Grand Prix International #63

GPI

MELBOURNE FOCUS•REPORTS•INTERVIEWS 20.03.2013

RED BULL Burn Rubber

FERRARI Good Start MCLAREN Team in Crisis MERCEDES Almost Good SUTIL STARS Comeback Hero

RAIKKONEN ON TOP DOWN UNDER WEEKLY FORMULA 1 DIGITAL MAGAZINE

“What transpired has set the scene for what promises to be another intriguing season.�

20 March 2013 In December we elected Kimi Raikkonen the 2012 GPI Driver of the Year, and he vindicated our decision with a well judged and superbly controlled drive to claim victory in the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

Up until the fifth lap of the race it appeared that it was going to be another 2011-style Red Bull-dozer, but suddenly everything changed and what transpired has set the scene for what promises to be another intriguing season of Grand Prix racing.

In this issue we provide extensive coverage from the race at Albert Park with: interviews, features, reports, results and as usual great photography.

Enjoy

CREDITS Editor: Paul Velasco Editorial Co-ordinator: Roy Franco Content: YallaF1.com Admin: Anja Schwerin Main Photography: Sutton Images Additional photography: Getty Images, LAT Photographic, Hoch Zwei, AF400 Photography, Ercole Colombo & Race Presse

Additional content providers: Apex, GMM, Reuters, FIA, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Marussia, Caterham, Pirelli, Cosworth, Renault and other F1 related organisations Contact: info@grandprixinternational.net www.grandprixinternational.net

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FIRST WORD

IN THIS ISSUE

RAIKKONEN

VETTEL

MELBOURNE

>>>

8 12 22 40 46 60 74 90 98 108 116 124 134 142 150 158 164 174 182 190 196 200 248 260

CLASS OF 2013 DREAM START AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT TEAM BY TEAM SUMMARY RAIKKONEN: MY EASIEST WIN ALONSO: NOT AN EASY RACE VETTEL: WE WANTED MORE BETTER THAN EXPECTED TEAM IN CRISIS MAN OF THE MATCH DID NOT START MELBOURNE QUALIFYING RAIN STOPS PLAY FOR A DAY ROOKIES IN THE DEEP END MELBOURNE FP1 REPORT IT ALL WENT OKAY HUGE CHALLENGE MELBOURNE FP2 REPORT A GOOD DAY MELBOURNE FP3 REPORT SESSION RESULTS SUMMARY DRIVER QUOTES MALAYSIAN GP PREVIEW MALAYSIA WILL BE DIFFERENT

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HAMILTON

THE CLAS

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SS OF 2013

DREAM

Kimi Raikkonen – voted 2012 Driver of the Year by Grand Prix International – gave Lotus a dream start to the Formula 1 season on Sunday with a winning strategy carried out to perfection in the Australian Grand Prix.

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START

T

he 2007 world champion’s victory was the second of a comeback that started last season and his second in Melbourne since his triumph with Ferrari in the year of his championship success.

No one in the Lotus camp was getting carried away enough to suggest a repeat of that feat was on the cards this year, not least the famously taciturn but hugely popular Finn.

Even so, the sight of Raikkonen pulling away from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of triple champion Sebastian Vettel with the fastest lap of the race as the chequered flag beckoned was surely more than the team could have hoped for or have expected.

“It’s fantastic, the best start you can ever dream of,” said team principal Eric Boullier. “We dreamed about it. When we were working on strategy we knew our car would possibly allow us to do only two pitstops. This morning again after the quali, we were just watching the car in parc ferme and saying: maybe it’s possible.”

Raikkonen executed the plan in a Lotus which proved easy on the tyres, a critical advantage that allowed him to stay out on the track while his rivals were forced to make extra pit stops to change rubber.

DREAM START

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“There were a lot of question marks,” said Raikkonen afterwards. “But I felt I had a good car and it turned out pretty good. It’s always difficult in the first race not to stop too early or too late but we got it exactly right. We had a good plan and it worked perfectly for us. Hopefully we can have many more wins.”

Raikkonen made just one stop when he won his first race for Lotus in Abu Dhabi last year, a victory

which the British-based were a serious outfit and Finn’s popular appeal. In his race engineer to leave radio, adding “I know wha On Sunday, with Ciaron P as the voice in Raikkone working at Red Bull, the Fin what to do and needed

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team said showed they d which also added to the that race, Raikkonen told e him alone on the team at I’m doing.”

Pilbeam making his debut en’s headset after years nn again showed he knew little guidance. Sunday’s

DREAM START

victory, from seventh on the grid, was another huge boost to the team as Raikkonen started his second year with the British-based outfit who won multiple championships under their old names of Renault and Benetton.

It was also the first season-opening win by a team called Lotus since American Mario Andretti, who went on to take the title that year, triumphed in Argentina in 1978.

“I had a very good car all weekend even though I didn’t do any long runs in the winter,” said Raikkonen, whose 20th career win equalled the tally of double world champion compatriot Mika Hakkinen. “You just have to get through the early laps in the first race of the season.”

“Near the end, I was still pushing because I knew Fernando was catching up a bit and I thought at some point we would need a little extra if the rain came again. It’s only the start of the season, there is a lot of work to do if we want to fight for the championship.”

That he was able to beat the Red Bull of three-times champion Vettel so convincingly on Sunday was a surprise not only to Raikkonen’s rivals.

“I have to share with you that we also were expecting the domination of Red Bull,” said Boullier. “Even if we knew that it would maybe struggle more with the tyres. But at the end we are happy that we could do it.”

DREAM START

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AUSTRALIAN GRAND P

KIMI KNOWS WH

Kimi Raikkonen won the season opening Australian Grand Prix pow a perfect start to the new season while dispelling early fears that proceedings after locking out the front row in qualifying a few hou

HAT HE IS DOING

wering to his 20th career Formula 1 victory, and gave Lotus world champions Red Bull were on the verge dominating urs earlier.

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PRIX REPORT

F

or Ferrari it was also a solid start as Fernando Alonso finished second, with teammate Felipe Massa fourth. Splitting the reds was Sebastian Vettel, who started from pole thanks to great speed in the Red Bull RB9 but in race trim the car appears to have met its match in the Ferrari and Lotus.

Raikkonen and Lotus m their E21 is kinder than mo Pirelli tyres, and claimed t third victory at the Albert Starting from seventh on a two stop strategy work went for a three stop opt

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maximised the fact that ost on the new generation the Enstone based team’s Park circuit. n the grid, Raikkonen made k for him, while his rivals tion. The Iceman kept his

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

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cool under skies that occasionally spat rain drops, taking the lead on lap 24 from where he comfortably controlled the race.

Late on Alonso attacked, but Raikkonen had plenty to spare and upped his pace accordingly to take the chequered flag, to top an all world champion podium in Melbourne.

Raikkonen said afterwards, ”I was confident that the tyres would be OK. I had a very good car all weekend even though I didn’t do any long runs in the winter. You just have to get through the early laps in the first race of the season. Near the end, I was still pushing because I knew Fernando was catching up a bit and I thought at some point we would need a little extra if the rain came again.”

Alonso started fifth and in the end was happy with second place, no doubt remembering the woeful situation that befell the team a year ago, same place, same time.

The Spaniard was involv orders) tussle with tea pitting early for the sec he managed to leapfrog Vettel. Thereafter he had a late on in the race, but tho when Raikkonen respond Alonso reflected, “It was fighting all through the r fans all weekend, we felt qualifying because the grandstands in the rain. W

for everyone and I think we did it. The race had action every lap. I personally enjoyed it. At the end, I was sad not to be able to win the race, but Kimi was fantastic and we need to congratulate them for a fantastic race.”

“We had a difficult start of season two years ago and last year, too, and this year is very different. We feel much more comfortable, the car is responding well and we have a good season ahead of us. We only have five days to prepare for the next race but we will again be a tough opponent,” added the Ferrari driver.

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ved in an early (no team ammate Massa, but by cond batch of tyre stops not only Massa but also a stab at Raikkonen’s lead ought better of the pursuit ded with a quicker lap. s a fantastic race for us, race. A big thanks to the sad when we postponed fans were there in the We had to put a good show

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

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The world champions looked fighting fit after Sunday’s postponed qualifying with Vettel taking pole and Mark Webber next best and locking out the front row. But as has become his custom on home soil Webber messed up the start, and was thereafter never a top three contender, eventually finishing sixth.

Vettel got away well but soon it was evident that the Red Bull RB9 had hot lap pace, but it was not

kind to it’s tyres and cons was the first of the front the German was on the ba quite chuffed to be on the he did a good job with wh Vettel summed up his da we wanted more – when expect to win. The first fe the tyres started to fall

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sequently the number one runners to pit. Thereafter ack foot and was actually e podium, which suggests hat he had at his disposal. ay, ”We can be happy but n you start from pole you ew laps were OK but then apart. Lotus and Ferrari

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

had incredible pace and we were third quickest.

Best wishes to Kimi – we have to admit sometimes that other people are faster than us but it’s a long season so we have some good points to start with and we have no reason to be disappointed.”

Massa was fourth after an action packed race where he gave a good account of himself, at times even quicker than Alonso. Ferrari leave Melbourne topping the constructors table.

In retrospect Lewis Hamilton will be pleased with his first Grand Prix with Mercedes. He qualified third and then was involved in numerous skirmishes throughout the course of the race. Giving it all he could in a car that is still off the top three and which flattered in testing only to disappoint when it mattered most.

Nevertheless fifth is a good points haul when compared to his team mate Nico Rosberg who retired with a mechanical issue.

There is still plenty work to do for the Silver Arrows, but whatever the case they are assured in Hamilton a driver who will extract everything possible from whatever they give him – the message clear in Melbourne.

Hamilton said, ”We didn’t expect to have such a competitive car.

Some people will be like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t great’ but I think fifth’s good.

I had to come in and changes tyres and 27 laps on that tyre [wasn’t possible], so we had to covert to a three-stop strategy. I think we’ll have a good race in Malaysia.”

‘Man of the Match’ must go to Adrian Sutil who made his return to the Force India cockpit after a year on the sidelines. Three weeks earlier he had no drive. He led twice, and was in among the top runners throughout the race as he did his first two stints on the harder tyres and was looking good for a podium finish or top five at least.

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

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But when he bolted on the red band softs with ten laps to run it was free fall until the flag dropped with seventh place a reward for an impressive effort that signalled his return to the top tier of the sport in fine style.

“It was good to see, and important to send a message to the team to wake up again to know why we are here. You never know when there is an opportunity, but we need to be ready for it. I was just concentrating and knew it would be difficult. On the soft tyre it was hard, because I lost so much performance, then the pace came back again at the end.

It’s good for me to see that I’m still fast and that I’m an F1 driver again.

You ne from th His te with hi Bigge A year race af Fast f struggl hard to

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

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ever expect to be in first [place] after 10-15 laps after a break he sport,” mused Sutil. eammate Paul di Resta was eighth and crossed the finish line is teammate in his sights. est disappointment of the weekend was the ‘no show’ by McLaren. earlier they were top of the pile with Jenson Button winning the fter he and Hamilton had locked out the front row in qualifying. forward 12 months and the story was all different as Button led all day on his way to ninth and new boy Sergio Perez toiled o finish 11th – last year he was eighth in a Sauber.

Button spoke of his afternoon at work, ”The start was pretty good and I got past a Lotus, I think. I thought we were doing three laps [on the tyres] but then the temperatures went through the roof. We thought we were doing the right thing but obviously not.

