Formula One: Sebastian Vettel starts Australian Grand Prix in pole
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel appears all set to start the first race of the 2011 Formula One season at the front of the grid.
The weather forecast for the day was a little overcast at 16°C. However, the track was thankfully dry which aided for an all out showdown to decide the placement for the race the following day.
The young German earned the honours with a stunning lap of 1 minute 23.529 seconds that breaks the previous track record of 1m 24.125s set by Michael Schumacher in 2004. Almost a second behind him is McLaren's Lewis Hamilton followed by the German's teammate
Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso to round up the top 5 for Sunday's race.
Vitaly Petrov turned in an impressive run to qualify 6th in his Renault. The Russian will be hoping to earn his best career finish in the race on Sunday. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg qualified 7th in his Mercedes; ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
Kamui Kobayashi is another one who impressed by qualifying in the top 10. The Japanese driver is seen as one of the most promising of the newcomers with a lot of raw speed and an aggressive, hard charging style behind the wheel.
Sebastien Buemi is the best of the Torro Rossos as he rounded off the top 10. Michael Schumacher’s campaign didn’t go as well as planned. The 7 time World Champion could only manage 11th fastest. Schumi is understood to be under immense pressure.
Not only does the German have to perform with respect to the level of expectations that correspond to his dominance in the sport but also to keep his spot in the Mercedes team’s line up after a mediocre first season with the team.
Looking ahead, Vettel appears to be the obvious favourite as he was last year. But Albert Park has always been full of surprises and it could be anyone's race as we've seen in previous races here. Also, while the season features many of the old drivers with
a couple of new editions to the line up, there is also the added charm of getting a first look at the new DRS technology to play a new and exciting role in the race craft exhibited by drivers.
Tags: