It's here. The first race of the season arrived and we finally got to see some racing action after over three months of waiting.
With such an inconclusive test, we went in to the race weekend unknowing of the true running order. Australia may not have shown the full picture, but we got a very good insight into who's hot and who's not.
Teams were very busy post-winter testing, getting updates prepared, promoting the first race, getting drivers prepared and of course travelling across the globe to get to Albert Park.
Check out my Australian Grand Prix Preview for more on the race, and my Thursday Snap Shot to see all the going's on from the first day "on track" and at the circuit.
The season opener is always exciting, but I felt this year more than ever. After being put in the dark with testing, an extremely exciting 2012 and stable, rules they all combine to create some very high expectations.
Weather looked to play its part over the weekend as well, with dry conditions on Friday but potential showers on Saturday. Meanwhile Sunday will be cooler with higher winds.
As usual, all my weekend reporting can be found in this article. As each session passes a new chapter of the weekend review will be added, starting with FP1.
FP1
The first all important practice session of the Australian Grand Prix took place under sunny skies, and with plenty of watching eyes wondering and speculating on who's where.
After taking the 2012 title in the final round of the season, Sebastian Vettel kicked off the season opener by topping the time sheets. His best lap of 1m27.211 meant he narrowly edged out Felipe Massa's Ferrari by just 0.078.
Ferrari looked strong, with Fernando Alonso ending the 90 minute session three tenths further back. Other headline drivers were Lewis Hamilton in his first practice session for Mercedes in fourth, Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Jenson Button in ninth.
Aside from installation laps, there was not a lot of track action. With 40 minutes remaining just five drivers had set a lap time, and overall lap count's rarely dipped into the 20's. The track was dusty and green despite support races and a lot of teams focused on aero runs with the flo-vis paint. There were also plenty of updates and tweaks to test out.
Other headline drivers were Adrian Sutil on his return to Force India in eighth, Sergio Perez in 11th and Valtteri Bottas in 15th. Toro Rosso topped the time sheets early on with the lap of lap times, but they eventually finished 17th and 18th. Both Marussia's managed to beat the Caterham's, with Bianchi ahead of Chilton. All drivers lapped on the Medium rubber Pirelli's.
The field spread was around five seconds, slightly less in comparison to 2012. It may have been the first session, but drivers were certainly pushing hard as shown by the plumes of dust being pitched in to the air. Di Resta kicked up more than the rest, spinning at turn six in the closing stages.
FP2
The stunning Albert Park circuit was bathed in sunshine and blue sky for the second practice session of the 2013 season.
Sebastian Vettel continued to show Red Bull were possibly distorting their true pace in testing by topping the time sheets in the second practice session. His fastest time of 1m25.908 was the first and only time to dip under the 1m26's. Mark Webber ended the session in second place, making it a 1-2 for the Milton Keynes based squad.
Mercedes had a mixed session, Rosberg ended the day third fastest four tenths off the pace of Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap meant he finished P7 on the time sheets, but both drivers lost out on running towards the end of the session. Hamilton reported a problem with the car before skimming across the gravel and clipping the barrier. Whilst his car was cleared Rosberg pulled off the track with a gearbox problem.
Lotus cemented their potential with fourth and fifth for Raikkonen and Grosjean, both surpassing the 30 lap mark. Ferrari trialed two different engine covers and had both drivers in the top 10, Alonso and Massa eight and nine tenths off the pace.
McLaren seemed to be struggling on Friday, Button and Perez reporting tyre degradation issues and set up problems. Hence they ended the day 11th and 13th fastest. The Mexican missed out on running due to a problem being fixed on his car, but he still managed 33 laps at the wheel of the MP4-28.
Sutil and Hulkenberg mixed it up in the top 10, whilst Toro Rosso and Williams struggled to find the time. Marussia impressed yet again, Bianchi ending the 90 minute session three tenths off Bottas. Caterham had a tough day, Pic slower than both Marussia's and van der Garde ending his day mid-session after getting beached in the gravel.
The super soft tyres made their debut during the second session, whilst plenty of drivers were pushing to the limit. Hamilton and Webber suffered some high speed off track excursions whilst plenty of others took to the run off or grass.
FP3
After the lovely and warm sunshine on Friday, rain arrived on Saturday and added another variable to the race weekend.
