Australian Grand Prix as it happened

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Sunday, 27 March 2011 09:20

The sun is shining and it is much warmer than it has been at any other time during the weekend as we wait for the start of the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2011 Formula One season.

It looks like most of the field are starting on the softer tyre, looking for the extra grip going into the first corner. It will be interesting to see how the Pirelli's perform with heavy fuel loads and the higher temperatures.

Green lights Vettel is away clear of the field. The Williams of Barrichello is all ready in the gravel as Massa jumps from eighth to fifth, fighting off a charging Button. As they come around to complete the first lap Vettel all ready has a 2.4s lead over Hamilton, Webber, Massa and Button.

Schumacher pits on lap two, a right rear tyre completely shredded from contact with Alguersuari who now needs to pit to replace his nose cone. Alonso gets past Kobayashi and a lap later Button is still menacing his team mate Massa.

Vettel moves to a 3.2s lead as DRS is now allowed for the drivers while Hamilton does the fastest lap of the race so far. Petrov is impressive in fourth as Webber rides around perilously close to Hamilton's rear.

Maldonado passes Kovalainen for 16th and despite using DRS Button cannot find a way past Massa whose brakes are heating up. The battle between those two is incredible. Battles are breaking out all throughout the field from 8th to 12th with Rosberg, Kobayashi, Buemi, di Resta and Sutil staying well in touch with each other.

Alonso is soon in on the Massa/Button fight, the top three the only ones seemingly not in a close battle, though Hamilton has reduced Vettel's lead to 2.8s as the Red Bull garage suit up for a pit stop. Webber is complaining that his rear tyres are starting to give away as Hamilton gets within 2.2s of Vettel.

Button gets past Massa using an escape road so needs to let Massa back through which will in turn mean he will inadvertently let Alonso through too. Not a good position to be in as Webber pits for the first time, changing to hard tyres. Maldonado has stopped on the circuit but is far enough away from the racing line to prevent yellow flags being flown.

Alonso has pitted staying on softs, a different strategy to Webber, Button is now saying he had track position and Massa pushed him off so he doesn't feel he should be penalised. Massa has now pitted which means if Button is penalised he will get a drive through as opposed to being able to let Massa past if the Ferrari's hadn't stopped.

Vettel pits at the end of lap 14 for soft tyres as we hear that there is now a drive through penalty for Button. Hamilton and Petrov pit on lap 16, the former rejoining on soft tyres behind Vettel and in front of Button who is yet to serve his drive through.

Kovalainen has a moment off the track, giving Barrichello another position back. Button serves his penalty on lap 18. It looks as if Red Bull and Ferrari are harder on their tyres than McLaren while Petrov looks certain to be caught by Alonso. It is Abu Dhabi all over again. Except that a championship won't be directly affected. Yet.

Vettel has an astounding 6.8s lead from Hamilton, another 14.5s back to Webber in third. Despite only just pitting, it looks like Glock will have to come in again as he slows on the circuit. Kovalainen is stuck out on the grass, a water leak overheating his radiator ending his race.

Schumacher has also retired. The race is so full of action it is hard to keep up. Barrichello is on the back of Rosberg, fighting for eighth. They have made contact, both drivers get going again but there is smoke steaming from the rear of Rosberg's Mercedes. He has come to a stop on the side of the circuit. The weekend is over for Mercedes, it is their first double DNF since Monaco 1955 (thank you Peter Windsor) as Barrichello pits for a replacement front nose.

Petrov is hanging onto fourth over Alonso in fifth. Webber is looking vulnerable in third on his hard Pirelli's. Button makes the most of the DRS, passing Kobayashi for seventh. Having had enough of the hard tyre Webber pits for the softs, soon followed by Alonso.

Vettel is out to an 8.5s lead as the rest of the field shakes out from the recent series pit stops. News of a Barrichello drive through no huge surprise after what could be called a rookie mistake earlier.

Massa pits on lap 32 as Formula One rookie di Resta sits in 10th for his debut race. Force India would have to be happy with him. Speaking of happy, Red Bull couldn't be anything but smiles looking at Vettel's lead which has now extended to 11.5s. His nearest challenger, Hamilton, looks to be suffering damage to the splitter of his under tray.

Vettel and Hamilton are both in the pits on lap 36 for hard tyres. Petrov joins them a lap later, also going onto the hard Pirelli's. Button is the next to pit. It looks like Hamilton may be slowly catching Vettel as Perez does the fastest lap of the race so far in the debut race for the Mexican, a 1:29.962.

Webber pits again on lap 42, running wide as he rejoins but is able to get it back on the track. Alonso pits far ahead of Webber whose luck seems to be seriously lacking at his home race. Without luck on his side, just pure determination sees him do the quickest first sector of the day on the way to nabbing the fastest lap record for the race from Perez, doing a 1:29.686.

Up the front, Vettel is 11.5s ahead of Hamilton, Petrov holding onto third. Perez is now within one second of Button, impressing more than many had expected and has still only made one stop.

Lap 48 sees Button finally get past Massa for sixth, the latter pitting a lap later. Alonso is closing on Petrov who needs to get his Renault moving if he wants to keep his podium position at the end of the race. A bad pit stop has Massa back in 10th behind the Toro Rosso of Buemi. Barrichello has also retired, making that a double DNF for Mercedes and Williams today as Massa passes Buemi.

Three laps remain and Vettel is 16.1s in front, or two years in Formula One time. Hamilton is nursing his injured McLaren around in second, with Petrov holding on for dear life to third with a charging Spaniard behind him. Webber holds fifth and will equal his best ever finish at the Australian Grand Prix if he remains there.

Button is in sixth with Perez still in seventh on one stop, ONE stop, set to score points on debut and finish ahead of his team mate Kobayashi in eighth. Massa sits in ninth with Buemi rounding out the top ten.

Crossing the line Vettel makes it three Grand Prix wins in a row, Brazil, Abu Dhabi and now Australia. Petrov gets his first ever podium finish as Webber crosses the line and immediately pulls over, suggesting a problem with his car. Perez scores points on debut, with both Saubers coming away with some in the bank.

Sutil and di Resta finish in 11th and 12th respectively, the latter another one who had a stellar drive on debut. Alguersuari, Heidfeld, Trulli and Virgin rookie D'Ambrosio the other finishes in the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. By Jacki Warnock

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