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Melbourne: The final stages of qualifying for Sunday’s season-opening Australian GP were postponed to the morning of the race after heavy rain made conditions impossible on Saturday.
A chaotic opening segment of qualifying was completed after a delay but as the rain persisted and the skies grew darker, race director Charlie Whiting decided the climax of the session would have to wait until the morning on Sunday.
“I think it was absolutely the right decision to delay it until tomorrow morning,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “It’s a shame, but I think Charlie has made the right call.
“You can see it’s quite dark now and these conditions are not safe for the drivers. Hopefully this weather will blow through tonight and we’ll be back with better conditions in the morning.”
It was the first time since the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix that bad weather had caused qualifying to be held on the same day as the race and McLaren’s Jenson Button said it was disappointing for driver and spectator alike.
“There’s so much pent-up energy and adrenaline and we’ve got to find a way of getting rid of that now,” said the Briton, who has won three of the last four races at Albert Park. (Reuters)
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