Räikkönen denies polesitter Vettel victory in Australia - Kimi, Sebastian and Fernando do battle in Albert Park
Published by Christine
The delayed qualifying session saw a dominant Red Bull lock out the front row of the grid, with Sebastian Vettel taking his usual spot on pole position. Mark Webber lined up alongside him for the start of the race, but that did not last long, as the Australian’s bogged down starts caught up with him again and saw him drop back to seventh in the first lap.
Tyre management was more important than ever, with the battle between two stops and three stops playing out in front of our eyes. Adrian Sutil was a surprise race leader, taking a different strategy to those around him. He dropped back in the final laps, allowing the real battle between Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso to take place. In the end, there were not enough laps for Alonso to deny Kimi, and Lotus took the first win of the year. Vettel joined the pair on the podium.
McLaren struggled for pace, with just Jenson Button finishing in the points, and only ninth. Nico Hülkenberg couldn’t even start the race due to a fuel system problem, whilst all five rookies found themselves at least one lap down. The honour stayed with Lotus though, top and tailing the points with Grosjean tenth and Kimi in a well-earned first place.
