After a rather dismal start to the 2010/2011 season of F1, the Australian Grand Prix brought an amazing race with crashes and a number of overtaking. I was a Kimi Raikonen Supporter for last year, and since he doesn't have a F1 drive for this season, I went and supported the fast young German, Sebastian Vettel. He had a disappointing race, with a brake failure ruining his chances. Don’t you just love it when the media is proved wrong? Two weeks ago, the death of Formula 1 as we know it is pronounced, with a somewhat disappointing season opener in Bahrain. But low and behold, a little bit of rain, plus some superb drives and overtakes means that Melbourne and the Australian Grand Prix once again shows Formula One back to it's best. And blimey, wasn’t it a action-packed race.
Results:
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:36.531
2. Kubica Renault + 12.034
3. Massa Ferrari + 14.488
4. Alonso Ferrari + 16.304
5. Rosberg Mercedes + 16.683
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 29.898
7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 59.847
8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:00.536
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 1:07.319
10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:09.391
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.301
12. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:14.084
13. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps
14. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
This was a cracking race, jam-packed with manic action: Rain before we’d even begun, forcing a hurried change to inters for everyone; Alonso and Schumi’s tangle on the first lap and their battle through the field; Button’s gamble on the tyres that gave him the ultimate reward; the Kubica/Massa/Alonso/Hamilton/Webber/occasionally Rosberg scuffles, usually ending with Webber and Hamilton off track; Vettel’s ridiculously bad luck and a bust brake disc punting him out of the race and a near-certain victory. So, I’m going to pick through the debris of this race, cool the beans after these tremendous exploits as such with a little Jawsey armchair analysis:
Drivers of the Day
3: Alonso
Bahrain’s winner had a race full of behind-the-scenes battles. A collision with Schumacher sent him right to the back of the grid, where he spent the race scything his way through the pack. Once he finally arrived on the rear of team-mate Massa, he had to deal with Hailton and Webber buzzing around him at two stages of the race, the second having to defend with old tyres while Hamilton and Webber had fresh rubber. He makes my top three because of such a stupendous drive through the field. It takes a real talent to battle through from last to fourth place, especially these days with the perceived impossibility that is overtaking. Alonso’s drive was understated, but it was the drive of a worthy champion.
2: Kubica
Kubica showed today why one day, in the future somwhere, he will be Poland’s first World Champion. The Renault, while reasonably quick, has been someway off the pace of the front runners. Kubica threw that particular rulebook out of the window though, blasting through to third from ninth on the grid on the first lap, then staying ahead of first Hamilton and then the Ferarri’s, clearly much faster cars. Everyone loves a driver who upsets the odds, and Kubica did exactly that today, with a faultless drive. A much-needed boost for Renault too, after the chaos of Crash-gate last season
1: Button
It’s not that often that I give my three points to the winner of the race (usually there are fiestier drivers who have done better jobs down the midfield) but Button finally put his McLaren demons to rest with an imperious drive. Only Button could have won this race, he is the only driver who can look after his tyres so well. He was still blasting around in the 1m29s at the end of the race, tyres 50 laps old, while those behind him on the same age of tyres barely managed 1m30s. It was a calm, controlled drive of a World Champion, the sort that won him the race and the championship last year. Granted, he was gifted the win somewhat after Vettel spun out. That takes nothing away from the fact that all weekend, he comfortably out-performed his much-touted and higher-rated teammate, and showed everyone that he is Hamilton’s equal, not just his team-mate.
Worthy mentions go to Hamilton for his outrageous pace throughout the race and a great charge to the rear of Alonso’s Ferarri, Liuzzi for a discreet best-of-the-rest finish to 7th, and Karun Chandhok, for doing the incredible and getting the Hispania team of the end of a race for the first time, despite minimal track time.
Disappointment of the Day
Once again Schumacher was close for this, but Mark Webber is the unfortunate winner of this piece. In the Red Bull, he clearly has the fastest car, and in easily Vettel’s equal in raw pace. However, he cost himself twice, sliding off the track while dueling with Hamilton for position, the second time wiping his own front wing. If Webber seriously wants himself considered as a title challenger ahead of Vettel, he has to stop making these silly errors and banzai moves and take advantage of when Vettel has some misfortune, because it won’t happen forever.
Overtake of the Day
Lucas Di Grassi re-taking Michael Schumacher
It’s early in the race; Michael Schumacher is working his way back through the field after his first-lap tangle. He comes across the lowly Virgin car of Di Grassi, a car which can only barely finish the race, and comfortably takes the place on Turn 13. Does Di Grassi then give up, being around 4 seconds a lap slower than the seven-time World Champion? Of course not! Turn 14, he keeps the momentum flowing through, passing Schumacher back and defending excellently for another half lap. It’s a great sight to see, no quarter is given, despite the obvious disadvantages Di Grassi has. It’ll do no harm to his reputation either, fighting wheel-to-wheel with a man almost twice his age and the holders of all the F1 records, and beating him fair and square. Great stuff, just what we want to see as a viewer.
Alonso may still lead the title race at this early stage, but he’s not so high up in my own Rankings Table. Indeed, it’s his team-mate Massa who has those honours:
Massa: 3
Button: 3
Kubica: 3
Vettel: 2
Alonso: 2
Di Grassi: 1
Webber: -1
Buemi: -1
Schumacher: -2
Di Grassi scoring more points for me here than he probably will in this whole season. Well, I’m done for this race; all that’s left for me to say is this: Formula 1 gave itself a much-needed shot in the arm with a cracking race. More of the same in Malaysia please
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