Saturday, March 15, 2008

Saturday Qualifying : Australian Grand Prix 2008

Initial Kimi fan reaction today, My friend Sid telling me, "What does Kimi have to do to get a decent car?? :(". Sid my friend, I am as baffled as you are. Anyways, Kimi wasn't the only one on the track today...we have a lot to talk about the other 21 cars too, so lets get on with it.

Alright, so the news isn't so forthcoming for all Kimi and Ferrari fans. The reigning world champion will start 16th on the grip after he stalled his Ferrari on the pit road, in the first qualifying session itself. The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa managed to come in 4th, which may just about signal the Ferrari reliability issues.


Good news for all the Mclaren fans is that boy wonder and last year's rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton squeezed out the pole position from Robert Kubica's nose. BMW's Kubica was on his way to P1 with a flying lap until he slid on to the grass, which ultimately cost him P1. Accompanying Massa on row 2 will be Mclaren's Heikki Kovalainen who managed P3 on his debut for the silver arrows. Nick Heidfeld (BMW), Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Nico Rosberg (Williams), David Coulthard (Red Bull), Timo Glock (Toyota) & Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) completed the top 10.


It was a day to forget for two-time world Champion Fernando Alonso who was making his comeback at Renault. He failed to qualify for Q3 and will be starting the race tomorrow from the 12th place on the grid. Renault debutante Nelson Piquet Jr. had an even worse result and will start from the 21st position. The other debutant Sebastian Bourdais in his Toro Rosso, will begin tomorrow's race from the 18th position.

Force India making its debut under a new administration will have its drivers starting towards the back of the grid as expected. Giancarlo Fisichella will start 17th and Adrian Sutil from the 19th position.

Mclaren will start out as favourites tomorrow. With a fast car and Lewis Hamilton looking to dominate, Ferrari can at best hope for a miracle or a mistake by the Mclaren drivers. As for me, at least for tomorrow's race, BMW look a little promising. Let's wait and watch what happens.

Here's how the Drivers line up on the grid tomorrow:

1. Lewis Hamilton 1′26.714
2. Robert Kubica 1′26.869
3. Heikki Kovalainen 1′27.079
4. Felipe Massa 1′27.178
5. Nick Heidfeld 1′27.236
6. Jarno Trulli 1′28.527
7. Nico Rosberg 1′28.687
8. David Coulthard 1′29.041
9. Timo Glock 1′29.593
10. Sebastian Vettel no time
11. Rubens Barrichello 1′26.1731
2. Fernando Alonso 1′26.188
13. Jenson Button 1′26.269
14. Kazuki Nakajima 1′26.413
15. Mark Webber no time
16. Kimi Raikkonen no time
17. Giancarlo Fisichella 1′27.207
18. Sebastien Bourdais 1′27.446
19. Adrian Sutil 1′27.859
20. Takuma Sato 1′28.208
21. Nelson Piquet Jnr 1′28.330
22. Anthony Davidson 1′29.059

1 Speed traps:

--xh-- said...

for me, the most thrilling event was the flying lap of Robert Kubica. he spun and still posted the secodn best time.. it was awsome :)