Australia is known for its changeable conditions and the showers arrived with 40 minutes of the 60 minute session remaining. Romain Grosjean was inevitably fastest after topping the time sheets early on with a 1m26.929, just under a tenth faster in comparison to Fernando Alonso in second. However with the conditions and limited laps, the timings were pretty meaningless.
Massa, Di Resta and Raikkonen were next up and all within six tenths of the Lotus Driver. Ricciardo and Vergne finished sixth and seventh after the quick burst of dry running, whilst Vettel and Webber set the 12th and 13th fastest times. The former suffered a hydraulics issue with his car and was told to pull over just after emerging on the intermediate tyre.
Rosberg and Hamilton were 11th and 22nd fastest, the Brit didn't get a lap in before the rain arrived. Button and Perez ended up 17th and 18th, the Mexican also suffered a small technical glitch.
Drivers still managed to complete some wet running after a good 20 minutes of silence out on track. With 25 minutes remaining drivers emerged for some running, happy with the tracks conditions.
The conditions were mainly a hindrance for Giedo van der Garde who spun during Friday's FP2 session, which meant he missed out on getting some useful dry running in.
Qualifying
So the moment we had all been waiting for arrived, but it arrived with plenty of rain. The heavy showers dampened the high hopes of fans and teams, who had hoped to see a glimpse of the potential running order.
The rain also caused havoc with the TV compound, a power outage meant that Sky Sports F1 and various other channels internationally went down.
We were back for Qualifying and one thing was for sure, it would be a very interesting session indeed.
Q1
The first qualifying session was delayed by 30 minutes to allow the torrential rain to pass. It was teaming it down in Australia, wet tyres were definitely the choice for everyone when the session eventually got underway.
With cars cuing at the pit lane waiting for the green light, a busy and tricky session indeed.
Early on in the session drivers struggled to stay on track. Giedo van der Garde first lost his front wing, Hamilton then spun and tapped the barrier before Massa dropped it at turn 12.
Conditions steadily improved though on the racing line, with standing water offline being the main issue throughout. Intermediates were the tyre of choice with five minutes of the session remaining, and the times tumbled.
The session built to a crescendo but was halted by rookie Estban Gutierrez hitting the wall at the exit of turn 12. By the chequered flag Nico Rosberg was fastest with a time of 1m43.380, a few tenths faster than the trailing Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean.
McLaren made it through to Q2 despite the grumbles within the team, Perez in fourth and Button in eighth. Webber and Vettel were safe in fifth and seventh, with Hamilton finishing 10th.
Valtteri Bottas out-qualified Maldonado on his debut, the latter was the first driver to be knocked out in Q1. Behind the Venezuelan, Esteban Gutierrez qualifying 18th with Bianchi 19th and Chilton 20th. The Caterham drivers had a dramatic 20 minutes of driving, Pic found the barrier late on and qualified 22nd and last, behind van der Garde.
Q2
The rain continued to fall, saturating the circuit and creating dangerous conditions. The session was delayed, and delayed further until the decision was made to postpone the session. A new time was made on Sunday morning at 11am UK time.
When race day emerged in Australia, the Q2 session kicked off. The track was wet throughout the session after overnight showers continued to batter the Albert Park track, but this time the full wets were not needed.
The circuit was very busy as cars were loaded with fuel and sent out for a number of laps. This meant plenty of dancing off track for the likes of Raikkonen, Bottas and Vettel.
Due to the improving conditions out on track, the times tumbled all the time. Vettel and Rosberg had longer stints at the front but only for a few moments. Clear laps and last man over the line was key.
With a few minutes remaining the McLaren's moved to slick tyres, but the gamble did not pay off. Bottas and Vergne did the same. By the chequered flag Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets for Mercedes with a three tenth advantage over Mark Webber, with Hamilton and a recovering Button close behind.
Massa and Alonso made it through to Q3, as did Vettel, Di Resta, Raikkonen and Grosjean. The Lotus driver just squeezed out Hulkenberg and Sutil, with Vergne and Ricciardo failing to make it through as well. Perez missed out on the top 10 in his McLaren after the tyre gamble, his team mate pitted for intermediates after making the decision whilst Perez did not. Bottas made the same error and rounded out the top 16.
