Australia saw four drivers come to F1 for the first time: Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Paul di Resta and Jerome d’Ambrosio. So how did they do? I’m a biased reporter, so I’m going to compare them more fairly with statistics:
Driver
| P1 time
| P2 time
| P3 time
| Q1 time
| Race
|
Rubens Barrichello
| 1:28.430 (5th)
| 1:27.280 (9th)
| 1:28.068 (16th)
| 1:26.270 (qual 17th)
| Ret lap 48
|
Pastor Maldonado
| 1:29.403 (15th)
| 1:29.386 (18th)
| 1:30.496 (21st)
| 1:26.298 (qual 15th)
| Ret lap 9
|
Difference
| 0.967s (10)
| 2.106s (9)
| 2.428s (5)
| 0.028s
| N/A |
Pastor Maldonado crashed out of P3, but the P2 times didn’t have the same problems and should have been closer. The qualifying times were much more respectable, and the race itself had both Williams losing out to mechanical problems. While Maldonado started ahead of Barrichello, he fell behind by lap three despite the Brazilian driver going off the track. However, it was a bad race for Williams in general. I think it will take a few more races before we can start blasting Maldonado too much.
Driver
| P1 time
| P2 time
| P3 time
| Q1 time
| Race
|
Adrian Sutil
| 1:29.314 (13th)
| 1:28.583 (17th)
| 1:27.180 (15th)
| 1:26.245 (qual 16th)
| 9 (finish 11)
|
Paul di Resta
| N/A
| 1:28.376 (16th)
| 1:27.087 (14th)
| 1:27.222 (qual 14th)
| 10 (finish 12)
|
Difference
| N/A
| 0.207s (1)
| 0.093s (1)
| 0.977s
| 1 |
In every practice session for which the two competed, they finished next to each other, with di Resta only slightly ahead. Sutil didn’t get to set a really competitive lap thanks to a mishap with the DRS just before the line, which is why his time was so far behind di Resta’s. Despite this, they both drove well and finished in the points after the Sauber disqualification. So not too bad for the pair, and a very good start for di Resta, though no more than I expected from him.
Driver
| P1 time
| P2 time
| P3 time
| Q1 time
| Race
|
Kamui Kobayashi
| 1:28.725 (9th)
| 1:28.095 (17th)
| 1:26.417 (7th)
| 1:25.717 (qual 9th)
| 8 (DSQ)
|
Sergio Perez
| 1:29.643 (17th)
| 1:27.101 (8th)
| 1:28.077 (17th)
| 1:25.812 (qual 13th)
| 7 (DSQ)
|
Difference
| 0.918s (8)
| 0.994s (9)
| 1.660s (10)
| 0.095
| 1 |
Kobayashi and Perez set dramatically different times in practice, but both took turns at being the much faster driver. It all paid off for qualifying, when their Q1 times differed by less than a tenth. Perez of course finished ahead of Kobayashi after managing the tyres exceptionally well, and should have scored points on his debut. Fantastic from the second-youngest driver on the grid.
Driver
| P1 time
| P2 time
| P3 time
| Q1 time
| Race
|
Timo Glock
| 1:35.289 (21st)
| 1:32.106 (21st)
| 1:30.261 (20th)
| 1:29.858 (qual 21st)
| 17 (NC, finish 15)
|
Jerome d’Ambrosio
| 1:25.282 (20th)
| 1:32.135 (22nd)
| 1:30.704 (22nd)
| 1:30.978 (qual 22nd)
| 16 (finish 14)
|
Difference
| 0.007s
| 0.029s (1)
| 0.443s (2)
| 1.120s
| 1 |
Just getting into the race was a miracle for the Virgins who had been outside the 107% mark for the three practice sessions. Incredibly, d’Ambrosio even managed to be a few thousandths off Glock’s time for P1 and P2, so he can compete on the same level as his fellow driver. His finish ahead was not only caused by problems with the German’s car, since he overtook Glock for the first 7 laps (though it was an exceptionally close thing).
In conclusion: all four rookies did well, and normally Maldonado’s performance would be acceptable. But di Resta, Perez and d’Ambrosio are exceptional as rookies, so he’s going to look bad in comparison with them. I’ll do this again for the next few races. Right now, I’d rate the rookies 1 – Perez, 2 – di resta, 3 – d’Ambrosio, 4 – Maldonado.