Saturday: Pirelli congratulates Grosjean for his performance

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, equipped with Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires, thanks to a lap of the Albert Park circuit in 1’24″922. He leads his teammate Jenson Button and earns the 20th pole position of his career. McLaren had not occupied the front row of the grid since the European Grand Prix in 2009. Hamilton’s last pole position was at the 2011 Korean GP.

Most teams used the medium P Zero white tires to get out of Q1, although the two best lap times were set on the soft P Zero Yellow compounds by Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber and Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso. Romain Grosjean, with the Lotus, was the fastest of the drivers on medium tires during the first phase of qualifying, with the third-fastest time.

The 17 drivers qualified in Q2 used the soft P Zero Yellows; Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes getting the better of his teammate Michael Schumacher’s at the top of the timing screens.

It was with two runs on softs that the contenders for pole attempted to complete the session, in order to preserve sets of the P Zero Yellow compound for the race. As the track became faster and faster, the leaders decided to stay out on track until the final seconds. In this final top ten, only Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) remained in his garage, while Webber chose to go out only once on softs.

After yesterday’s intermittent rainfall, the weather was dry today, with ambient temperatures hovering around 19°C. According to the regulations, Friday’s rain allowed the drivers to be equipped with an additional set of slicks for the third and final Free Practice session of the weekend, in the morning. Hamilton was once again the fastest during this session, achieving his best time on soft tires, designated alongside the P Zero White (Medium) in Australia. For the qualifying and the race, however, the rules remain unchanged, and drivers will have to use their usual allocation of three sets of mediums and as many softs.

Pirelli has reduced the performance gap between the compounds this season, and the difference observed so far between the medium and the softs at Albert Park is about half a second per lap.

Two to three stops are expected on Sunday during the 58-lap Grand Prix, with the soft tire lasting around twenty laps and the medium tire around 25. A trend initiated by Pirelli aiming to encourage different race strategies. However, with little time spent on the dry track this weekend, teams do not have a large amount of data to establish strategic plans.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: This was one of the most unpredictable qualifying sessions for us since our Formula 1 debut, with a genuine sense of anticipation and excitement. Teams were able to collect crucial data only during the one-hour practice session before qualifying, due to the conditions from the previous day, meaning there was also less grip than usual on the circuit. The performance of the compounds is now much closer, which will also be a factor for the race. We witnessed stunning laps from both McLaren drivers, and we would like to particularly congratulate Romain Grosjean – reigning GP2 Champion and one of our former test drivers, having done a great job for us – for his excellent third position. Teams had very little dry running time and will struggle to find the best compromises for a fuel-laden car, which will surely provide a lot of interest.

The tires used by the Top 10 and that the drivers will have to fit at the start of the race:

– Hamilton: Tendres

– Button: Tendres

– Grosjean: Tendres

– Schumacher: Tendres

– Webber: Tendres

– Vettel: Tendres

– Rosberg: Tendres

– Maldonado: Tendres

– Hülkenberg: Tendres

– Ricciardo: Tendres, aucun temps établi.

[From the official Pirelli statement]