Kimi Triumphs Down Under

Kimi Raikkonen stormed to his 20th career win and the 1st of the 2013 season after a moderately quiet Australian Grand Prix.

The story once again revolved around tyre management and race strategy as Raikkonen completed a two-stop race while managing the wear on his Pirelli's very accurately. Consistency was the key to his form last year, and it looks as though he's immediately found his form. Last year he scored some very reasonable points after starting in 17th following a qualifying blunder, this year he capitalised on P7 after a signature Kimi start allowed him to slot into 4th after a couple of turns. 

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel reminded us of how dangerous Newey's RB9 can be be setting off quite far early on, but a surprise chaser emerged from the pack, Felipe Massa managed to turn down a 2s lead to actually leading the Grand Prix at a point. He was followed by Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso the whole way who eventually managed 2nd behind Kimi and in front of Vettel in 3rd.

Vettel ultimately couldn't keep up with the pace of Raikkonen and Alonso, but his downfall came from the biggest surprise for another driver. Returning Force India driver and resident thug Adrian Sutil managed to hold the 3-time world champion up for a number of laps before he had to make his stop. Force India's form from last season has evidently continued as he was race leader for a while, a similar incident happened in Brazil with Nico Hulkenberg, who now driving for Sauber didn't get to start the race due to a fuel pump failure.  

As I predicted earlier, Mercedes had a disappointing day, despite Lewis Hamilton's 5th place. Although 10 points is a hell of a good haul, he dropped from P3 on the grid, and team mate Nico Rosberg had to retire from the race. I did say Mercedes have been highly over hyped already this season, and it doesn't look as if it'll improve soon. The greatest low from the weekend falls to McLaren who only managed to collect 2 points following Jenson Buttons 9th place finish. 

Their [McLaren] mishap in building an entirely new car has backfired massively on them. Sergio Perez had attempted to complete his feat of recovering a poor qualifying position into a podium, but no such luck today as Checo made a very shaky start to his McLaren debut. His lack of pace was so astonishing that eventually he just let people overtake him, he obviously has no confidence in the car. The feeling is reciprocated with his team mate. Button had to come in on lap 4 to change his already badly worn tyres. The Woking team needs to get it together right now if they are to recover anything, or they will finish behind Lotus and maybe Mercedes.

Albert Park is not well known for it's overtakes and there was no change in story today, but Raikkonen completed an outside overtake on Hamilton in the opening laps that was just sublime. 

Unlike his result in Abu Dhabi last year, Kimi did not just inherit the race, he worked hard for it, yet he described the win as "easy." He is showing massive confidence already and 67% of season opening winners go on to win the championship. The odds are in his favour and my money is fully on Raikkonen at this point. However, it will not be an easy ride.



Final Standings (©Autosport)

 1.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1h30m03.225s
 2.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                  + 12.451s
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault         + 22.346s
 4.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                  + 33.577s
 5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                 + 45.561s
 6.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault         + 46.800s
 7.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   + 1m05.068s
 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   + 1m08.449s
 9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m21.630s
10.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault          + 1m22.759s
11.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m23.367s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     + 1m23.857s
13.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
14.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
15.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          + 1 lap
16.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps
17.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth        +  2 laps
18.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault         +  2 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1m29.274s

Not classified/retirements:

Driver            Team                On lap
Daniel Ricciardo  Toro Rosso-Ferrari  40
Nico Rosberg      Mercedes            26
Pastor Maldonado  Williams-Renault    25
Nico Hulkenberg   Sauber-Ferrari      1

World Championship standings, round 1:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Raikkonen      25        1.  Ferrari                    30
 2.  Alonso         18        2.  Lotus-Renault              26
 3.  Vettel         15        3.  Red Bull-Renault           23
 4.  Massa          12        4.  Mercedes                   10
 5.  Hamilton       10        5.  Force India-Mercedes       10
 6.  Webber          8        6.  McLaren-Mercedes            2
 7.  Sutil           6       
 8.  Di Resta        4       
 9.  Button          2       
10.  Grosjean        1

2013 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying (Sunday Morning)

In in the unprecedented situation where we have qualy on a Sunday, the teams set off early on Sunday morning to pick up where they left off. The weather had continued on and off but the track was still damp.

