2013 Australian Grand Prix grid

2013 Australian Grand Prix

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Row 11. Sebastian Vettel 1’27.407
Red Bull
2. Mark Webber 1’27.827
Red Bull
Row 23. Lewis Hamilton 1’28.087
Mercedes
4. Felipe Massa 1’28.49
Ferrari
Row 35. Fernando Alonso 1’28.493
Ferrari
6. Nico Rosberg 1’28.523
Mercedes
Row 47. Kimi Raikkonen 1’28.738
Lotus
8. Romain Grosjean 1’29.013
Lotus
Row 59. Paul di Resta 1’29.305
Force India
10. Jenson Button 1’30.357
McLaren
Row 611. Nico Hulkenberg 1’38.067
Sauber
12. Adrian Sutil 1’38.134
Force India
Row 713. Jean-Eric Vergne 1’38.778
Toro Rosso
14. Daniel Ricciardo 1’39.042
Toro Rosso
Row 815. Sergio Perez 1’39.9
McLaren
16. Valtteri Bottas 1’40.29
Williams
Row 917. Pastor Maldonado 1’47.614
Williams
18. Esteban Gutierrez 1’47.776
Sauber
Row 1019. Jules Bianchi 1’48.147
Marussia
20. Max Chilton 1’48.909
Marussia
Row 1121. Giedo van der Garde 1’49.519
Caterham
22. Charles Pic 1’50.626*
Caterham

*Outside 107% time, will need stewards’ dispensation to start the race.

2013 Australian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    70 comments on “2013 Australian Grand Prix grid”

    1. Crap, the Red Bull even more dominant now than in 2011.

      1. Thomas (@smashnfanatic)
        17th March 2013, 0:43

        Well, I wouldn’t say that yet. Lewis being closer than he was in 2011.

    2. Thomas (@smashnfanatic)
      17th March 2013, 0:39

      Damn, RB again! Man the race better be wet as hell or RB could run away with it ala 2011. But, race pace maybe in others favor (Lotus, Ferrari)?

      1. I actually hope the race is dry at the start. Vettel’s options looked destroyed, and he’ll have to start the race on those if dry.

        Nevertheless, damn the Red Bull looked as planted as a house on the ground. Not even the slightest sign of needed steering corrections.

        I’m hoping that tomorrow, the race starts dry and turns wet, where the drivers can make a difference.

        1. So you want to see Nico and Vergne at the top while the rest all a mixed jumble of jenga? Watching the quali showed me Seb has lost his rain racing or his car simply wasn’t set up for it – but he’s often one of the best. Ham is nowhere near good in the wet in the quali session and he often hasn’t been that great in the rain anyway.

          I’m just curious who people think the wet racers are, these days. The old good ones lost their touch (Seb, Ham, Button)

    3. Season Underway Time to Break Massa’s Gear Box Seal :)

      1. hehehehe you are evil…

      2. No need, he is on the dirty side already :)
        Alonso will breeze by … and will then say he chose P5 delibrately !!!

    4. exactly what I have feared. Red Bull run away, other teams killing each other…another 2011?

      1. @eggry How exactly? Lewis in the dry was only .5 off of Vettel in wet Nico was a second faster than everyone.

        1. don’t forget Vettel made 2 mistakes on his lap at the first and the last corners , he maybe have another 2 or 3 tenth in his bag

        2. @magillagorilla Vettel and Webber made a mistake on their fastest lap. They could have been clear 1sec+ ahead of Hamilton easily. Also wet pace is not usuful enough to challenge Red Bull for season long.

          1. @eggry And since we are doing the game of mistakes let’s also not forget that Lewis had gone out a lap earlier than the RBRs, thus we don’t know his full potential in the dry. Also I think Webber could have smashed Vettel if he hadn’t made his mistake. And did I ever say that wet pace is enough to challenge the season? No but considering that only a handful of tracks are usually under dry conditions, Melbourne usually being one of them, if Merc GP can maintain a close gap in the dry and fast wet pace, they will do just fine. Also this is Quali the race hasn’t started, the people jumping up and down saying RBR are going to run away with it before the flag drops is somewhat annoying.

