Who will take Pole?

Who will take pole position tomorrow for the Australian Grand Prix?

The contenders

Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Lewis Hamilton
Jenson Button
Fernando Alonso
Michael Schumacher
Nico Rosberg

All seven drivers showed good pace at certain points today. Vettel's speed is never going to be an issue and expect him (barring a disaster) to be at the sharp end come Q3.

The Australians will be praying for a home pole from Webber and his pace in P1 was impressive. With a Newey designed car under him he should be up there towards the front.

Hamilton looked sharp in P2 only to be outdone by Button. Both look impressive and Button's record here in the last two years suggest he may well be in contention not only for Pole but the race win. Hamilton won't want a repeat of the disaster of last year where he failed to make Q3 and I expect him to be up there.

If one man can sneak in and spring a surprise then I would bet good money Alonso would do it. He produced a stunning lap under pressure in Singapore last year and will always be a tough cookie with a fast car underneath him.

The Mercedes of Schumacher and Rosberg both looked quick during the two sessions. Schumacher has a air of confidence not seen since his comeback last year and he may fancy his chances in this one, particularly with questionable weather. Rosberg will be itching for his first pole and the car Mereceds have at the moments seems to suggest he can finally do it.

Heres my call:

1. Alonso
2. Webber
3. Hamilton
4. Vettel
5. Button
6. Schumacher
7. Rosberg

Its a tough one.
Can we take anything from practice?
Was the fuel carried a factor today?

I have to stick with my original prediction, Alonso for me.

Ferrari fan here .... i can see Vettal Edging it out

Y I Man,

I don't think we can read much into practice - last year Ferrari always ran heavy fuel on fridays and finished in the midfield. All we can look at are how the cars behave on track. It can tell us a lot about aero and mechanical grip. I'm no expert but it was clear today that Red Bull and Ferrari are miles ahead of everyone else, Red Bull look slightly quicker but let's wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Impressive showing by McLaren today in practice, but it's not enough to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari at the front. Massa was simply awful. This leaves 3 contenders for pole: Vettel, Webber and Alonso.

A lot will depend on the cars. Most of the talk is about Red Bull hiding their true, with people claiming all sorts of crazy things (Sarah Holt claimed that never had less then 80kg of fuel onboard in testing - which is complete rubbish). Meanwhile Ferrari are in the same situation and have been quietly confident throughout testing. Today Alonso looked like he meant business.

Unless the RB7 is dominant by a few tenths, I back Alonso for pole.

cosicave wrote:I've stuck with my original prediction of Vettel because I believe we have not seen everything from the Red Bull and I see no reason to change my mind that they have the car to beat.

But taking into account the practice sessions, Ferrari seem to be the most consistant and have the reliability over the rest. Do they have the pace though?

Why is there no "other" option?

Y I Man wrote:

cosicave wrote:I've stuck with my original prediction of Vettel because I believe we have not seen everything from the Red Bull and I see no reason to change my mind that they have the car to beat.

But taking into account the practice sessions, Ferrari seem to be the most consistant and have the reliability over the rest. Do they have the pace though?

I guess not lol

After looking at the times in practice, I would say that either Hamilton or button have a great chance of starting the grid in first. Only time will tell...

dont read the official Australian thread if you are not watching qualifying until the re-run. Ive posted the top 5 qualifying results.