Q2 - Despite the on-circuit conditions, the FIA deemed it safe enough for the DRS to be used but due to regulations, the driver aid can only be used in the two DRS zones. 

There were no big incidents like yesterday, Valtteri Bottas and Jean-Eric Vergne both going off track but the biggest moment came from Kimi Raikkonen who hit oversteer in the penultimate corner during a fast lap.

McLaren decided to be the first team to try the option supersoft tyre, Sergio Perez embarked into unknown territory and soon regretted it after he found that the conditions were too harsh for the option. Jenson Button soon realised this and before the curtain came down on Q2 he came back on the intermediate tyre to set a quick lap in order to enter Q3. To be quite honest, it was an absolutely hopeless move. Teams around McLaren were putting on fresh inters, yet they decided to try the least grippy tyre for a track that was still changing. Madness. 

In the end though, Nico Rosberg was fastest again.

OUT: HULKENBERG, SUTIL, VERGNE, RICCIARDO, PEREZ, BOTTAS

Really disappointing for Checo to go out on such a silly call, really doesn't instill a lot of confidence in your young driver if risks like that are going to be taken. Martin Whitmarsh was quoted as saying the team will "only be looking to score points" at this part of the season. Surely then the best thing to do would have been to get them in to Q3. Although Perez has managed to salvage podiums from these positions, different car, different pressure.

Q3 - No drivers were in any hurry to leave the comfort of their garages early, inters were the preferred choice when they did but it wasn't before long that the option supersofts became the fastest tyre.

In the end as the session finally came to a close, my predicted Red Bull front row lockout came to fruition as Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap with a 1m.27:407s, 0.4s quicker than his team mate Mark Webber. The closest challenger to the already dominant Bulls was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who was 0.6s off the pace. Rosberg who was quickest in the earlier sessions only managed 6th, a disappointing position considering his earlier pace.

The biggest down point of the morning was Button who was nearly 3s off Vettel's time down in 10th. After the session, he was quoted with saying "I'm surprised we're in Q3." Not good enough Jenson, McLaren as usual hitting out with an epic fail.

Grid:
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull
3. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
6. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
7. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus
8. Romain Grosjean - Lotus
9. Paul di Resta - Force India
10. Jenson Button - McLaren

11: Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
12: Adrian Sutil - Force India
13: Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso
14: Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso
15: Sergio Perez - McLaren
16: Valtteri Bottas - Williams

17: Pastor Maldonado - Williams
18: Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber
19: Jules Bianchi - Marussia
20: Max Chilton - Marussia
21: Giedo van der Garde - Caterham
22: Charles Pic - Caterham

My Thoughts - Honestly, it's the nightmare start I was dreading. The fact of the matter is, Vettel was able to slip and slide everywhere on the lap before his fastest, and still went 0.9s quicker at the time. If this keeps up by China I have to say the interest in Formula 1 will just deteriorate.

Felipe Massa out-qualifying Fernando again is a great sign for his form, no immediate questions over the formers future early on will be a big change to debates around the paddock. Kimi Raikkonen is in a far better position that this time last year but just like every piece of machinery that wasn't designed by Adrian Newey, his Lotus team was miles off the pace.

For the race later on, expect the Bulls to tear away, Vettel-Webber 1-2 is guaranteed. The race will be for third, just like the whole season. Naive people will say "it's early days yet" but if anyone really knows the sport, you'll understand my negativity. As I've said before if it's the same story by China, well I can't see there being anything even close to 2012.