          2. Also let’s not forget about Nico making a mistake, who is to say that his pace is only based on wet conditions, he was on route to be up there with the top 3. Overall I’m a bit upset that Webber didn’t get pole, I really wanted to see him get it at his home track in what may be his last year.

    5. Webber shows the pace of the car, awesome Vettel makes the difference. Nice one Lewis too.

    6. I just hope the Mercedes isn’t like the 2009 BMW…

    7. Welcome to McLaren, Sergio…

      Apart from that I’d say it’s all the usual suspects in their places (or at least as shown in the past couple of days), apart from Di Resta being a bit of an intruder in the top 10.

      I’m expecting Vettel to make this one a comfortable win right from the start, unless more rain is on the way or the tyres decide to act up.

      1. Hamilton was further clear in last year’s qualy, and finished 3rd.

        1. Hamilton didn’t / doesn’t drive a Red Bull. But yeah, everything’s still possible, I don’t deny that. It’s all about the long runs on the Pirellis today though. If the RB9’s race pace is nearly as good as what we just saw on the mediums and they manage to keep tyre degradation under control, I can’t imagine a different scenario other than a Red Bull 1-2.

          1. How long is the run to the first corner? The Merc is quicker off the line and quicker at top speed, so there is plenty of scope for stuff to happen early on – I would say I almost expect Hamilton to pass Webber at the start to be honest.

            1. I expect Lewis to maybe pass both Vettel and Webber at the start. MAYBE. What I don’t expect him is to stay there for the remainder of the GP.

            2. …nor for more than the first stint, for that matter.

            3. Actually the Ferraris have better launch than all the cars in front of them, and with Massa and Lewis so close together there could be mayhem into the first corner.

            4. Though I support Lewis and Rosberg, I really hope Webber wins since I’m looking at the bigger picture.

    8. Sebastian Vettel leads a Red Bull front row lockout for the first race of 2013.

      Ugh.

      1. (@prisoner-monkeys) +1. Considering writing off this season already.

        1. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt because of the disrupted session and the way the track dried out, but I really don’t want to go through another season of that bloody finger and smirk, or qualifying sessions that are fought tooth and nail until Vettel cruises out at the last minute and makes everyone look silly by lazily taking pole by half a second.

          1. (@prisoner-monkeys) I’ll give this season a few races, but if I have to witness the smirk/finger more than once or twice I’m going back to my classic 80s/90s races instead, or spending my sundays with freinds. I’m hoping you’re right about the disruption, considering neither RB driver even did a particularly tidy lap, it may be rather ominous for the race.

      2. Everyone hates a constant winner. Let’s be serious, Alonso was the most hated man while he was easily winning and now that he’s fighting for it he’s “one of the best”. Same for Schumi’s era and I promise you Vettel will be the same. At some point he will not have the fastest car and will still fight for wins and people will realized he’s “one of the best”. I have a dislike for Hamilton because of HIS smug face during his less stressful years and a lot of his antics last year but he’s been in poor cars and still manage to race well.

        1. Alonso wasn’t hated while he was winning but afterwards.

    9. Now time to discover which cars can get off the line efficiently this year.

      Hamilton has 10ks on the red bull in a straight line, and if the Merc can start like it did last year, this could still be a very interesting race.

    10. Not bad, not bad at all.

      1. well, for you @vettel1.

    11. It’s a nice change for once.

    12. Vettel Gear Solid: Revengance

      1. He might be a cyborg.

    13. Well…. that was disappointing. :(

    14. 2013 WC: Vettel

    15. Unfortunately for McLaren the track dried up for Q3. Button looked fairly competitive on interns.
      Was also sad to see Rosberg making a mistake when it counted the most. I feel it should have been him up there… Anyway, a nice showing from Massa and great lap by Vettel (and Newey:)

      1. Button was on interns? Maybe McLaren should have considered actual tyres, as opposed to junior members of the team.

    16. The only hope is a dry race otherwise……..

      1. Could be a procession for vettel in the dry.

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          17th March 2013, 0:53

          *Will* be a procession for Vettel in the dry. Lol

        2. With the marching band, cheerleaders and fireworks at the end.

    17. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      17th March 2013, 0:51

      What on earth were Mclaren thinking putting Perez on slicks so early in Q2?

