17/03/2007
NEWS STORY
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Stewart Bell reports from Melbourne:
Kimi Raikkonen showed to be in dominant form by easily taking pole position in his resplendent F2007 chassis during the Saturday’s triple-knockout qualifying session for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen thrilled the crowds with an ultimate time in the third knockout session of 1.26.072, over fourth tenths of a second quicker than his front row compatriot Double World Champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso. Having stood in the shadow of the competitiveness of his team-mate all winter and throughout the Australian Grand Prix weekend, Raikkonen finally showed his hand and prepared to put paid to speculation that Massa would have the upper hand in the battle for supremacy. Raikkonen only felt hard done by the lack of opportunity to shade his team-mate, "a great qualifying, but a shame for Felipe who was not able to get the sort of result he should have done. I think our car is more competitive in race trim than over a single lap. Usually here the race can be full of incidents so it's impossible to know what could happen. If all goes the way it should, then we have a good chance, but it will be important to pick up as many points as possible. Am I worried about Felipe's gearbox problem? You can never be a hundred percent sure, but I am certain the team will do everything it can to make sure that I have a car in the best possible shape."
Reigning World Champion Alonso took proud place on the front row of the grid, well-positioned for his first race with the ‘Silver Arrows’ squad, however never looked like challenging the ultimate pace set by Scuderia Ferrari throughout the session and indeed since the first practice session on Friday. With a short run down to the first corner on Sunday, Alonso will be hoping that he can take Raikkonen from the start and manage the gap to make up for the raw speed-differential. Fernando acknowledged the workload to get to the front row, "A great way to start the season for the team and I. We have worked so hard over the winter to get to where we are today and I would like to thank everybody for their efforts. There is still a slight gap to Ferrari but the improvements that have been made since the Bahrain test are fantastic. The car feels good. We made some changes this morning and worked on the set-up to prepare for qualifying and it seems to have worked out well. I'm also pleased that Lewis is right up there with me which put us both in the best position to score points for ourselves and the team. I can't wait for the race."
Formula 1 journeyman and BMW-Sauber-F1 potentiometer Nick Heidfeld further underlined the 2007 season package for the Swiss-German outfit when he closed out the top three during Saturday’s Q3 final qualifying session. Heidfeld has looked on the pace all weekend, keeping his F1.07 in touch with the front-runners in a burst of new-found competitiveness. Heidfeld was buoyant, "It is very clearly a fantastic result for us to be third. I was sure we would make it into the top ten but more P5 or something like that. We had a good winter season, but you never know until you get to the first race. As regards reliability I am happier now after speaking to some people in the team, who explained to me what they had done to make everything work. On top of that we did a race simulation in Bahrain which worked fine. The car was not perfect today. In Q2 I was happy but with some fuel on board it was not that easy. From my view Ferrari is still ahead. We will only see tomorrow in the race how things are really going, however, so far I am really pleased."
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes protégé and rookie Lewis Hamilton closed out the second row of the grid after a dazzling display of car control and race-bred maturity, just two tenths behind Heidfeld and less than three tenths behind his Double World Champion team-mate. Hamilton stunned grandstand crowds and learned paddock sages alike in an exciting style reminiscent of Jacques Villeneuve’s debut at Albert Park with the Rothmans Williams Renault team in 1996. With the hype surrounding his arrival into Formula 1 confirmed, Hamilton was appreciative of the opportunity. "I'm overwhelmed to be on the second row for my first Grand Prix. I must give a huge thank you to the team, who have worked so hard both here at the track, and back at base,” he said. “This weekend is what I have been preparing myself for during the past 13 years and I'm enjoying every moment. I think we are in with a good chance in the race. Basically I want to get a good start and then work hard to score as many points for the team and myself. I'm not going to make any predictions because anything can happen but so far so good." Prior to qualifying, Lewis was yet another offender of the pit-lane speed limit during Saturday morning’s Third Practice Session. He was fined 200 Euros, clocked at 61.2 km/h in a strictly enforced 60 zone.
Following on from Hamilton’s star performance, Poland’s Robert Kubica took a promising fifth in his first Australian Grand Prix qualifying session. With Heidfeld and Kubica in third and fifth spots, the entire BMW-Sauber organisation will be on the edge of their seats until 2pm tomorrow. Kubica was cautious in his comments, "Performance wise I think we are where we thought we would be, and this is very good news. Also qualifying in general was good. In Q2 I had a very fast first run, but on the second lap I had traffic so couldn’t improve. In the end this does not make any difference to the result. In Q3 I missed my final chance of another lap by just one second. But that’s racing. You have to take the risk, some time you win, some time you loose."
With the top five decided, Saturday’s qualifying session was not without a number of surprises. Jarno Trulli was fined 2000 Euros after race stewards deemed an ‘unsafe release from pit stop’. According to the official FIA release, ‘The car left the Pit garage with a jack still attached to the rear of the car and remained attached until the end of the pit lane’, however this does not disclose that the jack was firmly attached until the pit exit and then flew off into the grass on the exit verge, narrowly missing another car. The incident did not feature on the ToyotaF1 official press release.
Super Aguri team-mates Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson made it to the mid-field qualifying slots, Sato breaking into the Q3 session, with celebratory performances of 10th and 11th positions respectively. Sato was brimming with joy in the paddock after qualifying, “Honestly speaking, the team were always prepared to go through to the third session even last year, as a team of course, but we really didn’t plan from the outset to get there. The second session was for us the biggest objective for this Grand Prix, for Q1 obviously we used the soft tyre of course, and tried to do the maximum attack all the time to get out from the Q1 and into Q2. In the end, I got to the final session, that was obviously much more than we expected and it was a really good surprise.” Aguri team-mate Davidson was even more excited, "It was awesome. I felt really on top of the car and what I did in Free Practice continued on in to Qualifying. I was really enjoying it and then I went off on my first attempt and I lost a little bit of time. On my last run I lost a lot of time in the last corner and I didn't set a good lap, but my next two split times were better than Takuma, so I'm happy and generally really pleased for the team, but a little bit frustrated that I set my best time in Free Practice and not qualifying."
Perhaps the surprise of the weekend was the relegation of pace-setter Scuderia Ferrari’s Felipe Massa to 16th on the grid after the Brazilian was beset by gearbox problems and had to stop out on circuit. Massa was unstoppable in the practice sessions and will play a major part in tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix as a resurgent force. As a definite title contender, Massa’s eyes belied his philosophical comments, "What happened in qualifying with the gearbox was a shame, given the good car we had and the strong performance yesterday and today. So, we have to hope that this is the first and last time it happens this season. Tomorrow, my main aim will be to bring the car to the finish, trying to move up the order as much as possible. I am still confident because I know we have a car that is very good in terms of race pace. Of course it will be difficult to finish in the top places, but I will give it my best to at least try and finish in the points, going for every opportunity that comes my way."
With Massa to push through; Raikkonen to sprint; Alonso and Hamilton keen to make their move; BMW-Sauber, Super Aguri and Renault drivers in new territory; and sunshine expected to feature predominantly, there can be no better taste of Formula 1 2007 than tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix.