Ricciardo, who has the broadest of smiles at the worst of times, was beaming
with his second place, even though Hamilton took pole position by just
three-tenths of a second.
The Australian said: “It was exciting. Definitely the weather added to the
mix. The whole session went well. It was definitely really nice for my first
qualifying session with the team.”
In the understatement of the new season so far, Ricciardo added: “It wasn’t
looking like this a few weeks ago, so I’m pretty pleased right now.”
Mercedes confirmed their status as favourites, as Hamilton’s team-mate Nico
Rosberg qualified third.
Hamilton said: “These new cars are much harder to drive in the wet, so it was
a serious task and challenge today. For me and Nico to be up here is a
really great showing for the team. “
The 29-year-old joined compatriot Nigel Mansell in sixth on the all-time list
with 32 pole positions, one behind Jim Clark and Alain Prost.
With Hamilton first and Rosberg third, Mercedes may have to navigate the
tricky issue of team orders if reliability is a concern in tomorrow’s race.
The German admitted that at some point during the season, “there will be team
orders”, but he added that there will also be “battles, which is important.”
Toto Wolff, Mercedes executive director, made it clear after qualifying that
the pair will be allowed to race and that the ground rules have been
discussed.
After Kimi Raikkonen crashed out to qualify 12th, Fernando Alonso qualified
fifth.
Kevin Magnussen, the 21-year-old rookie, also outshone his experienced
team-mate Jenson Button, qualifying an impressive fourth, while Button
failed to make it through to the final segment. He will start 10th, again
due to Bottas’s five-place penalty.
The first part of qualifying, reduced to 18 minutes for this year, confirmed
what had been widely expected, with both Lotus cars going out. The team
struggled massively. Pastor Maldonado went off twice in one lap, and an
exasperated Romain Grosjean had to tell his team “I cannot [go quicker]”.
Mercedes confirmed their prowess, going through comfortably on the harder
tyres, while their rivals used the softer compound.
Rain five minutes from the end prevented anyone from improving their time,
leaving Britain’s Max Chilton a disappointed man, as he missed out in his
Marussia by only two-hundredths of a second.
The 16 cars in the second segment had to battle with damp conditions; a
treacherous task given the extra torque of these new turbo-powered engines.
And it was the tale of the triumph of the new boys over the old hands. After
Kimi Raikkonen crashed at turn four, bringing out the yellow flags,
Sebastian Vettel could only manage 13th, while his new team-mate Daniel
Ricciardo was more than two seconds quicker. Through both sessions the
Australian had the illustrious German covered off, who missed out on Q3 for
the first time in 28 races.
“It was tricky conditions”, the reigning champion said afterwards. “For some
reason we had more problems today than we had yesterday. But it’s a long
race, anything can happen.”
It was an equally remarkable performance from Daniil Kvyat, just 19-years-old
in his debut with Toro Rosso. He managed to make it through to Q3 in 10th.
As they emerged for the final 12-minute shootout for pole, it was anybody’s
guess.
Kvyat again impressed, qualifying eighth, but it was Ricciardo and Hamilton
who stole the show.
The crowd in Melbourne let out a huge roar when the 24-year-old crossed the
line, only to be immediately deflated as Hamilton’s denied him a maiden pole
position. The two Williams rounded off the top 10, with Felipe Massa 9th and
Valtteri Bottas 10th.
If Saturday’s qualifying is anything to go, we are in for a dramatic year.
Starting Grid for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix
1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), 3 –
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 4 – Kevin Magnussen (McLaren), 5 – Fernando Alonso
(Ferrari), 6 – Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), 7 – Nico Hulkenberg (Force
India), 8 – Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), 9 – Felipe Massa (Williams), 10 –
Jenson Button (McLaren), 11 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 12 – Sebastian
Vettel (Red Bull), 13 – Adrian Sutil (Sauber), 14 – Valtteri Bottas
(Williams), 15 – Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham), 16 – Sergio Perez (Force
India), 17 – Max Chilton (Marussia), 18 – Jules Bianchi (Marussia),
19 – Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), 20 – Marcus Ericsson (Caterham), 21 –
Romain Grosjean (Lotus), 22 – Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
F1
prediction competition: Who is going to win the Australian GP?