The disrupted build-up to the Australian Grand Prix means teams are heading into today’s race with many unknowns.
The postponement of qualifying today meant Q2 and Q3 were held in unusually cool conditions more like those seen in testing than in races.
And for those drivers in the final ten it meant grappling with graining on a cold track with slick tyres. And the more laps they did, the worse condition they’ll be in for the start of the race.
“It’s going to be massively challenging with the tyres, not really knowing how long the tyres are going last,” said Lewis Hamilton.
“I’ve already had graining, I’ve already done maybe a lap or two more than these guys on the tyres so that means I’m going to struggle to go as long as them in the first stint.”
Hamilton did two flying laps on his super-soft tyres, as did his team mate, the two Ferrari drivers and Paul di Resta. The Red Bull and Lotus drivers only did one flying lap on their tyres, whereas Jenson Button did three.
Those who start outside the top ten will have free choice of tyres, and may fare better on the more durable medium compounds. But there is also the threat of further rain, which could make these calculations irrelevant.
Here’s the data from qualifying.
Qualifying times in full
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1’44.657 | 1’36.745 (-7.912) | 1’27.407 (-9.338) |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1’44.472 | 1’36.524 (-7.948) | 1’27.827 (-8.697) |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’45.456 | 1’36.625 (-8.831) | 1’28.087 (-8.538) |
4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’44.635 | 1’36.666 (-7.969) | 1’28.490 (-8.176) |
5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’43.850 | 1’36.691 (-7.159) | 1’28.493 (-8.198) |
6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’43.380 | 1’36.194 (-7.186) | 1’28.523 (-7.671) |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | 1’45.545 | 1’37.517 (-8.028) | 1’28.738 (-8.779) |
8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1’44.284 | 1’37.641 (-6.643) | 1’29.013 (-8.628) |
9 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 1’45.601 | 1’36.901 (-8.700) | 1’29.305 (-7.596) |
10 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’44.688 | 1’36.644 (-8.044) | 1’30.357 (-6.287) |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1’45.930 | 1’38.067 (-7.863) | |
12 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1’47.330 | 1’38.134 (-9.196) | |
13 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1’44.871 | 1’38.778 (-6.093) | |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1’46.450 | 1’39.042 (-7.408) | |
15 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’44.300 | 1’39.900 (-4.400) | |
16 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’47.328 | 1’40.290 (-7.038) | |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 1’47.614 | ||
18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1’47.776 | ||
19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1’48.147 | ||
20 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1’48.909 | ||
21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | 1’49.519 | ||
22 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 1’50.626 |
Charles Pic was outside of the 107% time by 0.01s in Q1 but under the circumstances is likely to receive a dispensation to start the race.
Sector times
Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
Sebastian Vettel | 28.427 (1) | 23.312 (1) | 35.299 (1) |
Mark Webber | 28.634 (2) | 23.351 (2) | 35.842 (2) |
Lewis Hamilton | 28.673 (3) | 23.372 (4) | 36.042 (5) |
Felipe Massa | 29.117 (7) | 23.442 (6) | 35.931 (3) |
Fernando Alonso | 28.984 (5) | 23.361 (3) | 36.148 (8) |
Nico Rosberg | 28.827 (4) | 23.600 (9) | 36.096 (6) |
Kimi Raikkonen | 29.043 (6) | 23.561 (7) | 36.134 (7) |
Romain Grosjean | 29.611 (9) | 23.409 (5) | 35.993 (4) |
Paul di Resta | 29.318 (8) | 23.584 (8) | 36.403 (9) |
Jenson Button | 29.661 (10) | 23.773 (10) | 36.923 (10) |
Nico Hulkenberg | 31.540 (11) | 25.355 (12) | 40.969 (15) |
Adrian Sutil | 31.841 (12) | 25.251 (11) | 40.598 (13) |
Jean-Eric Vergne | 32.809 (15) | 25.402 (13) | 40.550 (12) |
Daniel Ricciardo | 32.524 (14) | 25.537 (14) | 40.776 (14) |
Sergio Perez | 33.691 (16) | 25.676 (16) | 40.463 (11) |
Valtteri Bottas | 32.419 (13) | 25.552 (15) | 41.504 (16) |
Pastor Maldonado | 36.107 (19) | 27.148 (18) | 44.359 (19) |
Esteban Gutierrez | 36.051 (18) | 26.930 (17) | 43.357 (17) |
Jules Bianchi | 36.424 (20) | 27.614 (19) | 44.109 (18) |
Max Chilton | 35.861 (17) | 28.198 (21) | 44.850 (22) |
Giedo van der Garde | 36.901 (22) | 27.779 (20) | 44.398 (20) |
Charles Pic | 36.675 (21) | 28.482 (22) | 44.753 (21) |
Speed trap
Pos | Driver | Car | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 311.1 (193.3) | |
2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 309.7 (192.4) | -1.4 |
3 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 308.3 (191.6) | -2.8 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 308.2 (191.5) | -2.9 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | 307.9 (191.3) | -3.2 |
6 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 307.6 (191.1) | -3.5 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 307.1 (190.8) | -4.0 |
8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 306.6 (190.5) | -4.5 |
9 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 304.9 (189.5) | -6.2 |
10 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 299.7 (186.2) | -11.4 |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 299.3 (186.0) | -11.8 |
12 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 293.2 (182.2) | -17.9 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 290.7 (180.6) | -20.4 |
14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 290.5 (180.5) | -20.6 |
15 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | 277.9 (172.7) | -33.2 |
16 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 276.5 (171.8) | -34.6 |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 272.8 (169.5) | -38.3 |
18 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 271.9 (169.0) | -39.2 |
19 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 271.2 (168.5) | -39.9 |
20 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 270.7 (168.2) | -40.4 |
21 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 266.3 (165.5) | -44.8 |
22 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 261.4 (162.4) | -49.7 |
Over to you
How do you think today’s race will unfold? Can anyone catch Red Bull?