The teams should start thinking about 2014 right away, voices at Ferrari have stated they aren't even discussing it but after this result, there will be notes jotted down.

2013 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying

I have to say, after watching Sebastian Vettel leave the competition behind in both the free practice sessions on Friday, I was not looking forward to the beginning of the 2013 Formula 1 season. Then in FP3, the heavens opened and Romain Grosjean came out on top, so there's hope yet... So long as every GP gets rained out...

In my opinion, the season is over as soon as China if this Red Bull streak continues, 2011 was a horrible year for Formula 1 and this season looks to follow suit if his dominance continues. Expect my blog to continue but there will be no enthusiasm if he does, and if you are for some season a brain dead Vettel fan beware, I will not hold back on anything. Also, for every race that the BBC does not have live, I am forced to watch Sky, my hands are unfortunately tied and there will be Brundle-bashing.

Before the session got underway, there was quite a lot of focus on F1's rookie drivers. This year features the most inexperienced grid ever for an F1 season. The focus was placed primarily on Valtteri Bottas who has the strongest car out of the five newbies. He is also the only rookie not to come from GP2, his lack of combat racing may hinder him.



Q1 - The start of Q1 was delayed by a total of 30 minutes. This is due to the lack of drainage around Albert Park. Throughout the year these are just normal roads and therefore lack the high quality drainage systems that come with race tracks.

Eventually the session got underway and it wasn't long before the first incident occurred, Giedo van der Garde lost control of his Caterham and collided in a tyre wall, as a result his front wing got trapped beneath the car, extremely dangerous in these conditions. Martin Brundle criticised him for not coming in straight away, but he failed to see the brand new front wing in front of the car! Idiot... It wasn't long before similar incidents occurred, Felipe Massa was lucky to get away with only front wing damage, his Ferrari could have lost a wheel or two. Lewis Hamilton continued his run of poor performance in his new Mercedes after he beached the car in a dangerous position. He was able to reverse out and continue on but after his rear wing collided in the impact, he came in to have it changed.

As if this wasn't enough drama, Sergio Perez, Mark Webber, Esteban Gutierrez and Pastor Maldonado all lost control of their cars resulting in running of the track and in some cases spinning. Paul di Resta suffered a similar fate not too long after.

Towards the end of the session Charles Pic also made contact with the wall meaning both Caterham drivers lost their front wings but the biggest incident came not too long after his first. Gutierrez was unable to avoid the wall this time and lost his front wing but also had to stop the car. Yellow flags were deployed meaning nobody could set any faster times.

Nico Rosberg was on top at the start of the session and after Vettel, Grosjean and others set faster times, Rosberg found his way back to the top. In the end though six of the slowest drivers had to depart and the big name to miss out was Pastor Maldonado after his team left a tyre switch too late. Williams were supposed to struggle but his inexperienced team mate Bottas managed to do just fine out-qualifying him. The usual suspects both Marussia and Caterham dropped out as is expected, the other casualty was Gutierrez who was unable to set a fast time.



Q2 - Q2 was delayed by a further 40 minutes following an increase of rain, talk already started circulating about qualifying being postponed and surely enough after plenty of speculation and debate, qualifying was cancelled. The question was do we call the grid the way it already stood as the starting grid, or will we continue tomorrow morning?

The FIA announced Q2 and Q3 will take place at 11:00 tomorrow morning meaning any support race will be cancelled. Conditions are set to improve but there is no guarantee.



My Thoughts - As I said before, I take this as a victory for F1 fans, the opening race of the season won't be dominated by the puppet boy because of the rain. Granted it's a nuisance but at least we can expect some kind of drama tomorrow.

Many commentators and Ferrari test driver Pedro de la Rosa criticised the track paint for the lack of grip. In a tweet he stated "black paint over white road markings is causing problems for drivers. Very slippery." It just wasn't pleasant driving conditions for anybody, during Massa and Gutierrez's incidents you could see the water just piling into the cockpit.

