Home » Sports » Motor Racing
Australian qualifying today amid rain woes
Source: Agencies |
March 17, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
QUALIFYING for the Formula One season opener in Australia will be completed today after a series of rain delays and darkness prevented the running of the second and third sessions yesterday.
A wet first session of qualifying was completed after a half-hour delay, but a succession of delays of Q2 meant it was becoming too dark to hold the remaining sessions in Melbourne.
Both qualifying and race at the Australian Grand Prix begin at 5pm local time.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was fastest in Q1 ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus' Romain Grosjean. Among the six drivers eliminated in the session was Williams driver Pastor Maldonado.
Race stewards had the discretion to choose to base the grid on the Q1 times or complete qualifying today, and chose the latter.
Qualifying on Sunday is unusual but not unprecedented, with the grids for both the 2004 and 2010 Japanese Grands Prix decided race day due to bad weather on the Saturday.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh was among those urging stewards to base the grid on Q1 times; unsurprisingly as his drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button performed above expectation in the sodden session by setting the fourth and eighth-fastest times respectively.
"The stewards can decide the grid based on what has already happened or decide to run Q2 and Q3 tomorrow," Whitmarsh said shortly before stewards announced their decision. "However, it's a very busy program tomorrow and I'm sure some of the historic events won't be pleased if they are moved."
The second session of qualifying will begin at 11am today, making it a long day for teams and drivers with the race set to start six hours later.
The six drivers who were eliminated in Q1 will have the luxury of arriving at the track later. Maldonado qualified 17th, followed by Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez - who was among several drivers who spun off the track in Q1 - Marussia pair Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton, and the two Lotus cars of Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic.
Australian favorite Mark Webber was fifth in Q1, two places ahead of his Red Bull teammate and triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, with the two separated by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
A wet first session of qualifying was completed after a half-hour delay, but a succession of delays of Q2 meant it was becoming too dark to hold the remaining sessions in Melbourne.
Both qualifying and race at the Australian Grand Prix begin at 5pm local time.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was fastest in Q1 ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus' Romain Grosjean. Among the six drivers eliminated in the session was Williams driver Pastor Maldonado.
Race stewards had the discretion to choose to base the grid on the Q1 times or complete qualifying today, and chose the latter.
Qualifying on Sunday is unusual but not unprecedented, with the grids for both the 2004 and 2010 Japanese Grands Prix decided race day due to bad weather on the Saturday.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh was among those urging stewards to base the grid on Q1 times; unsurprisingly as his drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button performed above expectation in the sodden session by setting the fourth and eighth-fastest times respectively.
"The stewards can decide the grid based on what has already happened or decide to run Q2 and Q3 tomorrow," Whitmarsh said shortly before stewards announced their decision. "However, it's a very busy program tomorrow and I'm sure some of the historic events won't be pleased if they are moved."
The second session of qualifying will begin at 11am today, making it a long day for teams and drivers with the race set to start six hours later.
The six drivers who were eliminated in Q1 will have the luxury of arriving at the track later. Maldonado qualified 17th, followed by Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez - who was among several drivers who spun off the track in Q1 - Marussia pair Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton, and the two Lotus cars of Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic.
Australian favorite Mark Webber was fifth in Q1, two places ahead of his Red Bull teammate and triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, with the two separated by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
