WORLD champion Sebastian Vettel crushed the opposition this morning, to win the season opening Australian Grand Prix at a canter.
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| CRUSHING: Sebastian Vettel has sent out a warning sign |
The 23-year old produced a lights-to-flag victory, earning his third consecutive victory in the delayed start to the 2011 F1 season. His Red Bull Racing car was amazing, and he was rarely threatened during the entire weekend. Vettel won from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just over ten seconds, in a race that was not a classic, but was certainly interesting for the fans with the new regulations coming into force.
The promised degradation of the new Pirelli tyres came into force, as drivers had to make between two and three pitstops for tyres that lasted no more than 15 laps. KERS returned, but fairly unsuccessfully. The revelation that Christian Horner made afterwards; Red Bull didn’t use KERS this weekend both questions its future and the confidence that the Milton Keynes based team has. The DRS system (moveable rear wing control) made an unspectacular debut, with only Jenson Button making full use of the device in the race. However, with some fine-tuning from the FIA, this could turn into a successful innovation.
Vettel had cruised to pole position on Saturday, and made an unbelievable getaway, whilst Hamilton did well to resist the attentions of Mark Webber on the rundown to turn one. Although Hamilton kept Vettel in sight throughout the first stint, the ultimate pace of the Red Bull meant Sebastian was rarely troubled. Damage to the undertray on Hamilton’s car left him fighting a losing battle against Vettel. Nevertheless, Hamilton’s second place finish will feel like a victory to McLaren, considering where they were in winter testing. Button made a poor start and then received a drive-through penalty for cutting the Turn 12 chicane when making a failed overtaking pass on the slow Felipe Massa. Jenson ultimately finished sixth in the final reckoning.
Webber struggled all weekend on home soil and was absolutely nowhere in comparison to Vettel. He struggled to make his tyres work and a technical problem just after crossing the finishing line compounded to his pretty dire weekend. He finished fifth, finally equalling his best result at Albert Park, set in 2002 with Minardi. Ferrari had an unspectacular weekend, with Massa finishing a lonely and below average ninth, after another lacklustre performance. Having started fifth, Fernando Alonso was squeezed out in turn one and dropped back to tenth by the end of the opening lap. Ultimately, the Spaniard did well to recover to fourth, on a weekend where he was fighting his car all throughout. Massa’s morale will be crushed further, as he finished nearly a full minute behind Alonso, despite leading his team-mate in the first ten laps.
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| SPRAY: Vitaly Petrov enjoys the feel of cold champagne! |
All this allowed Russian Vitaly Petrov through to make his maiden appearance on the Grand Prix rostrum. Petrov capitalised on a brilliant qualifying performance and passed Button and Alonso at the start. He benefited from a better strategy against Webber to earn a richly deserved podium. This was a much-needed result for the Lotus Renault team, still recovering slowly from Robert Kubica’s terrible rally accident in February. Kubica’s long-time replacement Nick Heidfeld finished an embarrassing 14th.
Rookie Sergio Perez produced a sensational debut; winding up seventh at the end, ahead of his Sauber team-mate Kamur Kobayashi. Perez also somehow made it to the finish having just made one pitstop. Easily, it was the best debut from a rookie driver since Hamilton burst onto the scene here in Melbourne back in 2007. Sadly, it turned into a nightmare, when both Sauber’s were excluded for a rear wing technical infringement. Technical director James Key has confirmed an investigation into the issue, and a possible appeal. The revised results mean that Scot Paul di Resta scores a maiden championship point. He finished tenth, just behind his experienced Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil. Sebastian Buemi finished in eighth place for Scuderia Toro Rosso. However, it was a bad day for both Williams and Mercedes GP. Neither of their cars finished the race; with Michael Schumacher retiring in the garage after his suspension was bent by Jaime Alguesuari on the first lap. Nico Rosberg parked his Mercedes, after his radiators were damaged in a desperate overtaking attempt by Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello earnt a drive-through for his indiscretion and like Pastor Maldonado retired his Williams with technical problems.
It wasn’t quite the dramatic start that many hoped for, but there is enough encouragement and optimism for the season ahead. However, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing have laid down an ominous marker to the rest of the competition. He will head to Malaysia in a fortnight’s time full of confidence and looking almost unbeatable.
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