Share your views on the Australian Grand Prix in the comments.
2013 Australian Grand Prix
Image © Lotus/LAT
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
17th March 2013, 2:03
I bet Caterham are regretting a few of the decisions they made over the winter …
Eggry (@eggry)
17th March 2013, 2:11
Yeah, finally Marussia made it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
17th March 2013, 2:56
Well, it remains to be seen exactly what the gap is – we have to take into consideration the extreme conditions in qualifying, and of course, they’re yet to race. But after over-promising and under-delivering so much for the past three years, locking out the back row of the grid has got to be disheartening.
Primalogy
17th March 2013, 2:51
I reckon Pic regrets his move (I mean his money move) from Marussia to Caterham !!!
James (@goodyear92)
17th March 2013, 2:05
I might be wrong here, but the disparate between Hamilton’s top end speed and Rosberg’s (4.5 kph) would seem to suggest that the latter is running with a little bit more wing, maybe. This might perhaps have accounted for the difference between both cars in the wet and subsequent dry conditions. It could also stand Rosberg in better stead for the race, as it should enable him to look after his tyres a bit better. It has me a tad nervous, to be honest, as I’m praying for Ham to make it to the podium, but I would be happy with a good/great result for either of the Mercs.
mantresx (@mantresx)
17th March 2013, 2:20
Actually Sebastian almost did two flying laps, he only backed off when he was sure he got pole, which was just before the pitlane.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th March 2013, 2:25
Darn you, Red Bull :_(
I hope it’s a “too early to call it a day” situation…
Scary Terry (@hatebreeder)
17th March 2013, 3:27
Last year’s qualifying didn’t mean anything in terms of race pace isnt it? Since DRS was allowed throughout the track. It Now that DRS can be deployed only in the DRS zone, its an accurate description of race pace. I dont like it.
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
17th March 2013, 3:42
Please let seb do something stupid with the backmarkers and let webber win this one . I can tolerate red bull winning as long as its webber at home . I hope lewis doesn’t go backwards .
Chris (@tophercheese21)
17th March 2013, 2:28
So JB did 3 flyers on the SS’s.
Well, he’ll be screwed for the first stint, unless it rains.
Roger2012
17th March 2013, 2:54
Hope the tyres don’t end up playing too big a role as I really want to see a proper race.
Primalogy
17th March 2013, 2:59
Hope the tyres will differenciate the excellent car/driver combination from the good and thus reward constructors and drivers fairly.
Phil Carr (@atseridluap)
17th March 2013, 3:21
Great comments above as always so to recap: Bad move to Caterham for pic; Caterham struggling; Tyre concerns (however this will enable the top ten to be overtaken & improove the spectacle).
Other note worthy points:
1. Mclaren how long can Martin Whitmarsh hold onto his multi million pound job after last years dreadful season – allowing Lewis Hamilton to slip thru his fingers – loosing lowe – producing this donkey of a car.
2. Where is the long line of TV pundits / ex F1 racers / soap box experts. Not one of them has re-appeared & held up their hands & said it looks like we made a massive mis-judgement over Hammy’s move to Mercedes & we’d like to appologise. Yes, guys we understand ‘you only speak when your being paid’! So there’s no money being paid out for appologies – and your all not man enough to do it any way!
Getting close now to an exciting race!
Regards,
Phil
kimrogue (@kimrogue)
17th March 2013, 4:41
^^ Whatever he said!
panache (@panache)
17th March 2013, 3:29
This is just going from bad to worse for Mclaren. Already they’ve made two key operational blunders by making the call to switch to Supersofts in Q2 then keeping Perez on them, and afterwards sending Button out too early for too many laps on his Supersoft tyres.
Anthony Bosley (@)
17th March 2013, 4:30
I don’t think people quite understand Pic’s move to caterham. He didn’t move there from marussia, he had no seat for this year had he not taken it, otherwise he would have ended up like every other marussia rookie.
So it’s not his bad decision he moved to the team, it was his only decision.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
17th March 2013, 5:11
@bosley
I don’t think Pic regrets moving to Caterham – I suspect Caterham will regret taking him and van der Garde. We’ve only had one qualifying session, but they’ve been in the wars all throughout this weekend. And with Jules Bianchi racing for Marussia, you’d have to say that Marussia are in better shape to place in the World Constructors’ Championship this year.
dragoll (@dragoll)
17th March 2013, 4:59
Whats with the huge differences in speed trap this time around? ROS 4.5 km’s slower than HAM in the same car? Surely ROS isn’t running that much more rear wing than his team mate? With a difference like that, we’d almost see the difference in rear wing depth of the 2 team mates :P
Yappy
17th March 2013, 5:13
Before anyone writes off this season. Remember last year Button won the first race and was not seen again till mid-season. That out of the way. Vettel for WC.
wigster (@wigster)
17th March 2013, 5:54
I hate to say it but, barring rain and unreliability, the only way I can see someone from a team other than Red Bull winning is if Red Bull make a mistake with their tyre strategy and someone else gets it perfect. I just don’t think on dry race pace anyone else is going to be close unfortunately.