There’s still a lot of work to do. I don’t think you’ll see a massive difference [in Malaysia] no. Maybe that circuit will suit us better. It’s going to be a long night of debriefing for us.”

Claiming the final point on offer was Romain Grosjean who shared the fourth row with his victorious teammate, but was simply outclassed and never really a factor in the race. Close study of the start suggests that his E21 was tagged and damaged as the field made their way through the first few turns, which may explain the difference in performance compared to Raikkonen.

It was a heartache for Sauber and Nico Hulkenberg as he failed to make the grid due to a fuel system issue which forced the Swiss squad to withdraw their German driver on grounds of safety.

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

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Williams also endured a torrid three days and will leave Melbourne as the underachievers of the weekend, although Valterri Bottas did end up best of the rookies in 14th he was battling down with the Toro Rosso pair and Esteban Gutierrez in the Sauber.

Pastor Maldonado’s weekend ended when he

beached the FW35 which h In the battle of the min upper hand with Jules Bia for the team, on his way t There is hardly a momen to Malaysia for round two The final word goes to th

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he claimed was undrivable. nnows Marussia got the anchi shining on his debut to 15th. nt to spare as teams fly off o next weekend. he winning team boss Eric

AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT

Boullier: “We’re most delighted – it was the best start we could have had to the season. Not only is it a win, but the strategy we chose also worked.

Reduced tyre wear was one of the strengths of the car that we inherited from last season and it was useful because during Kimi’s second stint the other cars were starting to challenge a bit more.”

Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Melbourne

Round 1 2013 Formula 1 World Championship

Race Result Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret

No 7 3 1 4 10 2 15 14 5 8 6 18 12 17 22 20 23 21 19 9 16 11

Driver Team Laps Time Grid Kimi RäikkÜnen Lotus-Renault 58 Winner 7 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +12.4 secs 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 58 +22.3 secs 1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +33.5 secs 4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 58 +45.5 secs 3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 58 +46.8 secs 2 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 58 +65.0 secs 12 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 58 +68.4 secs 9 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 +81.6 secs 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 58 +82.7 secs 8 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 58 +83.3 secs 15 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 58 +83.8 secs 13 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 18 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 57 +1 Lap 16 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 57 +1 Laps 19 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 56 +2 Lap 22 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 56 +2 Laps 20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 56 +2 Laps 21

Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 39 +19 Laps 14 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 26 +32 Laps 6

Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 24 +34 Laps 17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 0 Fuel System … †…‡ � ­

11

Fastest Lap Kimi Raikkonen

Pts 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Lotus F1 Team �† ­ ˆ �

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RACE RESULTS • LAP CHART

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Lotus E21

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Cloudy Air temperature 17°/19° Track temperature 23°/19°

TEAM-BY-TEAM

REPORTS

FERRARI (Fernando Alonso 2, Felipe Massa 4) Alonso started the season on the podium, a big improvement on last year where he finished fifth. Both drivers made three stops, starting on supersofts. Massa continued the resurgence he showed at the end of last year and might have got on the podium too had he brought forward his second stop.

LOTUS (Kimi Raikkonen 1, Romain Grosjean 10) Raikkonen’s 20th career win, equalling compatriot Mika Hakkinen’s tally, and second of his comeback. His first in a season-opener since 2007, when he took his title with Ferrari. Raikkonen made just two stops and said it was probably one of his easiest wins. Grosjean said something felt wrong with his car.

Triple champion Vettel started on pole but the car proved too aggressive on the tyres during the race. Webber started alongside on the front row but car-to-pit telemetry problems on the grid and an ECU-related KERS failure meant he was on the back-foot right away. The Australian also had a slow pitstop due to a front jack failure.

MCLAREN (Jenson Button 9, Sergio Perez 11) Button, winner three times in the past four years in Melbourne, felt he had got the most out of a car struggling for pace. His meagre haul took his career points tally to 1,001. Perez made his debut for the team in 15th place on the grid. The Mexican has now not scored in seven successive races.

Both drivers did three pitstops.

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 5, Nico Rosberg retired) Hamilton started third but could not hold on that placing, slipping back down the order and fighting a good battle with Force India’s Sutil. Still a promising Mercedes race debut for the 2008 champion, who made three stops. Rosberg retired with an electrical problem on lap 27 while in third place. He had been on a two-stop strategy.

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RED BULL (Sebastian Vettel 3, Mark Webber 6)

FORCE INDIA (Adrian Sutil 7, Paul Di Resta 8) Sutil grabbed his second chance with both hands in his comeback race after a year away, leading the race on two occasions. He started on the medium tyres and a two-stop strategy. Di Resta lost time behind three-stoppers at the start of his second stint.

SAUBER (Esteban Gutierrez 13, Nico Hulkenberg did not start) Gutierrez was the highest finisher of the five rookies, fighting back from 18th on the grid. Hulkenberg qualified 11th but did not start after a fuel system problem was detected.

MARUSSIA (Jules Bianchi 15, Max Chilton 17) A solid debut for both rookies with Bianchi impressive throughout the weekend. Chilton made contact early on with Van der Garde’s Caterham and had to make a long pitstop for a new front wing.

TEAM-BY-TEAM REPORTS A solid race debut for Bottas, who started on the super-soft option tyres.

Maldonado started 17th and was the first retirement after beaching his car in the gravel.

TORO ROSSO (Jean-Eric Vergne 12, Daniel Ricciardo retired) Vergne went through a gravel trap at the start, from 13th on the grid, but was in a scoring position until the closing laps. Ricciardo retired from his home race with an exhaust problem.

CATERHAM (Charles Pic 16, Giedo van der Garde 18) Pic made two stops, Van der Garde three. The Dutchman had a slow puncture on his second set of tyres. In terms of pecking order they have slipped behind Marussia to be the slowest team in F1 currently.

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WILLIAMS (Valtteri Bottas 14, Pastor Maldonado retired)

ONE OF MY EA

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ASIEST WINS

N

o one was tipping Kimi Raikkonen to win the 2013 season opening Australian Grand Prix, but Lotus and the Iceman ambushed the Formula 1 world with a well controlled and clinical victory in Melbourne with a car that is clearly kind to its tyres which enabled the Finn to

score his 20th Grand Pr ease. He spoke afterward conference at Albert Park

How do you feel about yo first of many perhaps?

RAIKKONEN INTERVIEW 20.03.2013 GRAND PRIX INTERNATIONAL ISSUE.62 PHOTO LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

rix triumph with relative Kimi Raikkonen: It’s the first race, so you don’t really ds in the post race press know how it’s going to go, how the tyres are going k. to be. I didn’t really do any long runs in the winter.

I knew that I had a good car, so I had a feeling that our win this season? The it was going to be a good race but you have to get through the first laps and then go from there.

And you did a 1:29.2, the fastest lap of the grand prix just before the end. Just having a bit of fun?

Kimi: No, I mean Fernando was catching me at some point, when I was taking it a bit more easy and there was some traffic, so I just wanted to make sure that if the rain comes or something happens we have a bit more gap. I was still taking it pretty easy. Like I said, the car has been very good all weekend and it was a pretty nice race, not so difficult.

You lead the world championship. You had two years away rallying, you came back and won a race last year did a great job but here you are leading the championship again. How does that feel?

Kimi: It feels good but it’s only after one race. It doesn’t really change our aim and our work for this year.

Definitely we are happy with the win but there is an awful lot to still do to try to win the championship. We seemed to have a good car here and hopefully it works well in the next races also.

Did you believe from that seventh position the win was there for you?

Kimi: I was pretty disappointed this morning after the qualifying. Obviously there was only one lap really on the dries and I took it a bit too easy and got a bit of a small mistake in one corner. It was more timing and getting it right than really the maximum speed from all the cars, so not the ideal starting place but it was still ten places better than last year, so not a disaster in that way. I knew that my car is quite good. It’s been feeling good all weekend and when we did the longer run it felt good. We only destroy the front tyres so we knew if we get the front tyres lasting it should be fine.

In a way I was pretty confident – but of course you have to get through the start and the first lap and it’s the first race so you never know what’s going to happen with the conditions and the circuit after the rain and with tyres, so there’s a lot of question marks. I felt I had a good car and it turned out to be pretty good.

RAIKKONEN INTERVIEW

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Alan Permane said to you, on the subject of tyres in parc ferme, ‘we got it absolutely right.’ Was that one of the key ingredients for you?

Kimi: Yeah, I mean our plan was to do two-stop and it’s always difficult, especially the first races, to really know when to stop, and not doing it too early and not too late. We got it, like he said, exactly right. The team worked very well and we had a good plan, and we follow the plan and it work out perfectly for us. I could save the tyres and I could go fast if I needed and I could really drive very easily.

One of the easiest races I’ve done to win the race. Hopefully we can have many more of this kind of races.

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Do you give a chance to your opponents in Malaysia in the light of the performance you experienced in Melbourne?

Kimi: It’s a difference place, it’s going to be much hotter there so it’s very difficult to say how the cars will feel, who will be fastest after having just one race. I think we have to do two or three races before we really know who is where and what’s going to happen. It’s probably going to rain again in Malaysia at some point but it will be a different circuit, different conditions. Our car worked well here at least and usually – at least last year – in hot conditions it’s been good for us so hopefully it will turn out to be a good weekend next week.

When it [win] comes easily like this, in the first race, does it mean even more to you?

Kimi: A win’s a win, it doesn’t really matter how you get it. Of course I’m happy that we didn’t really have to go full speed all the time so it’s kind of a good sign, a good race for us, but as I said, it might be a completely different story in the next race, so there’s nothing to jump up and be so extra happy about, because it’s a long season and in the end we want to be on the top for all the races and it’s going to be a hard season for that. As I said, everything worked well, we had no issues with the car all weekend, the car’s been good, the team has been working well.

After the winter test, when I probably did the least laps of everybody in the winter, we didn’t have a very special winter. As I said before, we didn’t have a very special winter the previous year and not this winter, but the car has always been good in the race so so far so good and hopefully it goes like this.

Can you compare the feeling that you have now with the one you had in 2007 when you won with Ferrari?

Kimi: For sure a win is always a win so in that way we have a good feeling, the best start that you can have in the first race of the season, but of course many things have happened since then. Still, I won here and it’s nice to be winning the first race again. But we started in seventh place and had to fight through the positions to win in the first place and I led more or less all the race. Different years but a similar feeling because obviously we won the first race and leading the points.

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Do you think Lotus has enough resources to keep up the work and maintain the title challenge?

Kimi: Yeah there was a big question mark last year in our team whether we can keep up with the bigger teams. Of course it’s not going to be easy for us. I’m sure we have the people, all the tools to make it. The money is a big part of the thing. For sure we don’t have the same budget as Ferrari or Red Bull or Mercedes but we could show last year that… we did pretty well on the money and the things we have. I have no doubt we have the people and the tools but of course if we get more money it will help and it will give us a better chance and more fair play against the bigger teams.

Like I said, we have good plans, and if we can follow it up it might be good, it might not. It’s a long season. If you do things right it will go nicely but one thing can change the whole year. You do a few things a little bit wrong it can turn around and go downhill after that.

So we just have to do our normal things, like we did last year and put the good effort into new parts and if we’re happy we keep them and if not we have to look more closely. But like I said, so far it has been good, so there is no reason why we can’t keep it up.

