Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying Results

Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com |

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Lotus F1 Team experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum this afternoon in Melbourne, as Romain made a big impression on his Albert Park debut while Kimi suffered an unexpected blow on his return to the sport.

Q1 got underway at 17:00 local time, with both Kimi and Romain heading out early in the session on the medium compound tyre and completing a total of 9 laps apiece. After a solid first stint, Romain returned to the track on a fresh set of tyres and sailed comfortably into Q2 with a time of 1:26.498.

Unfortunately for Kimi, his session was not to run as planned. Having set an almost identical time to Romain in his first stint the Finn made a late appearance for his final run, again opting to stay out on the medium compound tyre. A couple of small mistakes followed by a communication issue were to prove costly, as Kimi ran out of time to complete another flying lap, ruling him out of qualifying at the first hurdle and consigning him to an unexpected 18th place on the grid.

With the entire field now utilising the soft compound tyre, Q2 would prove to be the first real comparison between the teams. Despite having no prior experience of the Albert Park circuit before Free Practice 1 on Friday, Romain looked assured and confident at the wheel of the E20, progressing to the final knockout stage in 5th place with a time of 1:25.845.

Q3 proved to be a classic Formula 1 showdown, with the majority of drivers opting to complete a short run early in the session before heading out for a last-gasp run at the very end. Romain was among those to adopt this tactic and the Frenchman did not disappoint, crossing the line in a time of 1:26.498 to clinch 3rd position on the grid for his first Australian Grand Prix.

The start lights will go out at 17:00 local time tomorrow afternoon for the opening race of the season in Melbourne, with an intriguing plot line in store for the team as Kimi and Romain face very different challenges.

Kimi Raikkonen: “Today didn’t go quite as planned. There’s no issue with the car; I made a mistake and there was a communication issue so the timing wasn’t right to get another lap. It cost us a good qualifying position but that’s how it goes sometimes.

“We should have easily been in Q2. It’s not the best start but we’ll try to put it right in the race. There’s plenty of speed in the car.

“The steering was fine. It’s not perfect for exactly what I want but it doesn’t affect my driving. For sure we can do better than 18th tomorrow so we’ll have to see what happens.”

Pos--Driver---------------Team------------------Time-----------Gap 
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.922s
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m25.074s  + 0.152
 3.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m25.302s  + 0.380
 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m25.336s  + 0.414
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m25.651s  + 0.729
 6.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m25.668s  + 0.746
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m25.686s  + 0.764
 8.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m25.908s  + 0.986
 9.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m26.451s  + 1.529
10.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.319s Gap **
11.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.429s  + 0.960
12.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m26.4942  + 1.025
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.590s  + 1.121
14.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m26.663s  + 1.194
15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m27.086s  + 1.617
16.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m27.497s  + 2.028
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        No time
Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.633s Gap *
18.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m27.758s  + 1.576
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m28.679s  + 2.497
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m29.018s  + 2.836
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m30.923s  + 4.741
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m31.670s  + 5.488
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m33.495s  + 7.313
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m33.643s  + 7.461

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