Q3
So the rain managed to hide the true and "raw" running order, but it certainly made for an interesting midfield. The final 10 minute qualifying session started in similarly damp conditions, but despite the drying track the tyre of choice at the start of the session were the intermediates.
Vettel provisionally set the pace after the first runs, with Hamilton, Rosberg and Webber all over a second down on the Red Bull driver. Despite a small mistake by the German he still managed to look dominant.
However with four minutes remaining the drivers on two runs pitted, the super soft the tyre of choice for their second and final run. Jenson Button stayed in the garage for the first few minutes of the session, waiting for the track to dry out and go straight on to the slicks.
The Brit went fastest on the first slick time in Q3, but he was trounced by his former team mate Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Paul Di Resta also bettered his time, whilst Alonso provisionally went sixth.
As the time continued to tick and the chequered flag came out the Red Bull duo looked fast. Vettel took the lead whilst Webber took second. Lewis Hamilton ended the session in third place, three places ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg.
Felipe Massa out qualified team-mate Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari's line up fourth and fifth. Kimi Raikkonen set the seventh fastest time, ahead of Grosjean and Di Resta. Button seemingly spent too long on his slick tyres and his final lap was the slowest of the Q3 bunch.
Months of waiting. Weeks of testing. One day to win. The Australian Grand Prix arrived.
After wet weather had plagued the Saturday sessions and Qualifying had been postponed to Sunday morning, afternoon sunshine emerged for the race.
The season is a long one but getting a strong start in Australia is vital for to kick off the year on a high. Consistency is how you win championships and do well overall, so it is important to finish in Australia.
There was drama before the race, a problem for Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber C32 meant he could not start the race. So the grid was whittled down to 21.
Excitement was building, nerves were increasing and the revs rose for the start of the Australian Grand Prix. For the first race in 2013, the lights went out and we were racing.
Off the line Vettel got a good launch from his grid slot but Webber was slow, dropping down the field. Massa, Alonso and Hamilton capitalised and Raikkonen was soon past too. There was slight contact at turn one but there was no debris or drama, unusual for the first lap of an Australian Grand Prix. Turn three was also incident free.
Fernando Alonso had beaten Hamilton to third place and challenged Massa for second, failing to get past. Meanwhile as they cross the line to start the second lap Vettel had edged clear in the lead, but not for long. Lewis seemed to be struggling early on in comparison to those around him and Raikkonen looked ominous behind. Button was up a spot from his starting position but in contrast Ricciardo went backwards and dropped behind the back markers. Perez had made his way up to 12th but Chilton dropped behind van der Garde and looked to change that.
Raikkonen managed to take Hamilton on lap two, making the move around the outside at turn 13. Vettel was being pegged by Massa and Alonso, the two Ferrari's started to close in on the German. The super soft tyres were not working for Jenson Button. The McLaren came in to the pits on lap four for a new set of medium compound Pirelli tyres. Mark Webber used a similar strategy a lap later, as did Grosjean and Gutierrez.
Vettel was not having it all his own way. Felipe Massa looked fast and was closing in on the Red Bull driver, bringing Alonso with him too.The two Ferrari's were unleashed after Vettel pitted on lap eight. A number of drivers had already pitted due to the heavier degradation, just as Pirelli had predicted. Massa pitted a lap later and emerged just behind the earlier stopping Vettel. One man to watch out for was Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn had consistently closed in on Alonso by the ninth lap where the battle went to the pit lane.
The pit stops had spread out the leading pack , whilst Button had displaced both Di Resta and Webber. Mercedes stayed out, elongating the stint until lap 14 when Hamilton pitted for fresh rubber, with Rosberg coming in a lap later. The two "Silver Arrows" were running their own race and were attempting a two stop race.
The second stops kicked off with Red Bull, Webber stopping for fresh rubber and some clean air after being tucked up behind Jenson Button. Alonso followed him in a few laps later in an attempt to get the undercut. Both Sutil and Vettel pitted for new rubber, the former for his first and the latter for his second stop. Fernando Alonso got the undercut that he needed and took the position away from Vettel, who emerged behind fellow countryman Sutil yet again.
The Red Bull Racing driver passed Sutil under braking for turn three, with some help from DRS. Massa's later stop meant he emerged behind the leading three, but there were plenty of stories that were yet to play out.