RAIKKONEN INTERVIEW

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NOT AN EA

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ASY RACE

F

ernando Alonso has been upbeat about the Ferrari F138 car since he drove it for the first time under a month ago, and his trust in it was vindicated as he finished second in Melbourne – again the reds showing far superior race pace than what they were capable of delivering in qualifying. The Spaniard spoke during the post race press conference about his afternoon at Albert Park, which ended on the podium.

How are you feeling right now with second place in the season opener?

Fernando Alonso: Fantastic.

Obviously it was fantastic race, with fighting all through the race. Big thanks to the fans all weekend. We felt sad when we postponed the qualifying, because they were in the grandstands with the rain, the windy conditions and at the end we didn’t run. So we had to put on a good show for everybody and I think we did it, because the race was action every lap. I personally enjoyed it. Obviously at the end it was a little bit sad not to be able to win the race, but Kimi was fantastic, the Lotus car as well. We need to congratulate them for a fantastic race.

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You made some pretty bold moves when you came out of the pits after your stops. You really had to push, with Adrian Sutil and generally you had to push hard for that…

Fernando: Yeah, it was not an easy race. At the beginning traffic with Sebastian and Felipe and then traffic with Sutil, some tricky moments. But at the end, as I said, extremely happy. We had a very difficult start to the season two years ago and last year as well and this year is very different. We feel much more optimistic. The car is responding well, we are competitive so we have a very interesting season ahead of us.

But isn’t it very worrying stops and you not?

Fernando: It is a worry, y a very good job. Kimi wa through the race and he we need to analyse what race. We have only four d prepare for the next race a a tough opponent.

You had to stop one mor chance that the Ferrari co Fernando: I think it’s diffic

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g that they could do two two stops. You need to commit, more or less, to one strategy before the start of the race because you yes. Obviously Lotus did race differently. Obviously we were attacking, we as driving fantastically all tried to pass Sebastian in the first part of the race, e managed two stops, so Felipe and me. We could not do it in the stint. In t we can do for the next the second stint we were again also behind Sutil at days to work on the car to that stage of the race. I think we felt all these things and I think he will again be against… maybe you can go a little bit longer in the stints but we have to stop, try to overtake these people that we felt they were slower than us in the re time, was there ever a race and if you commit to that, obviously there is ould run longer? not a way to find a two-stop so, I don’t know, the cult to know if we could do race without traffic… could be.

Your team-mate Felipe Massa got the better start, how surprised were you to see him get off the line so quickly and how much of an effect did that have on the early part of your race?

Fernando: No, well, I had a much better start than Felipe and a much better start than Hamilton especially but they close each other in the middle and I have to lift off. If not, with a longer straight I think I could arrive second easily in the first corner but it was a little bit problem there and then Nico also was very aggressive on the first corner, so it was not easy start and obviously in the first race no-one wants to take an extra risk. But yeah, that was not a help in the first part of the race and then some traffic all through the race. First with Sebastian and Felipe and then with Sutil, Hamilton, Rosberg, Sutil again and two people, I think one Caterham and one Williams that, obviously it is a first race for them but it seems they were not very concentrated.

What’s been the biggest surprise for you in Melbourne, Red Bull, Ferrari or Lotus?

Fernando: I think none of them, to be honest. At Ferrari, we had a good winter and the car is more or less as we expected. Arriving here and fighting for the podium was the aim of the team and the goal of this winter, to reduce the gap and to arrive at the start of the season with a competitive package.

The goal was achieved. In the winter the car felt good and the understanding of the car was good so being on the podium here is some kind of job done, let’s say. Lotus, we saw in winter they were very quick and we saw this weekend they were very quick and very consistent, so they had a fantastic weekend, they deserved victory, and then Red Bull is the quickest car at the moment, first and second in qualifying, first and second in practice, nearly, and then in the race they saw a little bit of degradation but that doesn’t mean that they are not the fastest.

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What did you learn about the car in the race that you didn’t know after testing?

Fernando: You always learn some things for sure but I will talk with the engineers now in the debrief about the competition. When you run close to other cars in the first race, you always discover some weak points of the car and some strong points and was a lot of fights, a lot of traffic, a lot of action, let’s say, in the race and it was pretty clear for us some of the strong points of the car and some of the weak points that obviously we will keep between us.

Red Bull dominated pract race, Lotus and the Ferrar Fernando: I don’t have an It’s not new. We saw in the Bull are untouchable in q everything is much close sometimes winning the In Bahrain, Lotus finishe qualifying they were not a We need to find some extr they will always start on t

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tice and qualifying in the ri were faster. Why? explanation to be honest. e last three years that Red qualifying and in the race er. And we saw McLaren race and sometimes us. ed on the podium and in as quick as the Red Bulls. ra pace in qualifying, if not, the front row.

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The same three guys were on the podium in Abu Dhabi in the same order. From your point of view were there any similarities to that race?

Fernando: I don’t remember too well but I don’t think so. It was a very different race. I think we were closer to victory in Abu Dhabi or closer than what we were here. We didn’t have the pace to fight with Kimi. He was too fast for us and he did a fantastic job. I think in Abu Dhabi it was different with the safety car. We had the opportunity there to fight for victory then, but they were too fast.

What was the decision process with your second stop. It was the turning point of your race and Felipe is not so happy. His was two or three laps later...

Fernando: There is always the flexibility to anticipate the stop, delay the stop. There are some kind of laps that you programme before the race to do the stops as you predict more or less with the simulations etc.

But there is always a margin of three or four laps

shorter or longer dependi How the race goes is the t are facing through that pa you are facing through t felt we were a lot faster t stopped in lap 20 or 21. W for 18 or 19 laps so it was was too early then mayb

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ing on how the race goes. tyre degradation that you articular race or the traffic that race. In my case we than the cars in front. We We felt we had more pace s the right time to start. It be that compromised the

ALONSO INTERVIEW

PHOTO STUDIO COLOMBO

full potential of the three stops. For that we could not maybe fight with Kimi because it was too early also for three stops, I think lap 21. It was enough to jump three place though, Sebastian, Felipe and Sutil. So it was a very good decision at the time but what we didn’t know at the time was the pace of the Lotus. So they did a better job than us and maybe we did a better job than the others in the front.

WE WANT

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TED MORE

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ebastian Vettel showed scary pace during the sessions leading up to race day, and he converted that into top spot on the grid in the rain delayed qualifying on Sunday – but there are no points for pole position. A few hours later, when it mattered, the Red Bull RB9 was no match for Lotus and Ferrari and thus the world champion had to settle for third. Vettel spoke at the post race press conference about in Melbourne.

Only third but the crowd are very appreciative of what you did. But what happened to the Red Bull pace we were expecting?

Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think first of all we can be happy with. Obviously we wanted more. Clearly when you start from pole you want to win. I think we could see after a very good start, and a good first two or three laps, that the tyres were falling apart and we couldn’t go as long as other people. So congratulations to Lotus and especially to Kimi, I think they did the best job. A little bit of a surprise when I saw on the pitwall that I was lacking one position to count because I knew Fernando passed us at the stop but I didn’t know where the other car was coming from but I think they had incredible pace. Same goes for Ferrari. I think we were third-quickest and very happy to get third place.

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Are you seriously worried about the pace of Lotus and Ferrari?

Sebastian: No, I’m not worried. I have to admit sometimes that other people are faster. I think we can be very happy. We had a great qualifying session this morning and this afternoon unfortunately didn’t quite work the way we would have liked but it’s a long season, a long way ahead of us, so good points to start.

Surely we wanted a little bit more but there’s no reason to be disappointed.

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You didn’t win the first race of 2010 or 2012 but you went on to win those championships, so it’s not the end of the world?

Sebastian: Yeah, I think there are always statistics that can work for you or work against you but at this stage… it was very good fun, tricky to manage the tyres, but I’m very happy to be on the podium here, it’s always a nice grand prix so looking forward to next week.

Adrian Sutil’s name has been mentioned a couple of times. How big a thorn in your side was the sight of that Force India out in front?

Sebastian: Well I think in the end you have enough laps in the race to even things out. Surely it didn’t help at that stage but, y’know, it’s pretty simple: if we had the pace we should have passed him. We didn’t. I was quite a bit quicker when I arrived at the back of him but then couldn’t pass him. I think running in traffic it has quite a negative effect on tyres. The same for the people behind me so I wasn’t that afraid there was a lot of pressure from behind because I knew that they will be in the same problem that I was with the car in front and, yeah, at some stage even he pulled a little bit away. So, as I said, I don’t think, considering all the laps in the race, it made a massively difference.

We jumped him after the stop. Yeah, it was quite a good overtaking into turn three, I think. And it was important, I think, to get past. Obviously Fernando, I think, stopped a lap earlier and was on the fresh tyres so he could use the momentum to get past the group, which worked well for him. After that though, we could see that he was a little bit too quick for us and in the last two stints he was pulling away. I have to admit I was quite surprised when I was still missing one position in my calculations because all the cars that I saw made sense but I never saw Kimi in the race but he ended up way ahead of us and then I saw him on TV, and then saw that Fernando was then second and Kimi was leading. Overall, as I said before, very happy with third place. I think surely when you start from pole, you want to win but I think we can be happy with the pace all weekend. The car left a very good impression. The whole team seemed to operate very calmly and considering it was the first race of the season we seemed to just continue where we stopped last year. So yeah, I think it was a good day for us.

Obviously there’s a bit of homework to do, regarding the tyres. I think two-stop was out of our range, so we’ll see where we are next week.

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But did it surprise you that starting from pole the pace wasn’t there to go on and win the race?

Sebastian: Well I think the pace was there. Qualifying was pretty good for us. I think we had quite a good run, and then also the first two laps of the race were pretty good and also the first two laps on each set of tyres felt pretty good – but yeah, after that we couldn’t keep it up and surely the times set in the front, from Fernando but Kimi especially, were impressive considering the amount of laps on the tyres. So, we couldn’t do that and that’s why, I think we lost out a little bit. But, as I said, it’s a very tough, very long grand prix and very nice to be on

the podium. We have quit I’m happy that we had ano

Did you have any indication or even Friday here, that yo problem with your tyres du Sebastian: Well, I think in w had trouble to make the be very inconsistent in Ba on the day you were run conditions. I think we e conditions but it’s a com think the amount of laps

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te a good record here so out of sight, they were out of thought I think in other podium finish.

Barcelona for everyone. I think there has been a certain trend; if you look at Lotus last year, looking n during the winter tests, after the tyres, if you remember, a couple of key ou could face this kind of races such as Montreal, where they seemed to be uring the race? the only team to make a one stop possible, whereas winter testing everybody I think Fernando and myself struggled and had to tyres last. It seemed to pit again. It was quite a messy race at the end but arcelona, very dependent I think you always learn along the way. We had a nning, depending on the plan before the race which I think was different ended up with similar to Kimi’s and probably very similar to Fernando’s mpletely different track. I or Ferrari’s. Adding up with our tyre wear, I think s covered were not even that’s where we finished.

On the first lap you were able to establish quite a margin at the start; do you think that strategies like Adrian Sutil’s will actually affect your own strategies mid-race or do you really have to concentrate on your own, what you’ve already planned out before the race?

