Saturday at Albert Park
Well watching it on the television anyway. I really wish I had gotten down there this year - so much unpredictability and excitement thus far.
…Practice 3 times…
Saturday Practice 3 was again a mix of times and teams, with one second covering the top 8 at the close of the session. Lewis Hamilton, described by Ron Dennis as having ‘Confidence, devoid of all arrogance’, once again showed some fine form to land in the 3rd spot and there was a surprise leap by Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella into the 2nd spot. The front of the pack was again red, led by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen with a blisteringly fast 1:26.064.
The surprise entry was Anthony Davidson posting a 1:26.491 to land him 4th in the times, just a mere 0.024 behind Hamilton’s McLaren. It was looking the real deal for Super Aguri, who have outpaced Honda most of the weekend with their adaptation of their parent teams’ old chassis.
Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari and Nick Heidfeld in the BMW followed closely behind - a mistake in the last quick lap attempt locking Fernando Alonso to 7th position. The top 8 was closed out by Heikki Kovalainen showing a little more promise for Renault.
…Qualifying Results…
Qualifying at 2pm was without a doubt, the most exciting session I have watched in ages. The coverage was sensational, the focus was on the right drivers at the right times and coupled with my watching the live timing unfold on the computer, it had my heart rate up for a good half-an-hour there.
The first session was clear in showing how close the field truly is this year. Light fuel loads and down just to driver ability, less than one second (yes, that is 1 second) covered the entire top 16 of the grid at completion. Kimi Raikkonen posted a 1:26.644, Lewis Hamilton posted a 1:26.674, Fernando Alonso posted a 1:26.697 and Felipe Massa posted a 1:26.712, separating the front runners by 0.068 seconds.
Rubens Barrichello, Scott Speed, David Coulthard, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Adrian Sutil and Christijan Albers were dropped at the conclusion of Q1.
Q2 began and the times dropped. Most of the front runners delving into the 1:25 time pool. Once again, Super Aguri showed their newfound strength with Takuma Sato holding position and cracking a top 10, Q3 Qualifying entrance for the first time in Super Aguri’s history. Times were exchanged to fractions of a second again, Fernando Alonso in the McLaren finishing the session on top with a cracking 1:25.326 - closely followed by Nick Heidfeld in the BMW with a very respectable 1:25.358.
Most susprisingly in Q2, was the retirement of Felipe Massa - his Ferrari uncharacteristically grinding to a halt as he set off for his fast lap. What was a critical gearbox failure meant that Massa would not continue through to the final qualifying session and would be relegated to position 16 on the grid for the race tomorrow.
So along with Felipe Massa’s retirement, Alexander Wurz, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and Anthony Davidson would not make the cut for Q3.
Amazingly, the times and positions in Q3 were decided relatively early in the session, without the usual last minute flurry of position exchanges. It was only Nick Heidfeld jumping in at the last minute to split the McLarens that would mark the last big name change at the pointy end of the grid. Kimi Raikkonen dominated early and held P1 for the session, while positions 2, 3 and 4 were exchanged up until the last minute.
A surprising charge from Toyota has them in 8th and 9th on the grid. Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault managed a lack-lustre 6th on the grid behind Robert Kubica’s late charge to 5th.
A 1:26.072 would be more than enough for Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari to grasp pole position for the first race of the 2007 Formula One season. He will be starting on the front row alongside Fernando Alonso in the McLaren. Row 2 will be made up of Nick Heidfeld, 3rd in the BMW and Lewis Hamilton, 4th in the McLaren.
