Lewis Hamilton secures pole for Australia in frenetic qualifying

Hamilton leads an all-McLaren front row

After a winter testing period which showed no indication to the pecking order for 2012, the opening qualifying session at Australia was destined to be an absolute stunner. And it most certainly was as any six of the top drivers’ had the ability to secure pole-position.

As Q1 got underway, it was the Marussia of Timo Glock who left the pits first and set the first timed lap of the session with a 01:32.997. As the rest of the field left the pits, the times began to tumble as Pic, Maldonado and Senna all assumed the top spot.

Further down the order, HRT were making no friends as Narain Karthikeyan got in the way of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and blocked the Spaniard. There will be no surprises if the Indian driver receives a penalty from the stewards.

As many of the midfield teams began to opt for the softer Pirelli tyres, Rosberg, Perez, Vergne and Kobayashi all went fastest as the times got quicker. One driver that suffered greatly as the session came to an end was the Iceman of Kimi Raikkonen who failed to progress to Q2 and qualified a lowly 18th on his return to the sport. Both of the Caterham’s, Marussia’s and HRT’s also went out after Q1.

Paul Di Resta was first out as Q2 got underway, with Ferrari under severe pressure to progress to Q3. As Di Resta and Vettel set the initial pace, Ferrari’s weekend went from bad to worse as Fernando Alonso embedded his car in the gravel at turn 1. This prematurely ended the Spaniards progress, a transferred all the pressure to his team-mate Felipe Massa as the red flag came out.

Felipe Massa was unable to deliver as the session returned to green, with the Brazilian incapable of progressing to Q3 and qualifying a terrible 16th for Ferrari. The Italian outfit have an uphill struggle tomorrow as they have qualified 12th and 16th, locked in the tight midfield battle.

Joining Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso in the bottom seven after Q2 was Jean-Eric Vergne, Kamui Kobayashi, Bruno Senna, Paul Di Resta and Sergio Perez.

After an action filled first two sessions in qualifying, much of the same was expected in the final pole-position shootout as 10 drivers had 10 minutes to try their best to set a fast time. As was seen in Q1 and Q2, the action was immense as Nico Rosberg sent the benchmark time with 01:25.847.

As the rest of the drivers’ set their timed laps, Lewis Hamilton surged to the top with a 01:24.922, a time which raised eyebrows on the Mercedes pit wall. In traditional Q3 fashion, the top drivers’ returned to the track with only minutes remaining, with Red Bull once again able to have Sebastian Vettel last out which meant the reigning Champion would cross the line last.

However, as the times were set, it was evident neither of the Mercedes drivers’ could better Hamilton’s time. Mark Webber failed to do so as all eyes fell on Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button and the remaining Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

In a surprise twist, the sole Lotus of Romain Grosjean shot to 2nd place, before being demoted to 3rd by Jenson Button. This was how the top three remained as Hamilton led an all-McLaren front row ahead of tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was out-qualified by team-mate Mark Webber and was, for him, a lowly 6th.

Tomorrow’s race is set to be a mouth-watering prospect, with a race which could well see the Safety Car make its first appearance of 2012!

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