MELBOURNE, March 17 (Reuters) – Red Bull’s failure to win the Australian Grand Prix after hogging the front row of the grid has shown the championship team they were not as good as they thought they were, a disappointed Mark Webber said on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Australian lined up second behind pole-sitting team-mate Sebastian Vettel but finished a deflating sixth after a horror start in his 12th and possibly final bid to win his home Grand Prix.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Former world champion Jenson Button said McLaren had “lucked in” with the appalling weather that cut short qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, but his prayers for more rain may go unanswered for race day.

The 33-year-old Briton finished eighth on the time-sheets in the first round of qualifying, with his new team-mate Sergio Perez fourth quickest as the overhauled car’s lack of pace was offset by the sodden conditions at Albert Park circuit.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Formula One’s debutant drivers endured a baptism of fire at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday during a qualifying session cut short by torrential rains.

Four of the five rookies were banished during the first round of qualifying that saw drivers skidding and spinning around a water-logged Albert Park circuit scattered with debris from a number of crashes.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Formula One’s debutant drivers endured a baptism of fire at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday during a qualifying session cut short by torrential rains.

Four of the five rookies were banished during the first round of qualifying that saw drivers skidding and spinning around a water-logged Albert Park circuit scattered with debris from a number of crashes.

MELBOURNE, March 16 (Reuters) – Former world champion Jenson Button said McLaren had “lucked in” with the appalling weather that cut short qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, but his prayers for more rain may go unanswered for race day.

The 33-year-old Briton finished eighth on the time-sheets in the first round of qualifying, with his new team-mate Sergio Perez fourth quickest as the overhauled car’s lack of pace was offset by the sodden conditions at Albert Park circuit.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton’s opening day for Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix was marred by a minor crash and a lonely walk back to the paddock but the former world champion said he was “massively happy” about his new team’s practice sessions on Friday.

The 28-year-old Briton clocked the seventh fastest time of the day in the second session before driving over the gravel and into a wall at turn six of Albert Park, a mishap his team blamed on a bodywork problem that caused him to understeer.

MELBOURNE, March 15 (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton’s opening day for Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix was marred by a minor crash and a lonely walk back to the paddock but the former world champion said he was “massively happy” about his new team’s practice sessions on Friday.

The 28-year-old Briton clocked the seventh fastest time of the day in the second session before driving over the gravel and into a wall at turn six of Albert Park, a mishap his team blamed on a bodywork problem that caused him to understeer.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Lotus’s assured performance in Friday practice at the Australian Grand Prix was not quite enough to raise a smile from Kimi Raikkonen, but the former world champion was pleased to be within reach of pace-setters Red Bull.

Raikkonen, third in the championship last year, and his French team mate Romain Grosjean grabbed the fourth and fifth best times behind Red Bull’s sheet-topping Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg third.

MELBOURNE, March 15 (Reuters) – Lotus’s assured performance in Friday practice at the Australian Grand Prix was not quite enough to raise a smile from Kimi Raikkonen, but the former world champion was pleased to be within reach of pace-setters Red Bull.

Raikkonen, third in the championship last year, and his French team mate Romain Grosjean grabbed the fourth and fifth best times behind Red Bull’s sheet-topping Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg third.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Ma Qing Hua is mobbed by starry-eyed fans in his home town of Shanghai, has four rapidly growing social media accounts and is set for a triumphant unveiling at the Chinese Grand Prix next month.

Not bad for a reserve driver for a struggling Formula One team yet to run a race.