Aside from Nico Hulkenberg, who retired before the race even started, the race saw its first retirement thanks to Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan had dropped the car on the run to turn one and had beached his Williams FW35 in the gravel trap. We didn't have to wait long for another one, Nico Rosberg suddenly pulled on to the run off area at the entry to turn four.
There were a few spots of raining falling by lap 29, but nothing too troubling for the drivers. Hamilton was holding up Alonso for second but suffered a massive lock up in the braking zone for turn 13, pitting immediately. Raikkonen was lapping consistently at the front and by lap 33 he had a 15 second lead on nearest challenger Alonso, who was looking to complete a two stop strategy or try atleast.
The "Iceman" pitted on lap 35 and emerged in clear air, with 23 laps to do on the medium Pirelli tyres. Elsewhere Button and Grosjean were squabbling for eighth, Gutierrez and Bottas were close on track and Chilton looking to pass van der Garde with 20 laps remaining.
Massa pitted for the third and final time, the main talking point was who could make their tyres last the distance. Vettel did likewise on the next lap and it was swift work by the Red Bull mechanics. He emerged in the clutches of Massa, who was closing in and had a podium in his sights. Hamilton failed to make the possibility of a two stop strategy work. He pitted and rejoined the race track ahead of Webber.
Alonso was on fire, lighting up the track with fastest lap after fastest lap. The Spaniard was closing in on the two stopping Raikkonen as the lap count moved to 44 of 58. With so many different strategies and battles going on there was plenty still to come.
Sutil had been running at the front, like Raikkonen he was making the two stop strategy work. The Formula 1 returnee moved to the super soft compound for his final stint and emerged in fifth place. Out front, with 10 laps to go, Raikkonen started to pull away from Alonso who in turn was extending the gap to Vettel.
After stopping for the super soft tyre, you would have thought that Adrian Sutil would have pulled away from Lewis Hamilton, on older medium tyres. However the Brit was looking to change that and he did, moving up to fifth place in a brave lunge at turn nine. Webber soon displaced the German, he really looked to be struggling with six laps to go.
Strangely enough there was no safety car, no first lap crash and no real drama's. The race was one with many stories, but we only saw the conclusion at the very end.
Raikkonen started his season in the best possible way, winning the race in his Lotus E21. Many regarded the Finn as one to watch this year and after testing plenty expected him to challenge for victory. And that is what he did. The Finn managed to make a two stop strategy work, one of just a handful of drivers to do so. Early on he looked quietly confident but it was not until the mid-way point of the race that we really started to see his potential for victory. He drove brilliantly throughout, polished race craft and some stunning consistency that meant Lotus came home with the win.
Fernando Alonso looked like the safest bet for the race victory after the first round of stops, but Raikkonen joined the fray and managed to finish ahead of him through strategy and pure pace. Alonso drove a faultless race and definitely started the season in a better position in comparison to 2012. Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel was left wondering where the pace went. After dominating in the dry practice sessions and qualifying on pole position he dropped back at each of the pit stop sequences, eventually finishing in third place.
Felipe Massa had a similarly strong start to the year, his best for a long while. The Brazilian had looked in contention for a podium but eventually dropped off the pace of Raikkonen and Alonso. Lewis Hamilton collected some welcome points on his debut for Mercedes. It was a rather busy race for the Brit but he did well considering the pace of Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull. Mark Webber was some way off in his Red Bull, failing to make the podium yet again at his home race. A poor start and relatively average pace put pay to his challenge for that debut home win.
Adrian Sutil suffered heavy degradation on his super soft tyres during that last stint, but the German made a strong return for Force India. The Silverstone based squad certainly looked like the midfield team to beat, Di Resta came home eighth for more welcome points. Jenson Button had a relatively quiet day at the office but looked to be happy with some welcome points.
Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10 after a poor first lap. Sergio Perez just missed out on his debut points for McLaren after leaping from 15th on the grid. Jean-Eric Vergne battled hard but finished 12th, ahead of rookies Gutierrez and Bottas.
Jules Bianchi had a strong result for Marussia and finished his debut race, as did team mate Chilton albeit some way behind. Charles Pic finished ahead of the Brit and his Caterham team-mate Giedo van der Garde rounded out the finishers. It meant that all the five rookies finished on their debut.
