Melbourne, 1st April 2006

The new qualifying format introduced at the start of this year has definitely succeeded in improving the spectacle for the spectators and TV viewers. However, the hour long show can also be a cruel one as the slightest slip is penalised heavily.

Today, both Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers were caught out by circumstances. Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa ended the first 15 minutes of the session in 9th and 11th places respectively, thus making it through to the second phase of qualifying. However, this would be as far as either man would get, thus losing out on the chance to fight for a place on the top five rows of the grid.

The Brazilian was looking set to comfortably get through to the final period until he was caught out by the kerb at Turn 11, losing the back end of his 248 F1, taking a high speed spin across the multi-coloured gravel traps and ending up in the barrier. He was credited with the sixteenth fastest time. As for Michael, he never got the best out of his two sets of tyre, possibly because of the colder than expected conditions and just missed the final cut, ending up in eleventh spot. So a difficult race is on the cards for tomorrow.


Jenson Button took his third career pole, setting the fastest time in his Honda, while the winners of Malaysia and Bahrain respectively, Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso were second and third for Renault. Then came the two McLaren-Mercedes in fourth and fifth places, with Kimi Raikkonen outpacing Juan Pablo Montoya. Ralf Schumacher completed the top six for Toyota. At the moment, pending any further engine changes, both Michael and Felipe will move up one place on the grid tomorrow, as Jacques Villeneuve, eighth quickest for BMW-Sauber, required an engine change and will therefore drop ten places on the grid.