Saturday March 26th, 2011. Australia Grand Prix Qualifier. On track, 24 cars and 24 drivers. Things seemed to be looking up for Hispania Racing Team (HRT). They had two cars on track but when it counted, they just could not perform. Ending up outside the 107% percent grid rule, there will only be 22 cars and drivers starting the race on Sunday. (If still unsure what the 107% grid rule is... read about it here).
Staying up till 4 am (in Canada) would seem a little insane, if it wasn't for the thought of any one driver spinning off during their hot lap due to the Pirelli's not gaining or maintaining the proper heat. Yes, Australia had a blast of cooler weather and the track temperature was low compared to most other tracks, but they seemed to at least hold together. Still. most of the driver's had used all their tyres... But we have to give points to Pirelli. With only having the limited testing time, they are hitting the mark. As the season progresses, so will their compounds.
Qualifier only produced a few mishaps from the drivers, such as Massa spinning out in the last 5 minutes of Q3 in the exact spot that Chandhok had his shunt, Barichello spun out as well landing him below the lever expected and Heldfeild brought questions to his teams mind by not even making it into Q2.
A few things that did turn out on the proper side is McLaren finding the speed that they had lacked in testing, with the two front rows split with Red Bull. Vettel had released that his first car was named Kinky Kylie and by setting an unbeatable lap without the aid of KERS, Vettel also gave hope to the team that don't have the technology, that speed and driver talent alone can get you far.
As for the teams and drivers, they all had support for Japan in it's time of need.
Line up in full for Sunday March 27th.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 01:23.529 | 16 |
| 2. |  Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 01:24.307 | 19 |
| 3. |  Mark Webber | Red Bull | 01:24.395 | 15 |
| 4. | Jenson Button | McLaren | 01:24.779 | 18 |
| 5. |  Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:24.974 | 19 |
| 6. |  Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 01:25.247 | 18 |
| 7. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes Grand Prix | 01:25.421 | 17 |
| 8. |  Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:25.599 | 18 |
| 9. |  Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:25.626 | 17 |
| 10. |  Sebastien Buemi | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 01:27.066 | 15 |
| 11. | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes Grand Prix | 01:25.971 | 13 |
| 12. | Jaime Alguersuari | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 01:26.103 | 11 |
| 13. |  Sergio Perez | Sauber | 01:26.108 | 9 |
| 14. | Paul di Resta | Force India F1 | 01:26.739 | 16 |
| 15. |  Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 01:26.768 | 17 |
| 16. | Adrian Sutil | Force India F1 | 01:31.407 | 15 |
| 17. | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | no time | 12 |
| 18. | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 01:27.239 | 10 |
| 19. |  Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus F1 | 01:29.254 | 10 |
| 20. |  Jarno Trulli | Lotus F1 | 01:29.342 | 12 |
| 21. | Timo Glock | Virgin Racing | 01:29.858 | 10 |
| 22. |  Jerome d` Ambrosio | Virgin Racing | 01:30.822 | 8 |
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