Sebastian: Well, you mentioned two things. On the first stint I was very happy initially to get a good start, defend the lead, then I think I was able to pull away but after two laps, I felt that I could be in trouble. The tyres started to go away from me and as we could see, Ferrari, Felipe and Fernando were catching up and then in the stint after that, we were running into the back of Adrian, but as I said before, surely it didn’t help, especially losing the position to Fernando, but then I think you should look at the whole race. They left a strong impression but I think it should have been very difficult to keep him behind all the race. For sure, in that moment, it was that one particular lap where he decided to pit a lap earlier and jumped the group. So you can argue that for sure, at that time, the traffic didn’t help, especially because as I mentioned earlier, in traffic, you start to slide around even more and then lose more of the tyres, so we struggled with that but again, I’m not blaming anything or anyone because there’s plenty of laps in the race where you can make it up again. P3 I think was the best we could get.

A question about tyres. The weather forecast for Malaysia next weekend but it’s rain Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Given the tyre wear of your car in the dry this weekend. Are you thinking of a conservative game plan for this weekend or is it business as usual?

Sebastian: Let me answer with a question back. Have you ever been to Malaysia? It rains every day! It doesn’t really make sense to look at the forecast. It’s one of those places where there’s always rain at some point in the day. Yeah, I think it’s a completely different place. I think last year we cannot take as a reference because we had different issues with the car. I think starting with the season this year the car seems much more balance and I’m much happier, in a much happier place. So, looking forward to next week. It will a lot hotter, naturally there is a risk of rain, thunderstorms. We’ve got rain tyres and intermediates, so we should be fine but in terms of approach there’s not too much difference. I don’t think you can take this race as a reference because the circuit is too different and as I said, the conditions will be different plus the tyres we use are different again.

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Over the last few years your car has been known for its downforce, it’s been a really good advantage for you. Do you think that might actually be an Achilles heel this year, that you’re wearing out your tyres more quickly than the competition?

Sebastian: Well, it depends, I think. At the end of the day, surely there were times when we had plenty of downforce compared to other people, but I think these times are over, not just this year but way before that. I think we sometimes have the ability to compare a little bit to other people and the magic

days when we were cove high speed corners, I don’t any more. I think we are I think there’s a lot more downforce level. You cou downforce you go faster, tyres, all of those things, b certain trend where some well in some conditions. A struggling with front tyres evened out. We had both

us. I’m not sure about the Ferraris but looking at their tyres during running, it looked pretty similar to us, so especially at the end of the stints. Then again, every day can be a bit different. I think you need to be very careful to find a real trend but I think there have been a lot of races where we have been looking after the tyres pretty well and they will come again.

For sure, we were a little bit behind but next week is another race and completely different conditions, as Kimi said, so we will see what happens there.

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ering a lot more speed in t think they are happening still very competitive but e to it than just the raw uld argue that with more you’re asking more of the but I think overall there’s a e cars seem to work pretty As Kimi touched on, he was s; I think for us it was more axles running away from

VETTEL INTERVIEW

BETTER EXP

Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes looked more masterstroke than mis-step on Sunday as the Briton battled to fifth place in his first race with his new squad while his former team McLaren struggled to score.

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aving abandoned the team that nurtured him for six seasons and secured him a world championship in 2008, Hamilton’s switch to an outfit that had underwhelmed in its three seasons since buying Brawn GP in 2009 had appeared fraught with danger. He was smiling on Sunday after the positive signs from testing translated into a solid weekend in Melbourne.

The 28-year-old had landed third place on the

grid behind the two Red sessions postponed from up only on the morning of away by Lotus’s winner Kim by the Ferraris and Red Hamilton saw enough in t to feel confident of challen “Really happy. I think i probably ever expected

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Bull cars after qualifying m Saturday were wrapped f the race. Although blown mi Raikkonen and shaded d Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, the Mercedes F1 W04 car nging the front-runners. it’s way better than we on the first race of the

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season,” Hamilton told television reporters. “It was great and the car was feeling really good so I don’t really know how the other guys were pulling away so quickly. But we will keep pushing and hopefully we’ll get there.”

Hamilton’s fastest lap of 1:29.274 was still nearly half a second slower than Raikkonen’s and another four drivers, including Toro Rosso’s 12th placed Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, had quicker times.

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“I’ve got to go really look at the data and try and figure out with the guys where we were losing time, but the car was feeling good,” Hamilton said.

His team mate Nico Rosberg had a darker day, coming to halt on lap 26 with an electronics failure, which followed a gearbox problem during Friday practice.

Mercedes’ troubles paled next to those of McLaren, however, who were badly off the pace and saved from further blushes by the craft of ninth-placed Jenson Button.

There was no delight in McLaren’s woes for Hamilton, although the Briton did permit himself a gentle pat on the back for joining Mercedes.

“I think our position and how the car’s behaving and how I feel in the team just confirms to me that I feel like I made a good choice,” Hamilton said after qualifying. “I never looked back once I made the choice and I didn’t have any regrets about it.”

McLaren were sure to hit back, he added, diplomatically, “I don’t know what difficulties they’re having but they had a fantastic car last year, so I have no doubts they’ll pick it up. Sometimes in the team when I was there we had rough starts but the team are very strong at putting it back together.”

TEAM IN

McLaren are not ruling out bringing back their 2012 car after a mise to the season at Albert Park where Jenson Button had to use all his to scrap for a couple of points.

erable start experience

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N CRISIS

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utton, a winner at Albert Park in three of the last four years, ended up ninth on Sunday while his new Mexican team mate Sergio Perez was unable to get into the final shootout in qualifying and crossed the line in 11th.

It was quite a comedown for the 12-times drivers’ and eight-times constructors’ champions and a marked decline from the end of last season when they won the last two races.

Button, the 2009 F1 world champion, said winning two points given the state of the car was about as good as it was going to get until there was a major improvement.

“We definitely were not going to get any more points than that so yeah … we weren’t quick but I think we made the right calls considering what condition we had the tyres in after qualifying,” he said. “I think as a team we did a great job this weekend but we are not quick enough and there’s a lot of work we need to do to move forward and challenge the front guys. We are a long way off.”

McLaren gambled on making significant changes to their car’s chassis for this year rather than bring out an evolution of their 2012 challenger, as other teams did in the final year of the V8 engines.

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The gamble had clearly not paid off in Australia and team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who admitted the team did not yet understand how to get the best out of the car, was asked whether they might consider a return to last year’s machine.

“We’ll see,” he told reporters. “We are not too proud to say when we’ve got things wrong. We do occasionally and that’s just a fact. But I think

for the time being we’ve understanding and make we can to go forward with can. We think we can wo don’t, we’ll look at anythin There is precedent for su who abandoned the car 2003 season even before

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got to try and get some e sure we do the best job h this car as quickly as we ork this one out. But if we ng.” uch a rethink at McLaren, in development for the e it had a chance to race.

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Any switch could not come immediately, with the team racing in Malaysia next weekend, and Button was pinning his hopes on the Sepang track lending a hand.

“We struggled here with the ride,” the 33-year-old said. “Everyone’s noticed. It’s no secret. Hopefully in Malaysia it is a smoother circuit and we’ll get rid of those issues and find a bit more performance.”

The disappointing race results capped a tough week for the team, who confirmed on Thursday that their long-running and lucrative sponsorship deal with Vodafone would be ending this year.

To compound their misery on Sunday, four of the top five in the race, including winner Kimi Raikkonen

and second-placed Ferna McLaren drivers.

Newly-departed Lewis fifth, has spent much of h how happy he has been feeling suffocated in his y

MCLAREN CRISIS

“It’s been a weekend where we’ve had to force a smile a few times,” said Whitmarsh. “It’s been Hamilton, who finished tough. Tough to start a year like this. You take his time this week saying some decisions during the winter and sometimes it n to join Mercedes after doesn’t come off. It’s not pleasant being here if you years at McLaren. are used to being a frontrunner.”

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ando Alonso, were former

MAN OF TH Force India’s Adrian Sutil showed he had lost little of his race craft after a year out of Formula 1 by finishing seventh in Australia and engaging in an enthralling battle with former close friend Lewis Hamilton.

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util was dropped by Force India at the end of 2011 in the wake of a night-club brawl in Shanghai that led to an 18-month suspended jail sentence and $261,300 fine for the German for grievous bodily harm.

Eric Lux, the then chief executive of Renault F1 (now Lotus) team owners Genii Capital, needed stitches for a neck wound caused by a champagne glass in that fracas.

The incident also caused a fall-out between Sutil and Hamilton, who had won the Chinese Grand Prix

for McLaren and was cele Sutil branded Hamilton media for declining to ap trial and the pair have yet The background added s Albert Park, where Sutil em the latter part of the race w slipped back as they ch tyres. “Leading a Grand Prix, i who took over Nico Hulke

WELCOME BACK ADRIAN

left for Sauber, told television reporters. “First race (and just) three weeks (since) when I know I’m back in Formula One, I just had three test days in Barcelona and it couldn’t be a better start really. It showed that everything is possible and you have to believe in it.”

Although driving a Mercedes-powered car which was slower at that point in the race, Sutil fended off Hamilton’s works Mercedes as the Briton made it’s a great feeling,” Sutil, a number of passing attempts before returning to enberg after the German the pit to change his tyres on lap 43.

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ebrating at the night-club. n a “coward” in German ppear as a witness in his t to mend fences. spice to their skirmish at merged a surprise leader in when higher-profile rivals hanged rapidly degrading

Sutil’s minor triumph was quickly extinguished, however, as Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen overtook him moments later and stormed to victory on only two changes of tyres. Sutil changed to a third set of tyres a few laps later but his bold challenge ended when his fastdegrading super soft tyres slowed his car in the final laps.

His British team mate Paul di Resta also had a solid start to the season with an eighth-placed finish.

“I feel a bit robbed of a seventh place given the way our strategy panned out and where I was in the final stages,” Di Resta said. “But seventh and eighth for the team is quite good.”

Force India, still chasing a maiden win, slipped back to seventh in last year’s constructors championship after managing sixth in 2011, and hope to be the ‘best of the rest’ outside the five leading teams.

Bob Fernley, deputy team principal, poured cold water on any top-five ambitions for the Silverstonebased team, co-owned by drinks tycoon Vijay Mallya.

“No, I don’t think so,” Fernley said.

“McLaren are struggling a little bit at the moment but they will come back strong. What we’ve got to do is take advantage of the opportunity while they are struggling and hopefully it will give us a cushion for maybe the sixth place which is what we have got to get back again.”

WELCOME BACK ADRIAN

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DNS

Nico Hulkenberg’s run of bad luck at the Australian Grand Prix co when he was unable to even make it onto the grid for the start Sauber developed a fuel system problem.

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ulkenberg, who had qualified 11th, was making his final preparations for his debut for his new team in his 40th race when the fault was identified and it was deemed too dangerous for him to start.

The 25-year-old’s problems at Albert Park began on his first race lap on the Melbourne street circuit in 2010 when Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi crashed into a barrier and careered into Hulkenberg’s Williams, ending his race.

Two years later, Hulkenberg was back with Force India but, having qualified an impressive ninth, damaged his car in a first corner incident and failed to make it to the end of the opening lap. ”I’m bitterly disappointed about what happened,” he said. “(But) things like this happen in racing.”

“Obviously, Melbourne is not a good place for me. It was my third grand prix here and the third time that I leave this place empty handed. The only good thing is that the next race takes place next weekend.”

It was a disappointing weekend for the entire Sauber team, celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, who had been encouraged by their pace in the first two free practice sessions on Thursday but ended up without any points.

