Lewis on pole, Kimi stumbles

Last season8217;s tragic hero Lewis Hamilton took pole position at the Melbourne Grand Prix yesterday, with Robert Kubica lining up alongside him. 8220;I couldn8217;t have wished for a better start to the season,8221; Hamilton said at the FIA press conference.

It wasn8217;t a very happy day for the Ferraris, who suddenly seemed to slip into a slumber after being fairly impressive through the weekend. Felipe Massa was in fourth place, right behind Heikki Kovalainen8217;s McLaren. The Finn certainly seems to have come off better in the off-season trade-off between McLaren and Renault double world champion Fernando Alonso going the other way.

The Spaniard, back in Flavio Briatore8217;s blue and yellow saddle, didn8217;t make it to the final segment of qualifying and will line up in 12th place.

Talking of world champions, Kimi Raikkonen had problems with his electronic fuel pump and had to be pushed back into the pits towards the end of Q1, preventing him from setting any times in the next two segments. He is 16th on the grid.