’t left disappointed (well maybe you were if you follow a certain ‘over exuberant’ Brit)
For those that did watch the qualifying live (rather than a poor man’s replay in the afternoon) you were treated to yet another superb display by the energised Red Bull team who charged their way to a one-two at the front of the grid, with young German Sebastian Vettel sealing his second pole of the season in as many race weekends piping Aussie team mate Mark Webber by just over a hundredth of a second. Needless to say Webber, who has been forced to answer questions surrounding his age and commitment to the sport this weekend, looked pissed off in the press conference to lose out yet again to the young German who has fast turned from the student to the master.
The two Red Bulls will face pressure into the first corner from the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and McLaren of current world champion Jenson Button who qualified 3rd and 4th on the second row.
Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg made up the third row on 5th and 6th and Schumacher and Barrichello will start tomorrow’s race from 7th and 8th respectively.
Over all the grid doesn’t look to dissimilar to the line up two weeks ago in Bahrain, the quality and talent at the front, the up and coming youth in the midfield and the new teams fighting it out for pride and race laps at the back. However one man did break the trend and had a qualifying session and perhaps a race weekend to forget as well, as Lewis Hamilton failed to make Q3 and will start tomorrow’s race from a disastrous 11th.
When questioned by BBC sport on what went wrong, Hamilton said “I just wasn’t fast enough. I feel I got everything out of the car, I just didn’t get enough out of the tyres”
Hamilton’s road car was impounded on Friday evening by Melbourne police after he was found to be driving in an ‘over-exuberant manner’ after Friday afternoons second practice session. The 2008 world champion dismissed claims that the incident affected his performance this morning “It was something you learn from, I don’t think it’s particularly affected today” going onto claim that the cooler weather may have been to blame for the under performance in the tyres.
However it appears McLaren didn’t check each other’s scripts as team principal Martin Whitmarsh dismissed Hamilton’s excuses twenty minutes later in front of the live BBC cameras “I think he was distracted this morning after what happened last night” going onto say that he thought Hamilton may have been over-driving the car.(Click Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8590483.stm)
It’s clear from watching this morning that the Brit has faced the first blip in a season where he needed perfection after what could be viewed as a terrible 2009 campaign. The question everyone wants to know is, will he handle this first hurdle in 2010 where he goes it alone for the first time without his father by his side. Sink or swim Lewis?
It will certainly take something very special for Lewis Hamilton to bag a top three finish in Australia, let alone get a race win!
All eyes then will be on the charge of the Red Bulls as they look to seal a one – two race win to repair the disappointment in Bahrain that saw a win for Sebastian Vettel crumble into a fourth place finish after a cracked exhaust destroyed the Germans chances of his 5th win for the Austrian team.
Tonight all eyes look skywards for tomorrow’s race with weather reports predicting heavy rain at some point in Melbourne over the next twelve hours which could add an extra spice to the second race of the season.
If the heavens do open tomorrow for the race, all eyes will turn to the ‘master of the wet’ Michael Schumacher. Many are already starting to overlook the German racer after his un-eventful 6th place finish in Bahrain two weeks ago. However holding 91 grand prix wins to his name and winning his 50th, 100th, 150th and 200th GP would you bet against this guy? As an added incentive what milestone comes up for Schumacher tomorrow? Race number 250!
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