333pg333

That was Adelaide, this is Melbourne.

I picked Webber a few days ago and am sticking to it.

multi21

I think 'Nando might nick Webber off the line since he's on the clean side of the track and typically makes stellar starts.

Unless there is rain, the last 5 out of 6 pole sitters have won this race.

Gotta give Button credit. Hamilton looks like he had a problem given the fact he put in an installation lap and then went into the garage only to re-enter the track with a few minutes left. Lewis said he had traffic, but it didn't look like too much. I think McLaren is hiding a mechanical issue with his car. Button however, put in in P4. Great result for him.

Looks like Ross Brawn has shot the first salvo of the strategy wars. Given the MB GP cars are 6th and 7th, starting on the hard tires and then going to the softer compound for the 2nd half of the race when the temps are much cooler seems like a brillant way to go. Of course, rain can screw up this theory.

Larry Herman

Not a bad gamble. Starting position is less important if it rains, passing is easier, mistakes are more prevalent and the few tenths that you are looking for in the dry can easily be found in the wet. And of course if you can't find them, it didn't make a difference anyway.

Bob Rouleau

This race looks more promisiing that the parade in Bahrain. I hope my feelings turn out to be accurate. Nice to see Newey's cars out front. Renault power is obviously not a handicap as long as they have endurance.

Sean F

Putting aside performance differences of the various cars, Vettel's in-car footage was just crazy. The guy is just so fast. His entry speed in some of the corners just appeared to be so much faster than anyone else. He just hangs it out there in qualifying.

944meister

all i know is, i dont wanna see hot tub time machine

enduro911

The thought had crossed my mind, too. The more I think about it the more I think this is a good call. That said, I thought he was going to have a bid for pole so I watched him closely and couldn't pick up on any hiccups in accelerating or anything else noticeable.

Flying Finn

Holy ****, was Vettel haulin' *** or what?!

That slide & correction on the right hander was awesome, boy's got quick hands...

chris walrod

+1

theporscheguy

Lets see what the leveling device on the Red Bull turns out to be. I hope that the race is a lot more competitive than Bahrain. That was really hard to watch.

Ray S

Vettel is amazing. Talk about quick hands!!

Saturday Qualifying Session
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1:24.774 1:24.096 1:23.919
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:25.286 1:24.276 1:24035
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 1:25.082 1:24.335 1:24.111
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.897 1:24.531 1:24.675
5. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:25.548 1:25.010 1:24.837
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 1:24.788 1:24.788 1:24.884
7. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 1:25.351 1:24.871 1:24.927
8. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1:25.702 1:25.085 1:25.217
9. Robert Kubica Poland Renault 1:25.588 1:25.122 1:25.372
10. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1:25.504 1:25.046 1:26.036
Q2
11. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.046 1:25.184
12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.061 1:25.638
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1:26.170 1:25.743
14. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.089 1:25.747
15. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1:25.866 1:25.748
16. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.251 1:25.777
17. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.095 1:26.089
Q1
18. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 1:26.471
19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1:28.797
20. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1:29.111
21. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.592
22. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.185
23. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 1:30.526
24. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 1:30.613

PPo

Could Hamilton have possibly manufatcured the 11th place on purpose to get the highest spot possible that can change tires before the race? (and ride height I believe)

The whole thing looked fishy to me... His Q1 time was faster then his Q2 time. He had two fast sectors, and was slow in the third. I could be wrong, but I believe his practice 3 times where faster.

Perhaps McLaren messed up managing his allotment of tires for this race.

This is all speculation, but I would not be surprised if he did well considering his start position. A fresh set of hards to start the race, with a late change to softs is a great strategy. The best way to do that is from 11th on the gird.

Too much conspiracy theory?

Ray S

An awful lot of drama for a burnout......

http://www.breitbart.tv/australian-p...kless-driving/

Ray S

I really doubt it. It looked like traffic was part of the problem.

A.Wayne

Forget Vettel , what about Shoomucker ................................