It would have been nice to continue on today in order to have a mixed grid for the race but it was getting too dark. If conditions are dry tomorrow I expect a Red Bull front row lock out followed by Grosjean, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in some kind of order. A wet qualifying followed by a dry race is my idea of a perfect race weekend, but a wet race could also throw us up some excitement, as usually Button and Alonso excel in wet conditions, but Vettel looks quick in the rain which is something I've never seen before. Hamilton and Mercedes isn't working out as I predicted but it is still early days yet.

He needs to get it sorted if he is to salvage anything from this season. But like any point I've made, it's early days yet.

Preview: 2013 Australia Grand Prix

There is no better track to open a Formula One season than that in Melbourne. Albert Park or Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a 16 corner street circuit which traditionally since 1996 (bar two seasons) has been the calendar opener. There is a unique focus on this weekend because we don't know how the teams are going to preform. Yes from testing we have an idea, but there are some things that teams hide from us. After the lights go out, we'll have a clearer picture.

Track profile courtesy of Caterham Racing

Track Characteristics
Melbourne is a high downforce track which is also very demanding on the brakes. Pirelli have decided to open their campaign by providing the teams with supersoft and medium compounded tyres, the first time supersofts have been used at this circuit. Let's hope they hold out during the high speed corners. Grip levels will improve as the race goes on and with the average track temperature being 25°C, rain is highly unlikely. Going by testing figures, commentators expect a 2 or 3 stop race. The double DRS zones (which are now mandatory for each circuit) are on the pit straight and the straight between turns 2 & 3.

Jenson Button was the most recent winner, a circuit he tends to favour and succeed in. The story couldn't be more different for national hero Mark Webber who always seems to find nothing but disappointment at his home GP, however the odds are often reversed come Silverstone for the pair. An Australian driver has never won here.

Preview
A number of the teams will certainly feel uncomfortable following a rain ridden testing campaign in Barcelona. Lotus lost their impressive Jerez pace and a day without Kimi Raikkonen following his illness, they join a number of teams who will have very empty data logs. Due to no dramatic technical changes for this year, the cars performance's are expected to remain the same, so expect strong charges from the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso but most importantly, the McLaren of Jenson Button. No doubt though, all eyes will be on Lewis Hamilton in his new Mercedes.

The surprise form of the midfield teams like Sauber and Williams looks unlikely to make a re-insurgence, though do not rule it out. Challenges from the Force India of Paul di Resta would also be a welcome feature, and expect home boy Daniel Ricciardo to try and impress his crowd.

Qualifying
Always ridiculously hard to predict, I would always refuse to but since I've started this blog I feel obliged to. As quick as Sergio Perez was last year, I can't imagine him getting his first pole position in Formula 1, the same goes for team mate Button's chances. Pole position is most likely going to come from Vettel, Alonso or Raikkonen. I also think the people on the bandwagon are going to be highly disappointed after they see Mercedes's qualifying performance.

The Race
Expect a frantic 290m sprint to turn 1 as all drivers attempt to establish their roles within their respective teams and the grid's pecking order. However I genuinely think the drivers who will come out on top will be those who were in the title hunt at the tail end of last season. Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso will take 3rd, 2nd and 1st respectively whenever the race Down Under comes to a close.

After Sunday there are going to be a lot of satisfied F1 fans as this weekend ends the draught we so desperately hate. The last season of the current engines will not see a mighty unpredictable turn of events like last year, but round 1 will certainly give us the opening we know it can provide. 

Editors Note
Every weekend I will be providing qualifying and race reviews but due to my future Marshall and work commitments on a Saturday and Sunday and the BBC selling all my rights, I'll not be able to provide live coverage on Twitter or immediate reviews. To amend this, I plan to watch every highlight session with a note book on hand to jot down even the tiniest of details. Remember to keep it here for everything Formula 1, and follow me on Twitter @Houston60.