Daniel Ricciardo retired with a broken exhaust with 19 laps remaining, whilst Rosberg pulled off the track a few laps before. Maldonado beached his car in the gravel and Nico Hulkenberg failed to start due to fuel system issues.
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| (c) Sutton Images |
Teams were very busy post-winter testing, getting updates prepared, promoting the first race, getting drivers prepared and of course travelling across the globe to get to Albert Park.
Check out my Australian Grand Prix Preview for more on the race, and my Thursday Snap Shot to see all the going's on from the first day "on track" and at the circuit.
The season opener is always exciting, but I felt this year more than ever. After being put in the dark with testing, an extremely exciting 2012 and stable, rules they all combine to create some very high expectations.
Weather looked to play its part over the weekend as well, with dry conditions on Friday but potential showers on Saturday. Meanwhile Sunday will be cooler with higher winds.
As usual, all my weekend reporting can be found in this article. As each session passes a new chapter of the weekend review will be added, starting with FP1.
FP1
The first all important practice session of the Australian Grand Prix took place under sunny skies, and with plenty of watching eyes wondering and speculating on who's where.
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| (c) Sutton Images |
Ferrari looked strong, with Fernando Alonso ending the 90 minute session three tenths further back. Other headline drivers were Lewis Hamilton in his first practice session for Mercedes in fourth, Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Jenson Button in ninth.
Aside from installation laps, there was not a lot of track action. With 40 minutes remaining just five drivers had set a lap time, and overall lap count's rarely dipped into the 20's. The track was dusty and green despite support races and a lot of teams focused on aero runs with the flo-vis paint. There were also plenty of updates and tweaks to test out.
Other headline drivers were Adrian Sutil on his return to Force India in eighth, Sergio Perez in 11th and Valtteri Bottas in 15th. Toro Rosso topped the time sheets early on with the lap of lap times, but they eventually finished 17th and 18th. Both Marussia's managed to beat the Caterham's, with Bianchi ahead of Chilton. All drivers lapped on the Medium rubber Pirelli's.
The field spread was around five seconds, slightly less in comparison to 2012. It may have been the first session, but drivers were certainly pushing hard as shown by the plumes of dust being pitched in to the air. Di Resta kicked up more than the rest, spinning at turn six in the closing stages.
FP2
The stunning Albert Park circuit was bathed in sunshine and blue sky for the second practice session of the 2013 season.
Sebastian Vettel continued to show Red Bull were possibly distorting their true pace in testing by topping the time sheets in the second practice session. His fastest time of 1m25.908 was the first and only time to dip under the 1m26's. Mark Webber ended the session in second place, making it a 1-2 for the Milton Keynes based squad.
Mercedes had a mixed session, Rosberg ended the day third fastest four tenths off the pace of Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap meant he finished P7 on the time sheets, but both drivers lost out on running towards the end of the session. Hamilton reported a problem with the car before skimming across the gravel and clipping the barrier. Whilst his car was cleared Rosberg pulled off the track with a gearbox problem.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Lotus cemented their potential with fourth and fifth for Raikkonen and Grosjean, both surpassing the 30 lap mark. Ferrari trialed two different engine covers and had both drivers in the top 10, Alonso and Massa eight and nine tenths off the pace.
McLaren seemed to be struggling on Friday, Button and Perez reporting tyre degradation issues and set up problems. Hence they ended the day 11th and 13th fastest. The Mexican missed out on running due to a problem being fixed on his car, but he still managed 33 laps at the wheel of the MP4-28.
Sutil and Hulkenberg mixed it up in the top 10, whilst Toro Rosso and Williams struggled to find the time. Marussia impressed yet again, Bianchi ending the 90 minute session three tenths off Bottas. Caterham had a tough day, Pic slower than both Marussia's and van der Garde ending his day mid-session after getting beached in the gravel.
The super soft tyres made their debut during the second session, whilst plenty of drivers were pushing to the limit. Hamilton and Webber suffered some high speed off track excursions whilst plenty of others took to the run off or grass.
FP3
After the lovely and warm sunshine on Friday, rain arrived on Saturday and added another variable to the race weekend.