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Mexican Esteban Gutierrez failed to get through the chaotic first round of qualifying on Saturday and started the race in 18th position before battling his way up to 13th – first among the five rookies in the field.

“My main goal was to finish the race, and to achieve that is really enjoyable,” said the 21-year-old.

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn sounded as anxious to get away from Melbourne and on to the second race in Sepang as Hulkenberg.

“This was not the way we expected the new Formula One season to start,” she said. “The problem with the fuel system was unlucky, particularly at this point in the race weekend. We are very sorry for Nico. Esteban drove a solid first race. However, starting from P18 was too much of a handicap for him. I’m confident we will solve the problems we had and that we will be in better shape in Malaysia.”

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QUALIFYING

VETTEL TOPS SU

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the Formula 1 season opener, heading an all-Red Bull front row after posting the fastest time in the rain-delayed qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

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UNDAY SESSION

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ettel, chasing a fourth successive world title this year, swept across the line in a best time of 1 minute 27.407 seconds to clinch his 37th pole as the flag dropped on the session, which was postponed from Saturday because of torrential rain.

“Definitely not easy in these conditions,” Vettel said. “I had two good runs and on the drys I got into the groove. I am happy… but in a couple of hours the race is coming up, so it’s head down again to get on with that.”

Australian Mark Webber, still looking for his first home victory at the 12th attempt, also put in a blistering final lap on dry weather tyres to finish second fastest in 1.27.827.

“It’s going to be just another grand prix when the helmet’s on,” he said. “I’ve got to focus very hard on getting the most out of the strategy.

A podium would still be good but the middle step would be sensational.”

Lewis Hamilton (1.28.087) confirmed the pace of his car in his first qualifying session for new team Mercedes and was third fastest to take a place on the second row of the grid with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

“What an incredible job the team has done to come from last year where they were struggling a lot,” 2008 world champion Hamilton said. “I said it was a blessing that they had moved (qualifying) to, and it really was.”

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“It’s going to be massively challenging with the tyres, I’ve already had graining,” he added. “So that means I’m going to struggle to go as long as them in the first stint.”

Brazilian Massa (1.28.493) needed a quick late lap just to get through to the final 10-car shootout but made the most of it to edge his twice world champion team mate Fernando Alonso by just three thousandths of a second.

“Looking at the conditions and on the track, rainy

and stopping, I think it w with Alonso missed out qualifying in Australia last interview. “It would have pass in Q2 (second qual everything for the podium start of the season.”

Spaniard Alonso was fift of Nico Rosberg, who to frequent occasions during

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was positive,� Massa, who on the final session of t year, said in a television e been very easy to not lifying session). I will try m, to do a good race, a good

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not quite get a good flying lap together once most teams had switched to dry weather tyres.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who had also flirted with an early exit, will start from the fourth row alongside his Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean.

Paul Di Resta steered his Force India to the ninth quickest time to barge fellow Briton Jenson Button, th ahead of the Mercedes the winner of three of the last four races at Albert opped the timesheets on Park, into the bottom spot in the final session, g the sessions but could nearly three seconds off the pace.

The second and third sections of qualifying were postponed from Saturday because of torrential rain.

The rain was much lighter on Sunday morning but parts of the track were still wet, causing a few handling problems for the drivers as they started the day on intermediate tyres.

McLaren’s gamble on going for a soft tyre suitable for dry conditions backfired when their new Mexican driver Sergio Perez was one of the six drivers to drop out after the first section.

“With hindsight, I think we should have switched back to the intermediate tyre but we didn’t,” McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh lamented. “So that was a shame, didn’t come off for us. That took us out of Q3 with Sergio.”

The team also gambled early on dry weather tyres for Button in the final section of qualifying but the 2009 world champion was simply outpaced by his rivals as the session came to a close.

“When it’s dry we don’t have the pace,” said Button, who must keep the same tyres on the start of his car for the race.

I’m surprised at how big the gap was because actually it felt like a pretty good lap. I didn’t think the tyres would be so grained, the rears are destroyed so it’s going to an interesting start let alone the first few laps.”

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RAIN STOPS PL

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LAY FOR A DAY

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orrential rain marred the first qualifying session of the 2013 world championship season in Melbourne, forcing race director Charlie Whiting to postpone the crucial session to 11am (local time) on Sunday, grand prix race day morning – a first for Formula 1.

From the outset action was delayed for half an hour, before the cars were unleashed on to a very wet Albert Park circuit for Q1. Although everyone started the session on full wets, for a brief window of about 10 minutes the track got quicker and the top times were set with cars on intermediates before the session was brought to an end – and with it proceedings on the day.

Conditions were such that many drivers were caught out in what turned out to be a dramatic 20 minutes for all concerned. The likes of Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber, Paul di Resta, Pastor Maldonado had big moments, while rookies Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) and Caterham pair Charles Pic and Guido van der Garde damaging their cars during metal bending incidents.

Hardly a lap into the session and Van der Garde’s Caterham limped back to the pits without a front wing.

A few minutes later and Hamilton got it wrong exiting Turn 2, tagged the tyre wall before almost beaching his Mercedes in the mud. Quick thinking and reverse gear saved the 2008 world champion some serious blushes.

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Ten minutes into the session Felipe Massa had a big moment in Turn 11, the Ferrari slapping the wall twice, somehow he manged to keep it in the right direction, but he too limped back to the pits in what is obviously the is a pretty tough piece of kit.

Webber, Di Resta and Maldonado were also caught out in Turn 11 but escaped without damage as they skimmed over the manicured grass verge.

By now the track was good for intermediates, with J enson Button making the call first and immediately going top of the timing screens.

The rest followed suit and amid a flurry of on track action it was Nico Rosberg who ended up fastest of all.

But as Q1 came to an end, first Charles Pic emerged without a front wing and then Gutierrez in the Sauber, became yet another victim of Turn 11, clouted the wall heftily before bouncing back into the middle of the track, where he stopped facing the wrong direction. Game over.

Thereafter delay upon delay, with rain pelting down persistently, race control decided to postpone Q2 and Q3 until Sunday morning at 11:00 am local time.

Final word to Whiting who said race control made the decision to postpone to “put everyone out of their misery.�

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ROOKIES IN TH Rookie drivers were literally thrown into the deep end on the second day of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, with five making their Formula 1 race debuts, during a incident packed Saturday afternoon qualifying session cut short by torrential rains.

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HE DEEP END

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our of the five rookies were banished during the first round of qualifying that saw drivers skidding and spinning around a water-logged Albert Park circuit scattered with debris from a number of crashes.

Only Williams’s Valtteri Bottas of Finland scraped into the top 16 drivers who will finish the second and third rounds of qualifying early on Sunday and scramble to make adjustments before the race.

Drivers were confined to their cockpits for a nervous 30-minute wait before the delayed first session as rain bucketed down and staff frantically tried to sweep the track clear of puddles.

“When you are sat in the car for half an hour and the pit lane looks like a river, it is slightly unnerving,” Marussia’s British driver Max Chilton, who will start 20th out of 21 on the grid, told television reporters. “But when I was out there, the car was a real joy to drive.”

Chilton will start one place behind team mate and fellow debutant Jules Bianchi of France, who nearly span out of the race on his first lap.

Esteban Gutierrez, promoted from reserve driver at Sauber, had the worst of it, smashing into a barrier at turn 12 after losing control and having his car winched off the track.

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“It’s not an ideal situation, I feel very sorry for the team but I still have a race that I need to focus on, keep my emotions very stable,” said the Mexican, who will start 18th on the grid. Unfortunately it was a mistake which I need to avoid in the future.”

Caterham’s Giedo Van der Garde will see a second day of action in his F1 debut from last place on the grid, but his more experienced team mate Charles Pic skidded out of contention, having failed to meet the qualifying benchmark by one-hundredth of a second.

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FREE PRACTICE 1

VETTEL SETS TH

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel set the early pace durin the first official session of the 2013 Formula 1 world championsh season, as he topped the timing screens after the end of the first fre practice session in Melbourne.

ng hip ee

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HE EARLY PACE

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ettel confirmed the worst kept secret – that the RB9 is a handy piece of kit – as he powered around the temporary street circuit in a time of 1:27.211.

Showing impressive pace early on were both Ferrari drivers with Felipe Massa ending the 90 minutes session second quickest but only 0.078 off the top time, with Fernando Alonso third quickest albeit 0.336 down on Vettel’s best.

Fourth quickest was Lewis Hamilton in his first ever FP1 session with Mercedes, ahead of local hero Mark Webber in the Red Bull who was fifth.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth on the timing screens, in the Lotus E21, when the chequered flag dropped.

Nico Rosberg was seventh in the other Mercedes, ahead of Adrian Sutil who was making his comeback with Force India after a year on the sidelines.

Rewind to same time, same place last year and McLaren’s Jenson Button topped FP1 in Melbourne. This time around the 2009 world champion was ninth on the timing sheets, 1.229 seconds down on pacet.

The team’s Mexican new boy Sergio Perez was 11th.

Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten in the Lotus.

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Valtteri Bottas was fastest of the five rookies, as he probably will be all season long as the Williams is vastly superior to the Marussia and Caterham where the other rookies are toiling away four to five seconds off the pace.

At the backend of proceedings Jules Bianchi impressed by ending his first ever FP1 session one second faster than teammate Max Chilton.

Reflecting on the session it is quite clear that the Red Bull has good pace, but at the same time Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus appear very close, but McLaren could well be in trouble as was suspected after testing in Spain – but it was still early days...

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IT ALL WENT OKAY

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otus’s assured performance in Friday practice at was not quite enough to raise a smile from Kimi Raikkonen, but the former world champion was happy to be within reach of the pace-setters.

Raikkonen, third in the championship last year, and his French team mate Romain Grosjean grabbed the fourth and fifth best times behind Red Bull’s sheet-topping Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg third.

“It all went okay, no problems. The car seems to be behaving very well so far, it’s okay,” the quietly spoken 33-year-old Finn told reporters in the paddock at Albert Park.

“We had more or less one issue in the (winter) testing and when it happened it took half a day almost from that and it’s been fixed I think we are pretty confident that it will not happen any more. Apart from that the car has been running pretty well over the winter. So I don’t really expect to have any problems but you never know.”

After a beautiful autumn day bathed the Albert Park street circuit in sunshine, the weather is forecast to be wet on Saturday, which could turn qualifying into a lottery. The Finn had performed no wet weather testing in Spain during the off-season, Raikkonen said with a shrug, but added he felt his dramas of a year ago were unlikely to be repeated.

His comeback to Formula One at Albert Park last year, two years after walking away from Ferrari, was nearly scuppered when he lost control on his final flying lap and failed to get through the first phase of qualifying. The Finn, a winner at Albert Park in his championship year with Ferrari in 2007, regained some pride by finishing seventh after starting on the grid in 17th.

“I think the car should be better (than last year),” he said, wearing wrap-around sunglasses with a mirror reflection. We had some issues in the wet last year, but hopefully those are behind us. For sure we can improve ourselves also quite a bit. It is what it is and the race is a different story and it’s only the first Friday, so we’ll see.”

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HUGE CHA

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ALLENGE

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ico Rosberg drew first blood in his personal battle with his new Mercedes team mate and old friend Lewis Hamilton on Friday, a tussle he hopes will spur him on to become an even better driver this year and admits is a huge challenge.

