Aus the Great and 'Shower'ful

Excuse the pun of a title, but the schizophrenic weather in Melbourne made it very difficult to predict anything at this weekend. Rainstorms, Rookies and racing were not lacking, but it did eventually clear up on Sunday for a fantastic Grand Prix.

Maldonado was not happy with his new FW35. After limited running in it during Pre-season Testing (due to releasing late, for the second Barcelona test) he described it as "Undriveable" and only managed to qualify 17th, with his teammate Bottas faring marginally better, getting into Sunday's Q2 but still only in 16th.

"In the wet we were slow, in the dry as well." said Pastor. The Venezuelan was the only driver to retire without a technical problem, spinning into the gravel at turn 1 on lap 25.

Qualifying was postponed on Saturday after a colossal downpour just after Q1. The bottom six drivers were eliminated but the adverse conditions became extremely overwhelming. The excess water coupled with the diminishing light levels were deemed too hazardous, and the FIA decided to put Q2 off until Sunday morning, at 12am UK time.

Esteban Gutierrez would have been better off with a Kayak
than his C32 on Saturday.

During the short 20-minutes session several drivers had off-track excursions, including Lewis Hamilton who dented the rear wing of his new Mercedes after a spin at turn 2. His McLaren replacement Perez also got in spin, and there were offs for Webber, Maldonado, Gutierrez, Massa and van der Garde, the latter three of which broke their front wings.


On Sunday morning the drivers were out once again. It was still wet. Intermediates replaced the wet tyres of Saturday afternoon, but it was still soggy enough to cause troubles. On his McLaren debut, Perez looked to impress. However, he gambled onto the super-soft slicks too early and ended up just 15th. His team mate fared not much better, and lined up 10th. There seemed to be no real change up front, with Vettel and Webber locking out the front row.

Sunday afternoon brought with it much excitement as the field lined up for the start. However, the pack was a car down before the race began. Nico Hulkenberg had a fuel system problem, and the team opted to retire his car for safety reasons. Everyone else was fine, and as the five red lights illuminated and blinked out, I literally gave out a little squeal of excitement.

The Season's first start.

At the start, Massa and Alonso made cracking starts, both overcoming the sluggish Mark Webber and then getting the better of Hamilton. Raikkonen also made a good start, jumping up to 5th, then overpowering Hamilton as well. Several drivers made early stops from severely scrubbed super softs. Alliteration aside, the options dropped off extremely quickly, and drivers including Button and Webber pitted while the lap counter was still in single figures. Massa and Alonso both had a quick share of leading the race, and when the latter pitted with Raikkonen on Lap 10, Hamilton emerged at the front.

Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil had been storming along in his VJM06 and threatened the leaders. Qualifying outside the top ten, as it did last year, means free choice of which tyres on which to start. Adrian started on the Prime tyres and by lap 15, had overtaken both Mercedes cars. He held on to the lead until he pitted, and was followed by Vettel. They both exited into traffic but the younger German got the better of the slightly older one.

Adrian Sutil's return to F1 was highly impressive, even leading for 6 laps.

Maldonado brought out the only yellow flag of the race. He dipped a wheel into the grass before turn one, and subsequently spun into the gravel. His beached Williams was far enough away not to warrant the Safety Car, a rarity in Australia which has seen Berndt Maylander lead the field in four races since 2008. Rosberg retired two laps later on Lap 27 with a suspected electrical problem. 

Maldonado's beached Williams at Turn 1

Former team mates Hamilton and Alonso fought tooth and nail for a few laps in the middle of the race, with the Mercedes driver under extreme pressure from the Ferrari. Hamilton managed to keep him at bay, but not without destroying his front right tyre in a colossal lock-up, which he subsequently pitted to change.

Hamilton's plight continued later on, with Massa and Vettel passing him on tyres that were only 8 laps old - it appeared the Mercedes was being rather tough on its tyres. Ricciardo became the third retirement, unfortunately retiring from his home event with exhaust troubles.

Raikkonen passed Sutil for the lead on lap 43, and at the same time, di Resta in the other Force India also lost a position, to Webber. Sutil who had been on two sets of Medium tyres pitted for Super Softs, but they grained badly and ultimately surrendered 5th and 6th to Hamilton and Webber. The race concluded with Kimi Raikkonen winning from Alonso by 13 seconds, and continues the excellent pace of Lotus from the end of last season.

Six World Championships between them.

Lap Leaders
Vettel (1-7)
Massa (8)
Alonso (9)
Hamilton (10-14)
Rosberg (15)
Sutil (16-21)
Raikkonen (22-30)
Hamilton (31)
Alonso (32-40)
Sutil (41-43)
Raikkonen (43-58)

Finishing Positions
1. K Raikkonen, Lotus
2. F Alonso, Ferrari
3. S Vettel, Red Bull
4.F Massa, Ferrari
5. L Hamilton, Mercedes
6. M Webber, Red Bull
7. A Sutil, Force India
8. P di Resta, Force India
9. J Button, McLaren
10. R Grosjean, Lotus
11. S Perez, McLaren
12. JE Vergne, Toro Rosso
13. E Gutierrez, Sauber
14. V Bottas, Williams
15. J Bianchi, Marussia
16. C Pic, Caterham
17. M Chilton, Marussia
18. G van der Garde, Caterham

Out/Unclassified
D Ricciardo, Toro Rosso (Exhaust)
N Rosberg, Mercedes (Electronics)
P Maldonado, Williams (Spun off)
N Hulkenberg, Sauber (Fuel System)