Home driver Webber crashes out of qualifying due to brake issue

Common, a Grammy award-winning rap artist and star of The Fast and the Furious (a film about illegal road racing), seen here in the Red Bull Racing garage, was the star attraction of our season opening party in Melbourne docks last night. Given what happened to our two drivers today, The Fast and the Furious is a pretty appropriate description.

Car 9 David Coulthard, Position 8th
"It was quite tricky out there, especially on the prime tyres. I think there's going to be some variation during the race when car's run between the two tyre types. We expected to get into the top ten today, but I would have preferred to have felt that I could attack a bit more with the car. If I push then the car's quite unstable on the bumps. All our concentration is on the start line now, as it will be interesting to see what happens without traction control."

Car 10 Mark Webber, Position 15th
"There was a failure at the front right of the car, which isn't good. I had a strange feeling in Turn one, but continued to push as it was the qualifying session, but something broke into Turn six. That was it and I was into the gravel. It's nearly impossible to get into the points now under normal circumstances, because it's very, very difficult to overtake on this circuit, but I'll do my best."

Christian Horner: "It's frustrating for Mark at his home Grand Prix to have what looks like a suspected brake issue. He's going to have a busy afternoon tomorrow, but looking at his race pace in yesterday's practices he should be able to make reasonable process. David progressed well through the first two qualifying sessions to make it into Q3. He wasn't happy with his balance on the final set of tyres and finished eighth. The potential is to be better, but starting in the top eight at the first Grand Prix of the season is a respectable result."

Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer, Track Support "The car looks promising. Mark had a small problem, but David was able to show the car is quick and the package works well. We showed good reliability during the winter tests, so we're quite confident for the race. The temperature will make the race very challenging, but the Renault engine is well designed to cope with the heat."