Even though Scuderia Ferrari scored a one-two finish in the season opener in Bahrain, it was clear that the Red Bull had a slight edge in terms of pure performance over the F10. Two weeks later and the result of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix confirms that initial assessment, as tomorrow’s race sees Sebastian Vettel start from pole position with his team-mate and local favourite, Mark Webber alongside him.

However, Fernando Alonso is still handily placed third, behind the pole man and following him in fifth is Felipe Massa, who admitted that since the track got cooler, he has struggled with getting his tyres to the correct operating temperature. With both men on the clean side of the track, that could help their situation at the start. Sandwiched between the two Prancing Horse cars in fourth spot is the McLaren of reigning world champion Jenson Button, while Felipe shares row three with sixth placed Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. All the times were very close, which is down to the fact that there is not much to choose between the teams in the early part of the season and also because the Albert Park lap is not very long. However, the circuit is famous for providing exciting racing, with the Safety Car often called out to deal with incidents which cannot be cleared away easily, given it is a street circuit. Rain has put in an appearance on both days of track action so far and may well do so again on race day. A wet track would definitely add to the uncertainty of a race that is already hard to predict, but at least cloudy skies would mean the drivers will not be dazzled by the setting sun, something which has concerned many of them after last year’s first running of this race in the hours of twilight.

Third and fifth places: that was the end result for Scuderia Ferrari in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso will start from third spot on the starting grid, just ahead of his team-mate, Felipe Massa, who posted the fifth fastest time. “We are satisfied with this result,” said Stefano Domenicali. “We knew the Red Bulls were very quick, but we are not far off them. Fernando really drove a great qualifying, getting the most out of the car. Felipe struggled a bit to get the tyres working properly, but all the same he managed to get a good place. Tomorrow’s race looks like being very unpredictable. Traditionally at this track, the safety-car very often plays its part and I don’t think tomorrow’s race will be an exception to this rule. We will therefore need to be ready to deal with any eventuality. Furthermore, there is a question mark over the weather. For our part, we will try and bring home the best result we can: in a long and closely contested championship like this one, the key is to always score points.”

Fernando Alonso: “I am pleased with the way qualifying went. You always want to be on pole, but third place is still a good result. We knew the Red Bulls were very strong, but we are close to them and can count on having a good race pace. Our aim is to get to the finish, not making any mistakes and getting a good result, maybe making it to the podium. Of course I want to fight for the win but it is not worth taking risks as it is too important to bring home points. After yesterday’s free practice, we were not worried because we knew our work had only focussed on being ready for Sunday’s race. Anything can happen here and we must be ready for any eventuality. A new engine? Yes, it brings luck to change it…But joking apart, it was part of our engine management plan to have a new unit for this race.”

Felipe Massa: “Not the qualifying I was expecting, going into this Grand Prix. Ever since the temperature dropped, I have always struggled to find the best way of getting the tyres up to temperature, while yesterday morning for example, when it was hotter, the situation was much better. With today’s temperatures, I had no grip, which is not particularly encouraging. Let’s hope it’s a bit warmer tomorrow. In FP3 I really found it difficult, but come the end of qualifying I still managed to get a reasonable result. It’s definitely not ideal in terms of looking for a win, but all the same, I will try and bring home a good number of points. This race is very tough, partly because, as we have often seen in the past, anything can happen here.”