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| (c) Lotus F1 Team |
Massa, Di Resta and Raikkonen were next up and all within six tenths of the Lotus Driver. Ricciardo and Vergne finished sixth and seventh after the quick burst of dry running, whilst Vettel and Webber set the 12th and 13th fastest times. The former suffered a hydraulics issue with his car and was told to pull over just after emerging on the intermediate tyre.
Rosberg and Hamilton were 11th and 22nd fastest, the Brit didn't get a lap in before the rain arrived. Button and Perez ended up 17th and 18th, the Mexican also suffered a small technical glitch.
Drivers still managed to complete some wet running after a good 20 minutes of silence out on track. With 25 minutes remaining drivers emerged for some running, happy with the tracks conditions.
The conditions were mainly a hindrance for Giedo van der Garde who spun during Friday's FP2 session, which meant he missed out on getting some useful dry running in.
Qualifying
So the moment we had all been waiting for arrived, but it arrived with plenty of rain. The heavy showers dampened the high hopes of fans and teams, who had hoped to see a glimpse of the potential running order.
The rain also caused havoc with the TV compound, a power outage meant that Sky Sports F1 and various other channels internationally went down.
We were back for Qualifying and one thing was for sure, it would be a very interesting session indeed.
Q1
The first qualifying session was delayed by 30 minutes to allow the torrential rain to pass. It was teaming it down in Australia, wet tyres were definitely the choice for everyone when the session eventually got underway.
With cars cuing at the pit lane waiting for the green light, a busy and tricky session indeed.
Early on in the session drivers struggled to stay on track. Giedo van der Garde first lost his front wing, Hamilton then spun and tapped the barrier before Massa dropped it at turn 12.
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| (c) Force India F1 Team |
Conditions steadily improved though on the racing line, with standing water offline being the main issue throughout. Intermediates were the tyre of choice with five minutes of the session remaining, and the times tumbled.
The session built to a crescendo but was halted by rookie Estban Gutierrez hitting the wall at the exit of turn 12. By the chequered flag Nico Rosberg was fastest with a time of 1m43.380, a few tenths faster than the trailing Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean.
McLaren made it through to Q2 despite the grumbles within the team, Perez in fourth and Button in eighth. Webber and Vettel were safe in fifth and seventh, with Hamilton finishing 10th.
Valtteri Bottas out-qualified Maldonado on his debut, the latter was the first driver to be knocked out in Q1. Behind the Venezuelan, Esteban Gutierrez qualifying 18th with Bianchi 19th and Chilton 20th. The Caterham drivers had a dramatic 20 minutes of driving, Pic found the barrier late on and qualified 22nd and last, behind van der Garde.
Q2
The rain continued to fall, saturating the circuit and creating dangerous conditions. The session was delayed, and delayed further until the decision was made to postpone the session. A new time was made on Sunday morning at 11am UK time.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
The circuit was very busy as cars were loaded with fuel and sent out for a number of laps. This meant plenty of dancing off track for the likes of Raikkonen, Bottas and Vettel.
Due to the improving conditions out on track, the times tumbled all the time. Vettel and Rosberg had longer stints at the front but only for a few moments. Clear laps and last man over the line was key.
With a few minutes remaining the McLaren's moved to slick tyres, but the gamble did not pay off. Bottas and Vergne did the same. By the chequered flag Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets for Mercedes with a three tenth advantage over Mark Webber, with Hamilton and a recovering Button close behind.
Massa and Alonso made it through to Q3, as did Vettel, Di Resta, Raikkonen and Grosjean. The Lotus driver just squeezed out Hulkenberg and Sutil, with Vergne and Ricciardo failing to make it through as well. Perez missed out on the top 10 in his McLaren after the tyre gamble, his team mate pitted for intermediates after making the decision whilst Perez did not. Bottas made the same error and rounded out the top 16.
Q3
So the rain managed to hide the true and "raw" running order, but it certainly made for an interesting midfield. The final 10 minute qualifying session started in similarly damp conditions, but despite the drying track the tyre of choice at the start of the session were the intermediates.
Vettel provisionally set the pace after the first runs, with Hamilton, Rosberg and Webber all over a second down on the Red Bull driver. Despite a small mistake by the German he still managed to look dominant.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
The Brit went fastest on the first slick time in Q3, but he was trounced by his former team mate Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Paul Di Resta also bettered his time, whilst Alonso provisionally went sixth.