The first day of the Australian Grand Prix was marred for the team when technical problems resulted in a premature end to the second practice session for both drivers but third place on the timesheets for Rosberg offered much promise for the season.

“That was an interesting day for us,” Rosberg said. “There are a lot of new things to learn with the car and we made some good progress over the day. We can certainly be happy with our testing programme when you compare where we came from last year.”

The great young hope of German racing until he was eclipsed by three-times world champion Sebastian Vettel, Rosberg finally got his breakthrough race win in Shanghai last year – his seventh season in Formula One. Having outperformed his country’s greatest driver, Michael Schumacher, in the Mercedes team over the last three years, the 27-year-old now faces perhaps may be an even tougher challenge in the form of 2008 F1 world champion Hamilton.

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The two know each other well from their days as team mates in karting back in the early 2000s and Rosberg visibly bristled earlier this week when asked if the Briton would be playing a mentoring role at Mercedes.

“Mentor, definitely not,” he told reporters. “Of course we get on well and he’s one of the best out there, and for sure, there’s always something my team mate does better than me.”

“I’m trying to understand that and become a better driver myself. I did that with Michael also, it was a very interesting experience to race with him. I know a lot about his strengths from karting so not many things are new. It’s completely different from Michael, it’s good.”

On Friday, Rosberg was just behind the Red Bulls of Vettel and Mark Webber on the timesheets when his session was ended by a faulty gearbox, while Hamilton lapped seventh quickest but ended his day in the trackside gravel after a bodywork problem.

“It’s always important to beat your team mate,” Rosberg said. “There’s always two factors out there, outright result and beating your team mate.

My team mate is one of the best, it’s a huge challenge and that’s what I’m here for, that kind of challenge.”

Rosberg’s experience at Albert Park last year has made him a lot more cautious about reading and taking too much encouragement from prerace pace.

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INHOUSE BATTLE

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Strong both in testing and then the practice sessions, Mercedes finished the opening weekend of the 2012 season without a single point after Schumacher retired and Rosberg finished 12th.

“Testing quick laps? That’s completely irrelevant because last year we were also quickest in testing but were nowhere in the first race,” he said. “But I’m confident that we’re in a better position and growing as a team, going in the right direction.”

Rosberg said the two factors that had hurt Mercedes last year were rear tyre degradation and the pace of development during the season.

“I know we have resolved them,” he said. “At the moment, the development rate is really good but we’ll see if we can maintain that. Because it’s from now on that it really counts. At the moment, we are closest to the fastest, so hopefully we can close that gap up.”

FREE PRACTICE 2

RED BULL OWN D The early signs were most ominous for the pretenders to the Formula 1 throne as world champions Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel effortlessly dominated day one of 2013 world championship season in Melbourne.

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DAY ONE

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ettel topped the timing screens at the end of both sessions at Albert Park, and with local hero Mark Webber second fastest in FP2 it is quite clear that the champions have hit the ground running in the defence of their title.

Vettel’s best lap time of 1:25.908 compares to Jenson Button’s best time last year of 1:27.560 at the end of day one in Melbourne – the class of 2013 have found 1.5 seconds during the course of twelve months.

Behind the purplish cars the battle for the best of the rest, on the day, was between Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari.

For Mercedes, it was a torrid final dozen minutes as first Lewis Hamilton went straight in Turn 6 and ended up with the front of the W03 nudging the tyre wall, his session ending there and then. At the time he was attacking and looking good for a top time.

Minutes later Rosberg parked his car with what appeared to be a gearbox problem, nevertheless the German was third quickest when the chequered flag dropped. Hamilton was seventh.

The Lotus pair showed strongly with Kimi Raikkonen a tad faster than Romain Grosjean as they ended the day fourth and fifth respectively.

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Ferrari are looking a lot stronger this time around than they did 12 months ago. Fernando Alonso ending sixth fastest and Felipe Massa eighth – the pair split on the timing screens by Hamilton.

Adrian Sutil had a faultless return to Force India, after a year on the sidelines, ending the session ninth best and again getting the better of teammate Paul di Resta who was 12th.

Rounding out the top ten was Nico Hulkenberg in

the Sauber. Rookie team was 15th, good enough to McLaren were alarming Jenson Button, who comp during a chat to his crew and the team’s new driver the two have yet to find th Williams were also rela package is expected to be

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mmate Esteban Gutierrez o be fastest of the rookies. gly down the order with plained about lack of grip w over the radio, was 11th r Sergio Perez 13th. Clearly he MP4-28’s sweet spot. atively subdued as their e the best of the midfield

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pack, this was not in evidence on day one around the street circuit. Pastor Maldonado was 16th and Valtteri Bottas 18th.

At the rear end of proceedings Jules Bianchi again was a second faster than his fellow rookie and Marussia teammate Max Chilton.

Giedo van der Garde was an early casualty, when he beached his Catreham in Turn 3 with a mere 11 laps on his chart. He ended the day slowest of all.

A GOOD

Lewis Hamilton’s first day of driver will be remembered lonely walk back to the pad champion insisted he was “m things transpired.

f free practice as a Mercedes d for a minor crash and a ddock ,but the former world “massively happy” with how

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D DAY

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amilton clocked the seventh fastest time of the day in the second session before driving over the gravel and into a wall at turn six of Albert Park, a mishap blamed on a bodywork problem that caused him to understeer.

Hamilton’s team mate Nico Rosberg upstaged the Briton by finishing third fastest behind Red Bull’s

pace-setting Sebastian V but the German’s car groun problem near the end of t “A really good day, a surp positive,” Hamilton gush paddock. “Obviously there but they weren’t hard to f

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Vettel and Mark Webber, nd to a halt with a gearbox the day’s action. prisingly good day. Really hed to reporters in the e’s been a couple of issues fix. I think it’s too early to

HAMILTON’S GOOD DAY

say we’re ‘best of the rest’ but I think we’re definitely up there, which I’m massively happy about, really.”

Having left McLaren after six seasons which included winning the 2008 drivers’ championship, Hamilton’s minor crash on Friday may have revived unpleasant memories of his opening day of winter testing with Mercedes.

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Hamilton ploughed into a wall at high speed when his rear brakes failed early into his first session but escaped unscathed.

With his move to a team that has underperformed in its three seasons under heavy scrutiny, Hamilton has been unfailingly diplomatic throughout the teething problems and was not about to let the good cheer slip.

“I wasn’t expecting to be as competitive as we are… It’s not been the smoothest of Fridays but it is only a Friday,” he said.

Noting the competition, however, Hamilton could only shake his head at Red Bull’s impressive practice times, that came despite the British-based team’s underwhelming performances at winter testing.

“They’ve have obviously been sand-bagging it the whole time in winter as expected and all of a sudden they’ve pulled out (that) time,” he said.

“But I have to say I don’t feel we’re miles away. We’ve come from being really far away, to being not too far away from Red Bull and that’s impressive.”

FREE PRACTICE 3

GROSJEAN TOPS A Lotus driver Romain Grosjean topped the times in the third free practice in Melbourne on Saturday morning after a rain storm descended on the circuit 20 minutes into the session.

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AS RAIN ARRIVES

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rosjean’s best lap of one minute 26.929 enabled him to leapfrog the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso (1.27.000) and Felipe Massa (1.27.241) into top spot.

The dark storm clouds then swept across Albert Park and for 20 minutes, high winds and heavy rain kept the drivers off the track and no one was able to better Grosjean’s time when the cars returned on wet weather tyres.

World champion Sebastian Vettel, who dominated both practice sessions for Red Bull in dry conditions on Friday, was only able to set the 12th best time and pulled off the track after the rain with a hydraulics problem.

Mark Webber, still seeking his first win at his home race at his 12th attempt, was just behind his German team mate in 13th, although he was one of the quickest drivers on the wet track.

Grosjean also set the pace after the rain ahead of his team mate Kimi Raikkonen and the Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez, who managed 20 laps despite the weather.

McLaren’s Jenson Button complained over the team radio about understeer in his brief four-lap stint in the dry, indicating that the problems with his car exposed on Friday had not been resolved overnight.

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Button, winner of the Melbourne race in three of the last four years and the final race of last season, was a whopping 2.4 seconds off the pace set by Vettel in second practice and he set the 17th quickest time in the third session.

His fellow Briton Paul Di Resta was fourth quickest on the timesheets ahead of Grosjean’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen with Australian Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo sixth fastest before the rain descended.

Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton failed to really get their sessions going and finished 11th and 22nd fastest respectively.

What started as a good weekend for Silver Arrows, turned dramatically in the final minutes of FP2 the previous day as Hamilton ended in the gravel and Rosberg parked on the side of the circuit with a technical issue.

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Australian Grand Prix Albert Park

Round 1 2013 Formula 1 World Championship

Free Practice 1 - Friday, 15 March 2013 Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

No 1 4 3 10 2 7 9 15 5 8 6 11 14 16 17 12 18 19 22 23 20 21

Driver Sebastian Vettel Felipe Massa Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Mark Webber Kimi Räikkönen Nico Rosberg Adrian Sutil Jenson Button Romain Grosjean Sergio Perez Nico Hulkenberg Paul di Resta Pastor Maldonado Valtteri Bottas Esteban Gutierrez Jean-Eric Vergne Daniel Ricciardo Jules Bianchi Max Chilton Charles Pic Giedo van der Garde

Team Red Bull-Renault Ferrari Ferrari Mercedes Red Bull-Renault Lotus-Renault Mercedes Force India McLaren-Mercedes Lotus-Renault McLaren-Mercedes Sauber-Ferrari Force India Williams-Renault Williams-Renault Sauber-Ferrari STR-Ferrari STR-Ferrari Marussia-Cosworth Marussia-Cosworth Caterham-Renault Caterham-Renault

Time Gap Laps 1:27.211 16 1:27.289 0.078 17 1:27.547 0.336 16 1:27.552 0.341 18 1:27.668 0.457 18 1:27.877 0.666 17 1:28.013 0.802 17 1:28.426 1.215 19 1:28.440 1.229 19 1:28.520 1.309 15 1:28.597 1.386 19 1:28.786 1.575 19 1:28.910 1.699 18 1:29.443 2.232 20 1:29.928 2.717 19 1:30.203 2.992 17 1:30.729 3.518 17 1:30.969 3.758 19 1:31.263 4.052 24 1:32.176 4.965 23 1:32.274 5.063 21 1:32.388 5.177 18

Free Practice 3 - Saturday, 16 March 2013 Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

No 8 3 4 14 7 19 18 15 11 12 9 1 2 22 21 20 5 6 16 17 23 10

Driver Romain Grosjean Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa Paul di Resta Kimi Räikkönen Daniel Ricciardo Jean-Eric Vergne Adrian Sutil Nico Hulkenberg Esteban Gutierrez Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Jules Bianchi Giedo van der Garde Charles Pic Jenson Button Sergio Perez Pastor Maldonado Valtteri Bottas Max Chilton Lewis Hamilton

Team Lotus-Renault Ferrari Ferrari Force India Lotus-Renault STR-Ferrari STR-Ferrari Force India Sauber-Ferrari Sauber-Ferrari Mercedes Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing Marussia-Cosworth Caterham-Renault Caterham-Renault McLaren-Mercedes McLaren-Mercedes Williams-Renault Williams-Renault Marussia-Cosworth Mercedes