      Slicks weren’t required at any point in Q2, not a single second!
      Poor Perez, got jerked around by the team on that one.

      Still, Lewis, and Nico looking good with the Mercs. :)

      1. Worse – they put PER on slicks again after he was struggling a lot in his first stint on slicks. Shows very bad attitude; you need to be flexible in revising your opinion. Fine to try once, but go back to inters if it doesn’t work. And it was plain for everyone to see that slicks were not on at that point.

    18. And so it begins… Quick opinions based on very little data:

      RBR – Much better start than last year. Will be difficult to beat them. As luck has it, I have put some money on VET and RBR already for WDC and WCC.

      Ferrari – Looking good! Especially MAS is really on form – will we see a “Fernando – Felipe is faster than you!”? Just joking, but they might end up quite evenly matched.

      Mercedes – excellent. Let’s hope their form lasts and they have a shot at challenging RBR.

      Lotus – I thought they might be up there with Mercedes, but apparently not. Lots of work to do.

      McL – what a disappointment. Don’t think you can win a world championship with a car that is only good in the dry. Do they have the same problem as Ferrari last year with a new pull-rod design?

      1. Do they have the same problem as Ferrari last year with a new pull-rod design?

        With the “accidental push-rod” you mean?

        As far as Mercedes goes, completely agree. Let’s hope their cars last as well, not just their form. 2012 started off on the same foot for Mercedes and it quickly turned into an endless series of technical issues, for Schumacher at least. Nothing is ever what it seems with that team.

    19. I didn’t want a wet race before, but I do now.

      1. I think you are in luck

    20. Despite the conditions we’ve ended up with the usual suspects in more less their usual positions right the way down the grid. Watching the cars at the back of the grid start could be pretty interesting as 5 out of the last 7 are rookies starting their 1st f1 race.

    21. Really happy to see Lewis up there, really wasn’t expecting it! :)
      Being a mclaren fan so so many years its staring to get painful to watch now.. Looks like Mercedes pre season shake up is what they needed.. Take note mclaren! :/

    22. ….if Hamilton would have been in Mclaren today, he would have been 3rd anyway

      1. @nomore Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Maybe not 3rd but possibly higher than 10th

    23. Vettel was going quicker on his last lap before he came in. I wonder how demoralizing that would have been.

      1. I would have enjoyed finding out. :-)

        1. You delight in the anguish of thousands of Hamilton fans, don’t you?

          1. Hamilton fans are happy no matter. They thought he would be trying to get into Q3 this year and his on the second row.
            Probably bad for Alonso fans really. They are the ones with hopes for championship.

    24. I personally will wait 3-4 races and then make a pecking order of the cars…you can call me crazy but Red Bull in my personal opinion will not win a championship this year.

      p.s i bookmark this page and reread in november…and hope with a big smile in my face

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        17th March 2013, 1:27

        you can call me crazy

        You’re crazy. Lol

    25. So RedBull lock the front row again. But Ferrari and Merc have started strong for a change and Lotus seems to be there too. We haven’t found the race pace of the teams and the tire wear.

      Too early to rule out a RB whitewash for the season and particularly considering Aussie circuit isn’t the best in terms of revealing what is the running order of the teams in terms of performance.
      And then there is in season development :)

      If RB still manage to win both championships, well done to them; then we conclude that the others have not done a good job this year.

    26. rule out rule this

    27. ” Sebastian gets p 1 ”

      Oh no , it’s Happened agaaain :( :( :( .But the surprise for me is that Lewis is 3rd :) . But Lewis , I hope, doesn’t crash . I really wan’t webber to win this one :)

    28. The Red Bull runaway predictors could very well be correct, or not. Glad the races need to be run to find out who really wins and loses. This particular qualifying session was run in quite mixed conditions making it difficult to come to terribly reliable predictions in any direction. Thank goodness! I have my favorites, but I mostly hope for close races all season long.

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