JOIN USRain mars qualifying
The final stages of qualifying for Sunday’s season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix were postponed to the morning of the race after heavy rain made conditions impossible on Saturday.
A chaotic opening segment of qualifying was completed after a delay but as the rain persisted and the skies grew darker, race director Charlie Whiting decided the climax of the session would have to wait until 11am local time (0530 IST) on Sunday.
“I think it was absolutely the right decision to delay it until tomorrow morning,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “It's a shame, but I think Charlie has made the right call.
“You can see it’s quite dark now and these conditions are not safe for the drivers. Hopefully this weather will blow through tonight and we’ll be back with better conditions in the morning.”
It was the first time since the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix that bad weather had caused qualifying to be held on the same day as the race and McLaren’s Jenson Button said it was disappointing for driver and spectator alike.
“There's so much pent-up energy and adrenalin and we've got to find a way of getting rid of that now,” said the Briton, who has won three of the last four races at Albert Park.
“It's sad for the fans, they've been here all day and we weren't able to put on a show.”
After a hot, sunny morning in Melbourne, the rain descended in time to disrupt the final practice session and rarely relented thereafter. The first section of qualifying started with plenty of water still on the circuit and ended in more heavy rain with bits of car strewn across the track.
Nico Rosberg set the quickest time for Mercedes in that session in one minute 43.380, ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean in a Lotus. “I don't want to think too much about the front row,” said Rosberg. “For sure, it's going to be much more difficult in the dry. Today we were really quick in the wet ... in the wet, great car.”