First qualifying session, Australian Grand Prix

A thrilling first qualifying session of the year saw Lewis Hamilton claim pole position for the Australian Grand Prix as pre-season favourite Ferrari hit trouble.

It was by no means an easy task for Hamilton who was pushed all the way by the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica who could, and probably should, have claimed top honours. While Hamilton celebrated his seventh career pole, Kubica will be disappointed with a small mistake that saw his F1.08 run wide and slide across the grass on what was his final hot lap. An impressive lap it was too from Kubica who missed out on the pole by just 0.155s.

Heikki Kovalainen starts an impressive third on what is his McLaren Mercedes debut while Felipe Massa lines up fourth in what is turning into a disappointing weekend for Ferrari. While Massa will be unhappy to start fourth, Kimi Raikkonen will be starting towards the back after a fuel pressure regulator failed at the end of the first part of qualifying.

Nick Heidfeld starts fifth in the second BMW Sauber, less than a tenth behind Massa while Toyota continued to show well with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock posting the sixth and ninth* fastest times respectively.

Nico Rosberg starts seventh in his Williams Toyota with team-mate Kazuki Nakajima a solid 14th in what is just his second Grand Prix weekend. Over at Red Bull Renault and it was a mixed day with David Coulthard running well to qualify in eighth position. For home-town favourite Mark Webber however, it was an early exit as his front right brake disk failed sending him spinning into the gravel trap. Webber lines up 15th.

Sebastian Vettel proved he really is a rising star with a stunning performance to make it into the final qualifying shootout. The Toro Rosso driver did not record a time in the third and final session due to a 'technical problem' and therefore starts tenth. Team-mate Sebastien Bourdais starts 18th, pending any grid position penalties.

Honda has made a good step forward with the new RA108. Rubens Barrichello lines up 11th with Jenson Button 13th. Fernando Alonso’s much anticipated return to Renault has yet to yield the desired result as the former champion lines up 12th after complaining of handling issues on the R28 while rookie Nelson Piquet starts a disappointing 21st of the 22 runners.

Force India Ferrari head into its first race with Giancarlo Fisichella lining up 17th and Adrian Sutil two positions lower. Sutil Had trip though the gravel on his first hot lap and then spun on his final qualifying run thereby losing an opportunity to improve. Takuma Sato leads the way at Super Aguri Honda in 20th position ahead of Piquet’s Renault while Anthony Davidson starts at the back in the second Super Aguri.

*Penalty: Timo Glock qualified ninth, but drops to 14th due to a gearbox change grid penalty.

by: Earl ALEXANDER