As the time continued to tick and the chequered flag came out the Red Bull duo looked fast. Vettel took the lead whilst Webber took second. Lewis Hamilton ended the session in third place, three places ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg.
Felipe Massa out qualified team-mate Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari's line up fourth and fifth. Kimi Raikkonen set the seventh fastest time, ahead of Grosjean and Di Resta. Button seemingly spent too long on his slick tyres and his final lap was the slowest of the Q3 bunch.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m27.407s (Q3)
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.827s + 0.420s
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m28.087s + 0.680s
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m28.490s + 1.083s
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m28.493s + 1.086s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m28.523s + 1.116s
7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m28.738s + 1.331s
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 1m29.013s + 1.606s
9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m29.305s + 1.898s
10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.357s + 2.950s
11. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.067s + 1.873s (Q2)
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m38.134s + 1.940s
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.778s + 2.584s
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.042s + 2.848s
15. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.900s + 3.706s
16. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m40.290s + 4.096s
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m47.614s + 4.234s (Q1)
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.776s + 4.396s
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.147s + 4.767s
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.909s + 5.529s
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m49.519s + 6.139s
22. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m50.626s + 7.246s
107% time: 1m50.636s
The Race
Months of waiting. Weeks of testing. One day to win. The Australian Grand Prix arrived.
After wet weather had plagued the Saturday sessions and Qualifying had been postponed to Sunday morning, afternoon sunshine emerged for the race.
The season is a long one but getting a strong start in Australia is vital for to kick off the year on a high. Consistency is how you win championships and do well overall, so it is important to finish in Australia.
There was drama before the race, a problem for Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber C32 meant he could not start the race. So the grid was whittled down to 21.
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| (c) Sutton Images |
Off the line Vettel got a good launch from his grid slot but Webber was slow, dropping down the field. Massa, Alonso and Hamilton capitalised and Raikkonen was soon past too. There was slight contact at turn one but there was no debris or drama, unusual for the first lap of an Australian Grand Prix. Turn three was also incident free.
Fernando Alonso had beaten Hamilton to third place and challenged Massa for second, failing to get past. Meanwhile as they cross the line to start the second lap Vettel had edged clear in the lead, but not for long. Lewis seemed to be struggling early on in comparison to those around him and Raikkonen looked ominous behind. Button was up a spot from his starting position but in contrast Ricciardo went backwards and dropped behind the back markers. Perez had made his way up to 12th but Chilton dropped behind van der Garde and looked to change that.
Raikkonen managed to take Hamilton on lap two, making the move around the outside at turn 13. Vettel was being pegged by Massa and Alonso, the two Ferrari's started to close in on the German. The super soft tyres were not working for Jenson Button. The McLaren came in to the pits on lap four for a new set of medium compound Pirelli tyres. Mark Webber used a similar strategy a lap later, as did Grosjean and Gutierrez.
Vettel was not having it all his own way. Felipe Massa looked fast and was closing in on the Red Bull driver, bringing Alonso with him too.The two Ferrari's were unleashed after Vettel pitted on lap eight. A number of drivers had already pitted due to the heavier degradation, just as Pirelli had predicted. Massa pitted a lap later and emerged just behind the earlier stopping Vettel. One man to watch out for was Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn had consistently closed in on Alonso by the ninth lap where the battle went to the pit lane.
The pit stops had spread out the leading pack , whilst Button had displaced both Di Resta and Webber. Mercedes stayed out, elongating the stint until lap 14 when Hamilton pitted for fresh rubber, with Rosberg coming in a lap later. The two "Silver Arrows" were running their own race and were attempting a two stop race.
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| (c) Sutton Images |
The Red Bull Racing driver passed Sutil under braking for turn three, with some help from DRS. Massa's later stop meant he emerged behind the leading three, but there were plenty of stories that were yet to play out.
Aside from Nico Hulkenberg, who retired before the race even started, the race saw its first retirement thanks to Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan had dropped the car on the run to turn one and had beached his Williams FW35 in the gravel trap. We didn't have to wait long for another one, Nico Rosberg suddenly pulled on to the run off area at the entry to turn four.
