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With the
established order continuing to be shaken up through the
qualifying session Felipe Massa will start tomorrow's
Australian Grand Prix from the inside of the fourth row
of the grid in seventh place, with Scuderia Ferrari
team-mate Kimi Raikkonen right behind him in ninth spot.
If that sounds rather unsatisfactory, then consider that
the Prancing Horse's usual rivals for the past few
years, the McLaren-Mercedes team, did even worse, with
Heikki Kovalainen fourteenth and reigning world champion
Lewis Hamilton fifteenth. Kimi's preparation for the
first qualifying of the year took a knock, when he was
stranded out on track in today's free practice, with an
hydraulic problem.
The reason for this change in fortune for the two teams
that have dominated the sport for so long is that, at
the moment, there is no disputing that one car is head
and shoulders above the others in performance terms,
while others are also showing much better than in past
years. Brawn Mercedes, the team that almost did not
exist this year after Honda pulled out of the sport, has
had a dream start to 2009, monopolising the front row of
the grid. In the first session, the two white cars went
out with virtually no advertising on their bodywork.
Then, just
before qualifying, the entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson
arrived in the paddock and as the session began, the cars
were sporting Virgin stickers. By the end of the session,
Jenson Button had taken the fourth pole position of his
career, the last one coming at this same track in 2006,
while former Ferrari driver, Rubens Barrichello, took second
place. The surprises continued as the second row saw the Red
Bull of Sebastian Vettel in third, on his race debut for the
English team, with Robert Kubica fourth for BMW. Row three
features the Williams-Toyota of Nico Rosberg and the Toyota
of Timo Glock completing the top six.
Tomorrow, the race starts at five in the afternoon, another
novelty in a season that seems set to present several new
elements. The Australian Grand Prix, since it moved to being
the first of the season, has a reputation for providing
surprises and incidents, partly because it is the first
event and partly because of the nature of the circuit. The
Ferrari duo will have 58 laps to try and make the best of
the situation. The important thing will be to finish and
finish in the points, because even if a win looks a
difficult target tomorrow, consistency throughout the year
will be the key that unlocks the 2009 championship titles.
The two Ferrari F60 will start the Australian Grand Prix
from seventh and ninth places, for Felipe Massa and Kimi
Raikkonen respectively. The two Ferrari men did a total of
21 laps divided as follows: 8 in Q1, 6 in Q2 and 7 in Q3.
"We cannot be happy with this result," commented Stefano
Domenicali. "e knew that, apart from one team that today
seems to be out of reach of the rest, in terms of pure
performance, there were various teams that could aspire to
being near the front of the grid. Today, we had confirmation
of what was said in the winter, that the performance
difference between a large group of cars is minimal and the
slightest drop off and you will finish down the order.
That's what happened today, particularly in Q3, where we did
not live up to our potential. We have to work out why that
happened and at the same time, prepare as well as possible
for a race that is bound to be very difficult and
uncertain."
Felipe Massa: "We reckoned it would be possible but
very difficult to get into the top five and this turned out
to be the case: we ended up seventh, which is definitely not
very satisfying but it represents the best we could do this
afternoon. Now we must concentrate on tomorrow's race, which
will be extremely tough. The first round of the season here
in Australia is always a step into the unknown, especially
as the track is slippery and accidents are a strong
possibility. We will try to get to the finish and to pick up
as many points as possible."
Kimi Raikkonen: "This morning, a hydraulic problem
meant I pretty much missed out on the third free practice
session: a shame, but better that this should happen on
Saturday than Sunday. The car was far from ideal for
qualifying but I think we are in pretty good shape for the
race. A points finish is possible even if we could have been
further up the grid. From what we have seen today, clearly
we lack a bit of performance compared to the quickest guys,
but the race will be very long and we will see what we can
manage to do."
Luca Baldisserri: "We need to work out why, in Q3, we
didn't manage to go as well as in Q2, while allowing for the
amount of fuel we had on board. Tomorrow the race will
definitely be very difficult. We will have to make the most
of any opportunities, beginning with the start. Actually, on
the grid, we are the highest placed cars running KERS, an
element that might allow us to make up some places. Then we
have to bear in mind that, on this track, the Safety Car
usually plays a part and so anything could happen.
Reliability will be key. This morning, we had a hydraulic
problem on Kimi's car which saw him stop out on track at the
start of FP3 and clearly that was not the best way to
prepare for qualifying. We must pay close attention to every
detail and try and get the cars to the finish line, with the
aim of picking up points."
Qualifying
session
F. Massa: 7th 1.27.033 7 laps
K. Raikkonen: 9th 1.27.163 7 laps
Chassis:
F. Massa 275,
K. Raikkonen 276
Weather:
air temperature 24/25 °C, track temperature 36 °C, sunny.
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