Australia: Qually – Both cars into the final 10

By Nick Sparkes
April 1 2006

On a low grip Albert Park race track, the odds were up against the whole Toyota Racing team as they tried to get grip into their new specification Bridgestone tyres during qualifying. But, for the first time this year, both cars showed amazing promise with the two Toyota’s going into the final 10.

Phase One:

Toyota were one of the first teams to explore onto the race track after this mornings wet practice session, with both Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli setting a time early, although slower than the two V10 limited Toro Rosso’s. Yuji Ide in his Super Aguri made more trips to the gravel than he did to the black stuff, eventually spinning in the middle of the track causing a red flag whilst the Japanese driver tried to find reverse gear. Similar to the opening phase in Bahrain, this meant that the final seven minutes would see all the cars out on track trying to make it through into the next round. With three minutes to go both Toyota’s set about improving their times, with Jarno Trulli going fastest and Ralf Schumacher popping his Toyota up into fourth. Although they would later finish fourth and seventh respectively, for Toyota they had got both cars into the next session, which wasn’t the case for Honda where Rubens Barrichello suffered with traffic on his hot lap, finishing in the knock-out zone in sixteenth.

Top 6: Montoya, Raikkonen, Webber, Trulli, Fisichella, Heidfeld

Bottom 6 and knocked out: Barrichello, Albers, Speed, Monteiro, Sato, Ide

Phase Two:

The second session saw a similar amount as action as the first, with a couple of extra surprises, not least for Toyota. After managing to get both Toyota’s into the next session, the team set about trying to get both cars into the final 10. Jarno Trulli’s and Ralf Schumacher’s first attempts were successful, with Jarno going fastest with eleven minutes to go, followed up by Ralf’s third place a few yards down the road. It was clear that the Toyota TF106 was enjoying its new specification tyres, lapping faster than their Bridgestone rivals. But, Felipe Massa brought out the red flags for the second time today, spinning off and hitting the wall. This gave everyone just over five minutes to complete a ran in order to get though into the final 10. At the restart Ralf Schumacher and Liuzzi looked to be warming up for the first lap of a Grand Prix, as the two drivers fought for track position in order to get some clear space. In the final minutes a quick shower of rain stopped play, with Jarno Trulli finishing seventh and Ralf Schumacher ending up ninth, it meant both Toyota’s had made it through into the final 10 for the first time this season. The big surprise was Ferrari, with Massa ending up sixteenth after his off and Michael Schumacher eleventh; it meant that neither Ferrari would make it through into the final 10.

Top 6: Alonso, Montoya, Heidfeld, Webber, Raikkonen, Fisichella.

Bottom 6 and Knocked out: M.Schumacher, Coulthard, Liuzzi, Klien, Rosberg, Massa

Phase Three:

Toyota failed to make the most of the final session, as Jarno Trulli suffered from a gearbox problem and a damaged rear wing towards the end of the second phase, forcing the Italian driver to sit out the final session. Ralf Schumacher on the other hand, had a successful run to the grid, eventually qualifying his Toyota sixth, the highest position a Toyota has started this year. More importantly, Ralf was the highest Bridgestone runner, as Webber ended up one place behind in seventh. Jenson Button put in a very fast lap at the end to take his first pole position of the year, with the Renault’s of Fisichella and Alonso being confined to second and third. BMW Sauber had a good run with Nick Heidfeld continuing to impress in eighth and his teammate Jacques Villeneuve finishing ninth, although Jacques will take a ten place drop due to an engine change and will start nineteenth.

Top 10: Button, Fisichella, Alonso, Raikkonen, Montoya, R.Schumacher, Webber, Heidfeld, Villeneuve, Trulli

Notes

Jacques Villeneuve took an engine change and will drop 10 places back on the grid.