F1 Australian Grand Prix: Hamilton on pole, Ricciardo snatches P2

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton whizzed past the chequered flag of Q3 to post a time of 1:44.231, enough to put him on pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. Team mate Nico Rosberg managed to secure 3rd place but it was Red Bull Racings Daniel Ricciardo who split the Mercedes pair by going second fastest and posting a time of 1:44.548. Rosberg lost grip in one corner during a flying lap and couldn't recover the time lost. Ricciardo pulled a rabbit out of his hat and went for it.

 

McLaren-Mercedes' Kevin Magnussen was fourth with a time of 1:45.745 while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso found himself in the 3rd row of the starting grid (not the first time that has happened). Following him were STR-Renault's Jean-Eric Vergne, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, STR-Renaults Daniil Kvyat while the two Williams-Mercedes drivers; Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10.

 

Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel's grid position did come in as a surprise as they are placed at P12 and P13 respectively.

 

Qualification rounds for the Australian GP began with the sight of rain on the horizon but that wasn't going to dampen the spirits of the drivers.

 

As Q1 began both the Mercedes drivers were the first out to get some fresh air ahead of them and Rosberg did manage to put in a good lap. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel did not look comfortable in his car but he did well enough to go through to Q2.

 

With 7 minutes to go in Q1, rain played spoil sport and everyone just head back to the pits. Daniel Ricciardo was at the top of the list after having a set a time of 1:30.775 in the Q1 session.

 

With a wet track ahead of them for the Q2 session, everybody was struggling for grip and that could be seen as drivers were swerving around as the tail went out quite a few times. But the Mercedes truly dominated this session until Red Bull Racing's new driver Daniel Ricciardo pranced out and decided 'Enough of Mercedes!' Ricciardo soldiered on as team mate Vettel couldn't just find the rhythm. For the first time in 27 races, Vettel found himself out of Q3 and securing P13.

 

With seconds remaining, even Raikkonen tried to push his car and ended up putting it into the wall and that was the end of his day but he set a time which took him ahead of the Red Bull Racing driver and hence secured P12.

 

It is going to be an interesting race tomorrow as statistics show that only 44% pole positions have been converted into wins. So, tomorrow's race sets the tone for the season but if it rains, the drivers have a problem on their hands but the spectators get to see something filled with drama, gasps and surprises.