Time Gap Laps 1:26.929 14 1:27.000 0.071 7 1:27.241 0.312 10 1:27.533 0.604 9 1:27.625 0.696 12 1:27.849 0.920 19 1:27.860 0.931 16 1:28.069 1.140 15 1:28.253 1.324 18 1:28.253 1.324 20 1:28.486 1.557 13 1:29.808 2.879 9 1:30.073 3.144 16 1:30.388 3.459 17 1:30.598 3.669 20 1:30.959 4.030 19 1:33.236 6.307 7 1:33.527 6.598 8 1:39.232 12.303 13 1:39.779 12.850 13 1:42.872 15.943 13 1:47.246 20.317 9

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SESSION RESULTS • FP1 • FP2 • FP3 • Qualifying Free Practice 2 - Friday, 15 March 2013 Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

No 1 2 9 7 8 3 10 4 15 11 5 14 6 19 12 16 18 17 22 20 23 21

Driver Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Nico Rosberg Kimi Räikkönen Romain Grosjean Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Felipe Massa Adrian Sutil Nico Hulkenberg Jenson Button Paul di Resta Sergio Perez Daniel Ricciardo Esteban Gutierrez Pastor Maldonado Jean-Eric Vergne Valtteri Bottas Jules Bianchi Charles Pic Max Chilton Giedo van der Garde

Team Red Bull-Renault Red Bull-Renault Mercedes Lotus-Renault Lotus-Renault Ferrari Mercedes Ferrari Force India Sauber-Ferrari McLaren-Mercedes Force India McLaren-Mercedes STR-Ferrari Sauber-Ferrari Williams-Renault STR-Ferrari Williams-Renault Marussia-Cosworth Caterham-Renault Marussia-Cosworth Caterham-Renault

Time Gap Laps 1:25.908 33 1:26.172 0.264 31 1:26.322 0.414 26 1:26.361 0.453 38 1:26.680 0.772 32 1:26.748 0.840 35 1:26.772 0.864 28 1:26.855 0.947 32 1:27.435 1.527 35 1:28.187 2.279 34 1:28.294 2.386 30 1:28.311 2.403 37 1:28.566 2.658 33 1:28.627 2.719 31 1:28.772 2.864 33 1:28.852 2.944 36 1:28.968 3.060 36 1:29.386 3.478 39 1:29.696 3.788 32 1:30.165 4.257 37 1:30.600 4.692 36 1:32.450 6.542 11

Qualifying - Sunday, 17 March 2013 (Rain caused delay from Saturday) Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – Renault 1:44.657 1:36.745 1:27.407 2 2 Mark Webber Red Bull – Renault 1:44.472 1:36.524 1:27.827 3 10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:45.456 1:36.625 1:28.087 4 4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:44.635 1:36.666 1:28.490 5 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:43.850 1:36.691 1:28.493 6 9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.380 1:36.194 1:28.523 7 7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:45.545 1:37.517 1:28.738 8 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:44.284 1:37.641 1:29.013 9 14 Paul di Resta Force India 1:45.601 1:36.901 1:29.305 10 5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:44.688 1:36.644 1:30.357 11 11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:45.930 1:38.067 12 15 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:47.330 1:38.134 13 18 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:44.871 1:38.778 14 19 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:46.450 1:39.042 15 6 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1:44.300 1:39.900 16 17 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:47.328 1:40.290 17 16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:47.614 18 12 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:47.776 19 22 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:48.147 20 23 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:48.909 21 21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:49.519 22 20 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:50.626 Note: Pic failed to meet 107% requirement, so races at stewards’ discretion

Laps 27 26 29 23 26 28 27 25 23 24 19 19 19 20 18 19 11 10 11 11 11 10

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QUOTES

SEBASTIAN VETTEL I think you’re always a little disappointed when you start first and don’t finish first, but overall it was a good weekend for us. We had a good day with a pole and a podium – but in the race we were a little too aggressive with the tyres and lost the front and the rears, while others did a little better.

There are always areas where you can improve, but the result we got is fair. We didn’t see Kimi on the track, he was too quick and Fernando jumped us at a vulnerable time – but we can be happy with third.

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MARK WEBBER We had a few issues on the grid, getting the telemetry from the car to the pits, which wasn’t ideal in terms of the guys knowing where to set everything up for the start. We lost KERS also for the first part of the race. It looked like we were quite heavy on the first set of tyres and we weren’t that quick to challenge for the win as a team. We had a slow pit stop (which was due to a front jack failure), which put me behind Jenson.

We salvaged something in the end, but that was Melbourne and it was disappointing not to get more out of it. It was hard to fight against others on a two-stop.

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FERNANDO ALONSO

We can claim to have started this season on the right foot, immediately in the fight with the best. Along with the results from winter testing, it is a very encouraging sign that we managed to get the most out of a weekend that was full of unknown factors, both in qualifying and the race. I think the

three stop strategy w the degradation we ha impossible to manage o forward the second on I was able to pass Vett ahead of the Red Bull if we know that despit

still the quickest. Now we can expect another weekend with very changeable weather and one that also puts a lot of stress on the cars from a mechanical point of view and on the drivers, from a physical one. But we can tackle it calmly on the back of this good result.

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was the right one: with ad, it would have been on one less and bringing ne by a few laps meant tel and Sutil. Finishing tastes like a win, even te race result, they are

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FELIPE MASSA

This is definitely a very positive start to the season, especially because this is a track where I have always suffered. We have shown that our car is competitive, with a good race pace and that is down to all the hard work done during winter testing. I had an attacking start to my race, in which I was immediately fighting for the top places. Maybe if

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we had brought forward the second stop, as Fernando did, the podium would have been within my grasp, but I am still very happy with my result. Definitely, we are at a good level, but now we must carefully analyse every smallest detail to try and improve our car.

JENSON BUTTON

Having won the Australian Grand Prix three times so far in my caree – in 2009, 2010 and 2012 – you’d have to say that ninth place isn’ really much to write home about. Having said that, I think we should be pretty satisfied with what we achieved here in Melbourne. It was tricky race, and our car isn’t yet quick enough, so I think the team did great job to achieve even as much as we did. As a result, I scored two World Championship points, which makes 1001 in my career I’m reliabl informed, and to be honest I don’t think I could have scored any mor than that. But, although that’s a nice stat, it doesn’t ease the pain caused by the knowledge that our car still needs a lot of work done before it’ properly competitive. Looking forward to Malaysia next weekend, I thin we’ve got a tough few days ahead of us, but hopefully we can now d some number-crunching in an effort to understand our car a bit bette and extract a bit more performance out of it there.

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er ’t d a a o ly re d ’s nk do er PHOTO LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

SERGIO PEREZ

That was a very, very tough race. I got a good start, which is always a bonus, but, after that, even though the team did a great job with the strategy, we just didn’t have enough pace to make significant further progress. Having said that, I nearly managed to score a point, but in the end I couldn’t quite get up to 10th place at the end. To finish 11th is never really satisfying, but I think Jenson and I both drove pretty good races. In fact I want to say ‘well done’ to Jenson, who maximised the performance of his car really well to finish ninth. Our engineers are aware that our car isn’t yet as quick as it needs to be,

b t t i s a d s t

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but I know I’m now part of the best team in Formula 1 so I’m certain they’ll improve it fast. Going back to this afternoon’s race, I don’t think the Albert Park circuit suited our car very well – it accentuated its problems in fact – so I’m hoping we’ll be able to put up a better showing in Sepang next weekend. Last but not least, will always be a very special day for me, because it was the day I made my McLaren debut, which is something that every driver always dreams of. As I say, it would have been even better if I could have scored points, but that’ll come soon.

LEWIS HAMILTON

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I’m happy with our result a The car felt really good out last longer than most of th strategy during the race. I have a look at the race agai we can really work with and to everyone here and back Now we’ll look forward to M an improved performance.

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and it’s much better than we expected for the first race of the season. t there; I had a strong first stint and was able to make the supersofts he others. We’d planned for two stops but converted to a three-stop don’t quite know where we lost the ground to the cars ahead so we’ll in now and figure it out. The important thing is that we have a car that d the team have done a fantastic job to get us to this position. Thanks k at base for their support over my first race weekend with Mercedes.

Malaysia next weekend and hopefully build on this positive start with

NICO ROSBERG

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An electric problem finished my race which was a shame as I was on a two-stop strategy and in a good position to score a decent result. There are lots of positives that we can take from the weekend however. The team have developed a solid car over the winter, I had a good qualifying pace and the car also ran well in the wet. It looks like we have started to close the gap to the front runners and we can build on that.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

I’m happy for the team and for myself also. We’ve had a quick car all w were no issues with it either, so we could just focus on trying different the setup how we wanted. I had a good feeling that we would be ok w practice and the team got the strategy perfect. I made a few places at had a good battle with Lewis [Hamilton] but after that it was quite simp my easiest wins. You can’t start the season much better than winnin of course we hope we can be fighting at the front of the Championship way to go still and we need to keep pushing hard all the way.

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weekend and there t things and getting with the tyres after t the start and then ple; probably one of ng the first race and p, but there’s a long

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ROMAIN GROSJEAN

Something felt wrong with my car, so I have to sit down with the team where the issue came from. It felt so good all weekend until the race its end the race was long and quite difficult for me. We know that Albert tricky circuit and the weather has certainly not helped. It’s been a great the team with Kimi’s win so it’s clear there’s pace in the car. Let’s hope that pace too next weekend in Sepang.

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m and analyse self, but in the Park can be a t weekend for e I can unlock PHOTO SUTTON IMAGES

PAUL DI RESTA PHOTO SUTTON IMAGES

Seventh and eighth for the team is a great result and a great way to kick off the season. We’ve shown we have a car that is kind on its tyres and that helped us by making less stops than some of our rivals. I feel I had a car that could have finished seventh, but I was stuck behind

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some of the three-stoppers at the start of my second stint, and that cost me quite a lot of track position. There are a lot of positives to take from the race, as well as some things that we can improve to make the car stronger.

ADRIAN SUTIL

What a fantastic race and a great feeling.

I started on the medium tyres, a different strategy to most of the cars ahead of me, and I think this was the right decision. The pace was quick and the car felt very good on the medium tyres so I was able to keep up with the guys in front of me, who I knew were going to pit early. It was not long until I was leading the race – my first time leading in Formula One. After my second pit stop I was back in the lead once again, so I knew that it was possible to come away with a great result. My final stint on the super-softs was much more difficult because the tyres started graining and I lost a few places. I was thinking I might need to pit again, but fortunately the tyres came back to me for the final few laps so I could save the seventh place. This result for the team is a perfect way to start the season and I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to the team once again.

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NICO HULKENBERG

I’m bitterly disappointed about what happened, but at the same time I’m anyone. Things like this happen in racing. What is particularly bother fact that I lost all this mileage, which is so important particularly at t of the season. It would have given me a lot of valuable data and inform next races. Obviously, Melbourne is not a good place for me. It was m Prix here and the third time that I leave this place empty handed. The on is that the next race takes place next weekend.

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m not blaming ring me is the the beginning mation for the my third Grand nly good thing

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ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ

My main goal was to finish the race, and to achieve that is really enjoyable. I want to thank the whole team, because in qualifying we had a good chance and we were able to recover some of what we lost on Saturday. We have a good base and in the future we will try and push forward.

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PASTOR MALDONADO

It was a disappointing end to a difficult weekend for myself and the team as we hoped in the conditions and unfortunately I lost the back end an need to work hard to solve the problems in the car to be ready for the

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m. The car was not responding nd ended up in the gravel. We next race in Malaysia.