There were a few spots of raining falling by lap 29, but nothing too troubling for the drivers. Hamilton was holding up Alonso for second but suffered a massive lock up in the braking zone for turn 13, pitting immediately. Raikkonen was lapping consistently at the front and by lap 33 he had a 15 second lead on nearest challenger Alonso, who was looking to complete a two stop strategy or try atleast.
The "Iceman" pitted on lap 35 and emerged in clear air, with 23 laps to do on the medium Pirelli tyres. Elsewhere Button and Grosjean were squabbling for eighth, Gutierrez and Bottas were close on track and Chilton looking to pass van der Garde with 20 laps remaining.
Massa pitted for the third and final time, the main talking point was who could make their tyres last the distance. Vettel did likewise on the next lap and it was swift work by the Red Bull mechanics. He emerged in the clutches of Massa, who was closing in and had a podium in his sights. Hamilton failed to make the possibility of a two stop strategy work. He pitted and rejoined the race track ahead of Webber.
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| (c) Sutton Images |
Alonso was on fire, lighting up the track with fastest lap after fastest lap. The Spaniard was closing in on the two stopping Raikkonen as the lap count moved to 44 of 58. With so many different strategies and battles going on there was plenty still to come.
Sutil had been running at the front, like Raikkonen he was making the two stop strategy work. The Formula 1 returnee moved to the super soft compound for his final stint and emerged in fifth place. Out front, with 10 laps to go, Raikkonen started to pull away from Alonso who in turn was extending the gap to Vettel.
After stopping for the super soft tyre, you would have thought that Adrian Sutil would have pulled away from Lewis Hamilton, on older medium tyres. However the Brit was looking to change that and he did, moving up to fifth place in a brave lunge at turn nine. Webber soon displaced the German, he really looked to be struggling with six laps to go.
Strangely enough there was no safety car, no first lap crash and no real drama's. The race was one with many stories, but we only saw the conclusion at the very end.
Kimi Raikkonen wins the 2013 season opener in Australia.
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| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
Fernando Alonso looked like the safest bet for the race victory after the first round of stops, but Raikkonen joined the fray and managed to finish ahead of him through strategy and pure pace. Alonso drove a faultless race and definitely started the season in a better position in comparison to 2012. Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel was left wondering where the pace went. After dominating in the dry practice sessions and qualifying on pole position he dropped back at each of the pit stop sequences, eventually finishing in third place.
Felipe Massa had a similarly strong start to the year, his best for a long while. The Brazilian had looked in contention for a podium but eventually dropped off the pace of Raikkonen and Alonso. Lewis Hamilton collected some welcome points on his debut for Mercedes. It was a rather busy race for the Brit but he did well considering the pace of Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull. Mark Webber was some way off in his Red Bull, failing to make the podium yet again at his home race. A poor start and relatively average pace put pay to his challenge for that debut home win.
Adrian Sutil suffered heavy degradation on his super soft tyres during that last stint, but the German made a strong return for Force India. The Silverstone based squad certainly looked like the midfield team to beat, Di Resta came home eighth for more welcome points. Jenson Button had a relatively quiet day at the office but looked to be happy with some welcome points.
Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10 after a poor first lap. Sergio Perez just missed out on his debut points for McLaren after leaping from 15th on the grid. Jean-Eric Vergne battled hard but finished 12th, ahead of rookies Gutierrez and Bottas.
Jules Bianchi had a strong result for Marussia and finished his debut race, as did team mate Chilton albeit some way behind. Charles Pic finished ahead of the Brit and his Caterham team-mate Giedo van der Garde rounded out the finishers. It meant that all the five rookies finished on their debut.
Daniel Ricciardo retired with a broken exhaust with 19 laps remaining, whilst Rosberg pulled off the track a few laps before. Maldonado beached his car in the gravel and Nico Hulkenberg failed to start due to fuel system issues.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1h30:03.225
2. Alonso Ferrari + 12.451
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 22.346
4. Massa Ferrari + 33.577
5. Hamilton Mercedes + 45.561
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 46.800
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:05.068
8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.449
9. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1:21.630
10. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 1:22.759
11. Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 1:23.367
12. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:23.857
13. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Bottas Williams-Renault + 1 lap
15. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
16. Pic Caterham-Renault + 2 laps
17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
18. van der Garde Caterham-Renault + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:29.274
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 40
Rosberg Mercedes 26
Maldonado Williams-Renault 25
Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1
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