Reuters
Melbourne, March 19: Lewis Hamilton’s 50th pole at the Australian Grand Prix here Saturday was a proud milestone for the champion Briton but the achievement was almost completely overshadowed by scathing criticism of Formula One’s (F1) new qualifying format.
Hamilton tore around Albert Park in a searing one minute 23.837 seconds in the third and final session of qualifying, eclipsing the circuit’s previous fastest lap set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.
But the exhilarating drive was almost forgotten as his rivals stayed in their garages rather than chase the mark despite having ample time to make a challenge. The last five minutes would have been excruciatingly awkward for the F1 management as the clock wound down with no drivers on track and with fans left bemused in the grandstands.
The new format, based on racers being progressively eliminated during the sessions rather than at the end of each, was intended to add excitement but ultimately sapped much of the suspense.
Hamilton, his second-placed teammate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s third-placed Sebastian Vettel were all quick to criticise the format, saying race managers had been given adequate warning that it was doomed to fail.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Formula One owed an apology to fans and that the old qualifying should be reinstated. “We didn’t put on a great show,” he told the ‘BBC’.
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff was even less diplomatic. “I’m the first one to say we shouldn’t be speaking bad about things on TV, but I think the new qualifying format is pretty rubbish,” Wolff told ‘Sky Sports’.
Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth and 10th respectively. Perez finished with a timing of one minute 25.753 seconds while Hulkenberg had a time of one minute 25.856 seconds.