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VALTTERI BOTTAS

I had a good start from my grid position and it felt great to be back racing again. A small mistake a few laps in cost me some places though. We got the maximum performance we could from the car and although the pace isn’t there yet, there are still some positives to take away. The next race is only a week away, so we will work very hard to prepare as best we can and try to score our first points of the season.

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DANIEL RICCIARDO

In the end I had to retire with a problem linked to the exhaust. I repo the pit wall that I could hear strange noises and I tried to fix it by cha functions, but it was not to be. At the start of the race, I struggled to it felt like I was driving on ice, as it took a very long time to warm up t afterwards, after about ten laps, I got up to speed and my lap times w bad, but by then I had lost too much time in the early stages. I think w homework to do when it comes to the tyres. Not the ending I wanted Grand Prix of the season, especially here in my home race.

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orted back to anging a few find grip and the tyres. But were not too we have more d for the first

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JEAN ERIC VERGNE

It was a hot start, I was pushed to the outside and I ended up going thro was only average, but the last two sections on the Prime tyre were ve corners right at the end, but as I passed Grosjean I flat-spotted my tw Button. Overall, I think the weekend showed we have a good car with I’m disappointed at not scoring here, but my hopes for the coming rac that fundamentally, we have a good car.

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ough a gravel trap at one point. After that, the first stint on the Option ery good and competitive and I was even in the points for a couple of wo front tyres and overshot my braking point when I tried to chase which we ought to be able to go hunting for points in every race. So ces are now higher than when we first started this weekend. I think

GIEDO VAN DER GARDE

For me that was a reasonable start to my F1 career. It was really important to finish my first race and that’s exactly what I did so I’m pretty happy with how it ended up. I started the race on the supersofts, passed a few people in the first turn and was keeping up with Bianchi until the first pitstop, even with the deg levels on the option tyres. Unfortunately I had a slow puncture on the first set of mediums and that cost me time and position. We had to stop much earlier than planned to put a new set of mediums on and that meant a change to the strategy, but it’s all good experience for me. I’ve said all through pre-season that the first races are a chance for me to learn and was really good for that.

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CHARLES PIC That wasn’t too bad a race for us. Of course we’d prefer to finish higher but I think that at this stage of the season this reflects our current performance levels. We started on the supersofts and our pace was ok for the first stint but the tyres dropped off very quickly. In contrast, when we went onto the mediums the degradation levels were very good so we were able to push the second stint much longer than we’d planned and that gave us a chance to fight. Unfortunately towards the end of the race we had a KERS failure which obviously cut our outright pace and prevented us from taking full advantage of the good tyre wear we saw on the primes. We know that it’s going to be similar to this for the first few races, but with what we have coming it’s going to be a really interesting season.

We have quite a few small details we need to work on for the next race but it’s good to have a real fight on our hands, good for the team and the fans so let’s see how this progresses.

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JULES BIANCHI

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I am very happy with my race and really can’t imagine a better start to my first season of F1. Qualifying was quite a challenge but I felt very calm as I looked forward to this moment. Generally everything went very smoothly in the race and we worked our way through the tyre management issues as well as we could in order to maximise the possibilities. We have not had the luxury of time so I would like to thanks my engineers, car crew and the whole team for helping me to be as prepared as possible and for a great job.

It would seem that the Team have made a big step over the winter and it is very nice to see them reacting positively to this.

MAX CHILTON

I am happy with my Formula 1 debut and although it was less than straightforward, it’s good to get it under my belt and to know where we stand relative to the competition. The coming-together with Van der Garde early in the race damaged my front wing, which meant I had to stop for a wing change. This put me back out on track such that I hit the blue flag period and it was a bit of a battle to recover the ground I lost. I had a really good fight with Van der Garde and closed the gap

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enough to be able to pass him. From there I was able to demonstrate more of my true pace and I was posting laps around three seconds faster than him. Although the race had its frustrations, I feel like I’ve learned a lot that I perhaps wouldn’t have learned otherwise and that will be useful experience over the next few races. I’m looking forward to Malaysia now so I can roll all that back into my racing and be able to take the fight to the midfield pack.

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SEPANG GRAND PRIX P

THE HEAT IS ON

IN MALAYSIA

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PREVIEW

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F

ollowing the victory of Kimi Raikkonen at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, the 2013 Formula 1 championship fires up again this weekend as the series prepares for round two, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

And fiery is perhaps the appropriate adjective for

this race. High temperatu day at Sepang Circuit and man and machine.

For the drivers there’s t soaring in-car temperatur hydrated throughout the

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ures are the order of the machinery this weekend is about dealing with tough d this race is a true test of conditions for engines and tyres. The heat and Sepang’s abrasive track surface makes tyre wear a the struggle to cope with major consideration, while a number of high-speed res and the battle to stay corners places the tyres under severe lateral loads.

56-lap long race. For the Keeping rubber ‘alive’ here is a difficult task.

In terms of engines, the heat and the fact that a significant part of the lap here is run at full throttle means powerplants are heavily stressed.

Maximising cooling is imperative and teams often open cooling vents in bodywork to facilitate this.

And then there’s the rain. Heavy downpours are a frequent occurrence and the possibility of torrential

rain adds an extra air o season’s second race.

The 2012 race was a started wet and as the rai suspended on lap nine. W it was Fernando Alonso dramatic final third, the F

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of unpredictability to the to the chequered flag by Sergio Perez. The Mexican was unable to pass, but claimed his first podium case in point. The race finish with second place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. in intensified running was Punishing conditions, an exciting circuit layout and When the action resumed unpredictable weather conditions mean a grand prix who took the lead. In a at Sepang is rarely dull and this weekend should be Ferrari driver was chased no exception.

SEPANG CIRCUIT FAST FACTS

• This will be the 15th running of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The race mad • In the first two years of its existence the race was staged at the end of t • In the 14 events to date, the driver in pole position has gone on to win th Schumacher in 2000 and the most recent Sebastian Vettel in 2011.

• Last year’s winner Fernando Alonso started the race from eighth on the Kimi Raikkonen won the 2003 event from seventh position.

• Ferrari is the most successful constructor at the Malaysian GP with six Schumacher won the next three grands prix at Sepang, Raikkonen was v • Alonso has won the Malaysian Grand Prix with three different teams – R • Of the drivers racing this weekend McLaren’s Jenson Button has the mo only missed out on the 1999 event as he was busy racing in F3 that yea • Sergio Perez’s second place last year for Sauber was the first time a Me second in the 1971 Dutch Grand Prix for BRM – 19 years before Perez w • While this will be the first Malaysian Grand Prix for new boys Valtteri Bo Gutierrez, only Bianchi has never appeared on the Sepang track before. practice session for Williams. Sauber’s Gutierrez raced here for ART Lotu the sprint race.

• The 2012 GP was a good race for one of last year’s rookies. Toro Rosso’s an eighth-place finish.

• This will be Fernando Alonso’s 200th grand prix. He made his debut at t wins, 22 pole positions, 57 other podium finishes and, of course, two For • Pirelli is bringing its Hard and Medium compounds to this race.

• The pit wall debris fence has been extended in order to better protect th 2012

2011

e grid, the furthest back a winner has started in the history of the race.

wins. Eddie Irvine won the inaugural event for the Scuderia, Michael victorious in 2008 and Alonso won last year.

Renault in 2005, McLaren in 2007 and Ferrari last year. ost Sepang starts. The Briton has raced 13 Malaysian Grands Prix and ar. exican driver had appeared on the podium since Pedro Rodriguez finished was born. ottas, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton Giedo van der Garde and Esteban Bottas made his Formula One weekend debut here last year in a Friday us in GP2 last season, finishing seventh in the feature race and second in

s Jean-Eric Vergne took his first Formula One championship points with

the 2001 Australian Grand Prix for Minardi and since then has scored 30 rmula 1 Drivers’ Championship titles, in 2005 and 2006, both for Renault.

he marshals.

2010

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de its Formula 1 calendar debut on October 17th, 1999. the season. However, in 2001 it moved to March. he race on seven occasions. The first winner from pole was Michael

Mar 24

Distance: 56 laps – 310.408km N

6 270

2

80

7 300 4 200 5 255

Gear

3 110

4

1

Langkawi

3

2

1

Pangkor Laut Chicane

14

Sunway Lagoon

1 111 Km/h

6

Genting

5

Pit Lane

6 260

START 3

12 13

1 Timing sector

Source: FIA

2012 Top 8 1. Fernando Alonso 2. Sergio Perez 3. Lewis Hamilton 4. Mark Webber 5. Kimi Räikkönen 6. Bruno Senna 7. Paul di Resta 8. Jean-Eric Vergne

Sepang Circuit Lap: 5.543km

7

15 8

9

2

96

10

2

4 200 11

Kenyir Lake

DRS detection

4 200

KLIA

4 200

DRS activation © GRAPHIC NEWS

Team Ferrari Sauber McLaren Red Bull Lotus Williams Force India Toro Rosso

Weekend Timetable (GMT +8) Friday Practice 1 10:00 Friday Practice 2 14:00 Saturday Practice 3 13:00 Saturday Qualifying 16:00 Sunday Race 16:00

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THINGS WILL DIFFERENT IN Sebastian Vettel started his campaign to win four successive world titles with third place at the Australian Grand Prix, but the German thinks the season opener race will prove to be an anomaly over the course of the 2013 season.

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L BE N MALAYSIA

V

ettel showed the raw pace of his Red Bull had not gone away when he took his 37th pole position in a qualifying session delayed by heavy rain on Sunday morning but was convincingly beaten in the race

by Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus.

Comforted, perhaps, by the fact that it was not until the fourth round in Bahrain last year that he won his first race, Vettel said being outpaced by both Lotus and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso was not what he expected at Sepang this week.

“What we have seen was a first glimpse, but we are far from getting an idea of the pecking order,” he told the sport’s official website after the race on the Albert Park street track.

Malaysia is a completely different track and from what we have seen, everything depends on how well people handle the tyres.”

“But we will see completely different conditions and will use different tyres so there are too many differences to here. We have seen over the past few years that what we have seen in Melbourne has hardly ever become a trend for the next couple of races.”

The 58 laps were a riot of action and entertainment for the fans packed into the Melbourne park with seven leaders over the race, battles between top drivers at what seemed like every turn and a popular surprise winner in Raikkonen.

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2013 World Championship Season Teams & Drivers 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Mark Webber 3. Fernando Alonso 4. Felipe Massa 5. Jenson Button 6. Sergio Perez 7. Kimi Raikkonen 8. Romain Grosjean 9. Nico Rosberg 10. Lewis Hamilton 11. Nico Hulkenberg 12. Esteban Gutierrez 14. Paul di Resta 15. Adrian Sutil 16. Pastor Maldonado 17. Valterri Bottas 18. Jean Eric Vergne 19. Daniel Ricciardo 20. Charles Pic 21. Giedo van der Garde 22. Jules Bianchi 23. Max Chilton

Red Bull Racing Renault Red Bull Racing Renault Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Lotus Renault Lotus Renault AMG Mercedes Petronas AMG Mercerdes Petronas Sauber Ferrari Sauber Ferrari Sahara Force India Mercedes Sahara Force India Mercedes Williams Renault Williams Renault Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari Caterham Renault Caterham Renault Marussia Cosworth Marussia Cosworth

BE PART OF IT