Planet-F1

Australian GP: Lewis wins as F1 returns with a bang

Sunday 16th March 2008

Lewis Hamilton has taken victory - and a hefty points lead over Kimi Raikkonen - with a flawless performance in the Australian GP.

One of the few drivers in the field not to endure some sort of drama on a spectacular return for F1, Hamilton delivered a perfect display of frontrunning to secure the win. Yet while Hamilton prospered, Ferrari suffered a nightmare afternoon with Ice Man Kimi Raikkonen melting in the Melbourne sunshine. The Finn twice slid off the track and then failed to finish the race due to engine failure. The World Champions showed they have the pace to challenge - and possibly beat - McLaren but leave Australia with plenty of problems to dwell on.

The story of the race - apart from the glorious havoc brought on by a lack of traction control - was the roll of the dice provided by three Safety Car periods, which sidelined Robert Kubica, robbed Heikki Kovalainen of second place, but allowed Nico Rosberg to claim his forst podium and Fernando Alonso to gain an unlikely fourth place. Kovalainen eventually finished the race in fifth place followed home by Rubens Barrichello who faces disqualification after exiting the pitlane when the exit light was on red.

Only seven cars were running at the chequered flag.

Grand Prix Report

Temp/Conditions:
Sweltering conditions, hot sun, 36C ambient temperature, 51C track temperature.

Grid Top 10:
Hamilton (McLaren), Kubica (BMW), Kovalainen (McLaren), Massa (Ferrari), Heidfeld (BMW), Trulli (Toyota), Rosberg (Williams), Coulthard (Red Bull), Vettel (Toro Rosso), Barrichello.

Opening Lap:
As the lights went out, the normally groomed departure of 22 cars was swapped for some variable get-aways courtesy of the lack of traction control. Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton got wheelspin and even though he was on the clean side of the grid he had to go ultra defensive into Turn 1 to keep Robert Kubica at bay. Heikki Kovalainen was challenged by Felipe Massa who charged down the inside into Turn 1. Kovalainen left him room and Massa managed to have an accident all by himself, spinning and planting the nose into the barrier.

Nico Rosberg who had an alarming incident on the way to the grid after failing to set his brake balance correctly, got a brilliant start, squeezing between Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld and claiming fourth place.

Further back it was chaotic as Vettel got a very slow getaway and was caught by Button and a fast-starting Kimi Raikkonen. They went into Turn 1 three abreast and it's a corner that will barely take two cars. There was contact between Button and Vettel and both were out while Nakajima lost a front wing and the unlucky Mark Webber had to stop as well

Further back Nelson Piquet tried to drive straight at the Apex on the very inside of the first turn, forcing a Super Aguri wide and making Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India jump a car and into the gravel. It was Piquet's bizarre line and he calmly drove through the chaos which Sebastian Bourdais tiptoed through.

Bourdais managed to get up the inside of Anthony Davidson in Turn 3 and then Davidson hit the back of a very slow Nakajima who was loitering on the exit and broke the Super Aguri's suspension with just the smallest touch.

Kimi Raikkonen was on a charge and outmuscled David Coulthard's Red Bull through turns three and four - Alonso took advantage too. It was a stellar start from the World Champion, but the general chaos of the opening lap was enough for Charlie Whiting to throw out what was probably an unnecessary Safety Car and get things back under order.

So we were only halfway through the opening lap when the SC boards came out with the positions: P1 Hamilton, P2 Kubica, P3 Kovalainen, P4 Rosberg, P5 Heidfeld, P6 Trulli, P7 Barrichello, P8 Raikkonen, P9 Alonso, P10 Coulthard, P11 Sato, P12 Piquet

Already out were: Fisichella, Webber, Davidson, Button, Vettel

Limping: Massa and Nakajima (who passed Massa in the pit-stops)

Once the SC came back in: Lewis Hamilton set about lowering the Fastest Lap time and opening a sizeable gap to Robert Kubica. Hamilton's pace was utterly impressive in the opening phase with the Mclaren driver setting progressively quicker times sector after sector after sector.

His major championship challenger, Kimi Raikkonen, was back in the pack, tucked up behind Rubens Barrichello in 8th place for the opening 19 laps. Raikkonen eventually got past thanks to Barrichello deciding not to close the apex down at Turn 3.

By the time he was through, Hamilton and Kubica had already pitted for the first time. It was clear by now that Raikkonen, who had started on the soft tyres, was going for a single stop race. Hamilton came back on the track in P4 afte his pit-stopwhile Kubica came out behind the Barrichello/Raikkonen battle. Kovalainen, by staying out longer, was able to get an easy jump on Kubica in the pit-stops for P2. Nick Heidfeld managed to jump Nico Rosberg in the pitlane, but the cars were perilously close to touching.

Jarno Trulli had pitted on Lap 20 from P5 and jumped swiftly out of the car avoiding the battery acid that was leaking from his battery onto his leg. Though the engineers worked on the car, his race was over.

The real complexion of the race changed on Lap 26 when Felipe Massa was hoping for the kind of co-operation from David Coulthard that Barrichello had shown to his team-mate. This time into Turn 1. He didn't get it and Coulthard closed the door when Massa only had a wheel alongside his cockpit tub as he turned in. It was the Red Bull driver who came out worst, getting launched up and down over the kerb and the car falling apart as it landed. Massa continued, but such was the debris shed by DC's car that a Safety Car was needed to recover it all.

The stewards weren't interested in investigating it and so it was put down to a racing accident, even if DC thought otherwise. The result was that the pitlane closed, and those cars wanting to get more fuel couldn't.

As the cars circulated behind the Safety Car on Lap 29 the order was: Hamilton, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Rosberg, Barrichello, Glock, Massa, Nakajima and Piquet.

When the pitlane re-opened, Alonso, Glock and Nakajima raced to get fuel and Kubica made a strategic stop to take some more on, too.

We were racing again on Lap 30 and Raikkonen was starting to put pressure on Kovalainen. On Lap 31 he tried to pass him at Turn 3 and made a monumental hash of it, missing his braking point by about 50 metres and sailing straight on and into the gravel. He was lucky not to take his fellow Finn off the track, and also lucky to keep his car going through the bright orange gravel, rejoining in last place. After that he pitted for his one time and for hard tyres. At that stage he was 12th. Massa had retired his Ferrari seconds after Raikkonen had hit the gravel.

Nelson Piquet had just had his first pit-stop in F1 and on