Spyker boss Colin Kolles has apparently decided to delay the Dutch team’s protest against its rivals, leaving Kimi Raikkonen’s pole position for Ferrari as the focus of attention at Albert Park on Saturday afternoon.
In sunny but mild Melbourne conditions, Finn Raikkonen got a clear run to the front of the grid after teammate Felipe Massa – who will start sixteenth – dropped out with a gearbox problem.
Four tenths behind Raikkonen on the grid is world champion Fernando Alonso, followed by Nick Heidfeld (BMW), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Robert Kubica (BMW), Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) and Mark Webber.
“We can do something from there,” a heartened Webber said behind the Red Bull pits, “with a bit of luck or a bit of attrition.”
The pace was incredibly close; in the low-fuel Q1, the top four runners all did a lap within a tenth of a second.
In the same session, a mere one second separated the top seventeen.
Jarno Trulli, meanwhile, provided a scary moment when his Toyota spat out a trolley jack on the track at the end of pit lane.
Australian GP, qualification
01. K. Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:26.072
02. F. Alonso – McLaren – 1:26.493
03. N. Heidfeld – BMW – 1:26.556
04. L. Hamilton – McLaren – 1:26.755
05. R. Kubica – BMW – 1:27.347
06. G. Fisichella – Renault – 1:27.634
07. M. Webber – Red Bull – 1:27.934
08. J. Trulli – Toyota – 1:28.404
09. R. Schumacher – Toyota – 1:28.692
10. T. Sato – Super Aguri – 1:28.871
11. A. Davidson – Super Aguri – 1:26.909
12. N. Rosberg – Williams – 1:26.914
13. H. Kovalainen – Renault – 1:26.964
14. J. Button – Honda – 1:27.264
15. A. Wurz – Williams – 1:27.393
16. F. Massa – Ferrari – 1:26.712
17 R. Barrichello – Honda – 1:27.596
18. S. Speed – Scuderia Toro Rosso – 1:28.305
19. D. Coulthard – Red Bull – 1:28.579
20. V. Liuzzi – Scuderia Toro Rosso – 1:29.267
21. A. Sutil – Spyker F1 – 1:29.339
22. C. Albers – Spyker F1 – 1:31.932
