Lewis Hamilton vowed to give Sebastian Vettel ‘the race of his life’ in today’s Australian Grand Prix. Although he put in a spirited performance in his damaged Mclaren, he was no match for the 2010 World Champion. Vettel dominated last year’s race in Melbourne only to retire with a brake failure but there were no such worries this time around. The 23 year old led almost every lap and today’s performance is very ominous for the season ahead. Behind Hamilton in second was Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, securing his first podium finish in F1 in only his 20th start. His third place ensured an inaugural visit to the podium for a Russian driver in F1. Fernando Alonso trailed him in fourth while yet again Mark Webber failed to deliver in his home race and finished fifth.
With both Red Bull’s lacking the KERS system on their cars, many predicted an eventful first corner. However, there were no such dramas as Vettel pulled away into the lead while Webber challenged Hamilton into Turn 1. Behind them Vitaly Petrov jumped from sixth to fourth in the Renault, while Felipe Massa leapfrogged Alonso into sixth, before taking advantage of Jenson Button’s poor start and passing him into Turn 3. Michael Schumacher’s forgettable return to F1 continued; the seven-times World Champion was hit into Turn 1 and suffered a puncture, before retiring later in the race. As the race settled down, Alonso was quick to get back in the action and by lap six he was up to seventh while ahead of him Massa was doing a superb job in preventing the superior Mclaren of Button getting by. As Alonso caught the duo, Button went around the outside of Massa into Turn 11 but was forced to use an escape road to pass the Brazilian and was unable to give the place back because almost immediately Massa was passed by his team mate. Button meanwhile believed he didn’t have to yield, such was his belief that he was in front of Massa before being forced wide.
Webber was the first of the front-runners to pit and he switched to the hard tyres on lap 12. Alonso pitted a lap later for soft tyres as did Vettel on lap 15, meaning Hamilton was leading a race for the first time since Spa last year. Alonso’s pit stop added to the confusion as Button had no chance of letting Massa through. This meant Button had to serve a drive thru penalty for the illegal overtake, ruling him out of contention. Vettel had to get the hammer down knowing Hamilton had clean air at the front and boldly passed Button around the outside of Turn 4. An unconventional overtake, but a determined one. He promptly set the fastest lap ensuring that, by the time Hamilton pitted on lap 16, he was long gone.
After the conclusion of the first round of stops, Vettel led Hamilton, Webber, Petrov and Alonso while further back, Rubens Barrichello in the Williams was storming through the field, and beautifully passed Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber for ninth. However, the same trick did not work on Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. An overambitious move by the 38 year old saw the two collide, and Rosberg retired one lap later due to a radiator problem. Barrichello was given a drive thru for his misdemeanor and he retired later in the race.
Much was made of the new rules for 2011 to boost overtaking, but sadly for the spectators they produced little rewards. Button was the first driver to make use of the adjustable rear wing to pass Kobayashi on lap 26. Webber and Alonso pitted on lap 27 and 28 respectively and it was evident that both drivers were on a three-stop strategy compared to Vettel, Hamilton and Petrov. Things took a turn for the worst for the Mclaren driver in the closing stages, though, as the undertray and floor of his car was broken, which badly affected the levels of downforce on Hamilton’s car. Thankfully for Mclaren, who had suffered serious reliability issues over the winter, he was able to continue.
Incredibly, rookie Sauber driver Sergio Perez was up into eighth place and, despite only pitting once, set the fastest lap of the race on lap 40 and by lap 50 was lapping faster than Vettel! It was an extraordinary performance by the Mexican, particularly as he was more than capable enough to extract far more of the Pirelli tyres than anyone else. Webber made his third and final stop on lap 41 yet the faster Alonso capitalised on a small mistake on the Aussie’s out lap. The Spaniard pitted the following lap to take fourth and, much like the season finale in 2010, began hunting down Petrov’s Renault. On lap 46 Button finally passed Massa for sixth while Perez also got past the struggling Brazilian following his final stop.
The first race of 2011 wasn’t a thriller, but it gave sufficient evidence of what the pecking order will be like in 2011. As for the new rules, it was a mixed bag. The durability of the Pirelli tyres threw up some interesting results while the return of KERS and adjustable rear wing failed to truly deliver. This may change in two weeks time at Sepang. As for the rookies, I was thoroughly impressed. Perez was outstanding throughout and will be one to watch, especially if he can manage the tyres better than other while Force India’s Paul di Resta drove solidly to take 12th. The stars of the day, though, were undoubtedly the top three and Petrov in particular was magnificent. However, one must wonder how Robert Kubica would have faired compared to the Russian; he would have undeniably threatened Hamilton at the very least. Despite all the new regulations, some things never change; Sebastian Vettel will be the man to beat and his victory in Australia today will surely be the first of many.
Australian GP results
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 29mins 30.259secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren + 22.297
3 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault + 30.560
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari + 31.772
5 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull + 38.171
6 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren + 54.300
7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber + 1:05.800
8 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber + 1:16.800
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari + 1:25.100
10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso +1 lap
11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India +1 lap
12 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India +1 lap
13 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso +1 lap
14 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault +1 lap
15 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Team Lotus +2 laps
16 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin Racing +4 laps
Not classified
17 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 49 laps completed
18 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 48 laps completed
19 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 22 laps completed
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Team Lotus 19 laps completed
21 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 19 laps completed
22 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 9 laps completed
Josh.
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