Behind Grosjean was Michael Schumacher, whose Mercedes is the subject of
intense scrutiny from rivals who feel it may be illegally channelling air
through the car to improve straight-line speed.
Schumacher has been consistently out-qualified by team mate Nico Rosberg since
making his comeback to the sport in 2010, but the seven-time world
champion’s younger rival and compatriot could only go seventh quickest after
making a small mistake at Turn Three.
The real surprise, though, was Red Bull. After 15 poles in 19 races last year
double world champion Sebastian Vettel could only go sixth quickest, one
place behind team mate Mark Webber in fifth.
Vettel had looked ragged all day, crashing out of the earlier practice
session, and his performance in Sunday’s race will be fascinating given he
did not spend much time back in the pack in 2011.
“I should have been a bit better,” he admitted. “I made a mistake so that’s
down to me. It probably [cost me] one or two places.
“Now we focus on the race tomorrow. I never allowed myself to get used to
starting at the front – it was something special. The race will be long and
tough for the drivers to get back into the rhythm but I’m looking forward to
the race and looking to pass a few people.”
Nico Hulkenberg drew first blood in his battle with Britain’s Paul di Resta.
Hulkenberg qualified in ninth position, going 0.7secs faster than di Resta
in 15th.
Ferrari’s worst fears were confirmed , meanwhile, when Fernando Alonso spun
out of Q2, beaching his car in a gravel trap and looking furious as he
emerged from his cockpit. The Spaniard will start the race from 12th on the
grid, but that is still four places higher than Alonso’s Ferrari team mate
Felipe Massa who could only go 16th quickest.
Former driver David Coulthard said it looked as if the Italian team had major
problems. “There’s something fundamentally wrong with that car,”
Coulthard said. “I remember at McLaren we had a car that never raced – it
was the 19 – and I remember when you got on the brakes and under lateral
loading it just used to drift sideways.
“It never gave you confidence, and it looks like they have a similar
issue with that car.”
All of which is great news for McLaren, who locked out the front row for the
first time since Valencia in 2009 when Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen took
the top two spots.
“It is great to get off to such a good start,” Hamilton said. “It is mine and
Jenson’s first one-two so it’s fantastic to start the season this way. We
have had a couple of bad years but we just didn’t give up.
“Every pole has been special but particularly this one to come straight into
the season like this.”
Hamilton admitted he had been surprised by some of the other qualifying
performances and predicted the race would be tougher. “I think the race is
going to be incredibly tough and incredibly tense,” he said. “Looking after
the tyres will be key – and getting off to a good start.”
This was Hamilton’s second pole in Australia. The last time he started at the
front of the grid in Melbourne was in 2008 when he went on to take the
drivers’ title.
Button, who could have taken pole but for a mistake on his final hot lap,
cautioned that Red Bull would come back fighting. “I don’t know what the Red
Bulls were up to,” he said. “I know Sebastian took a trip into the gravel
but they will still be among the best and we can never forget that. But we
can enjoy this moment and hope for a great race.”
Grid positions after qualifying:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1mins 24.922secs
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:25.074
3 Romain Grosjean (Swi) Lotus F1 Team 1:25.302
4 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:25.336
5 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:25.651
6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:25.688
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:25.686
8 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:25.908
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:26.451
10 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.319
11 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.429
12 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:26.494
13 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.590
14 Bruno Senna (Bra) Williams 1:26.663
15 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:27.086
16 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:27.497
17 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.596
18 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:27.758
19 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Caterham 1:28.679
20 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Caterham 1:29.018
21 Timo Glock (Ger) Marussia 1:30.923
22 Charles Pic (Fra) Marussia 1:31.670
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) HRT-F1 1:33.495
24 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) HRT-F1 1:33.643