Two-stopping Raikkonen takes victory in Melbourne

[Nik Hughes]

Kimi Raikkonen raced to his second victory for Lotus in the season opener in Australia on Sunday. Despite starting seventh on the grid, a strong opening few laps and superior tyre management brought the 2007 champion home over 12 seconds clear of second placed Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.​

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After taking a dominant pole in the delayed qualifying session, and leading the early stages of the race, reigning champion Sebastian Vettel came home in a distant third place in his Red Bull. Felipe Massa took fourth in the second Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton came home in fifth place on his debut for Mercedes.

The stage looked set for a Red Bull victory, with Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber locking out the front row, and Vettel racing away at the start, but it soon became apparent that the Red Bull's race pace was not on par with it's one-lap pace.

After being hounded by the Ferrari pair and Raikkonen's Lotus, Vettel pulled out a small lead after getting the jump on his rivals in the first round of stops, but it wasn't long before the German driver was under pressure again, and struggling to keep up with Force India's Adrian Sutil, who had taken a longer opening stint on the harder compound tyre.

During the second round of stops Alonso jumped both team-mate Massa, and Vettel for the lead, but it was Kimi Raikkonen who came out on top, making one stop fewer than his rivals. Alonso was expected to put pressure on the Finn, as his tyres began to feel the effects of a much longer final stint, but it was Raikkonen who had the pace at the end, controlling the gap to the Spaniard, and even setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap.

Further down the field, Mark Webber took sixth place after a horrible day at his home circuit, in which technical troubles left him floundering at the start, and led to an absence of KERS for the early stages. Webber was followed up by the two Force India's, including an impressive Sutil on his return after a season out – the German was on for a stronger result, but a long final stint on the inferior soft tyre saw him drop off the pace rapidly in the closing stages.

It was a tough day for McLaren; Jenson Button came home in 9th place – just one ahead of his starting position – and Sergio Perez finished outside of the points, despite a positive performance on his debut. The final points position went to Romain Grosjean, who couldn't find the same pace shown by his team-mate.

Following all the talk of Red Bull dominance, the strength of both the Lotus and Ferrari shows encouraging signs that 2013 will be another cracker, and with Mercedes showing signs of pace, predicting the winner of round two in Malaysia next weekend will be near impossible.
Race results top 10


1. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus 1:30:03.225

2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari +00:12.451

3. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull +00:22.346

4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari +00:33.577

5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes +00:45.561

6. Mark Webber - Red Bull +00:46.800

7. Adrian Sutil - Force India +01:64.068

8. Paul di Resta - Force India +01:67.449

9. Jenson Button - McLaren +01:80.630

10. Romain Grosjean - Lotus +01:81.759

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[Bram Hengeveld]

Fantastic that Lotus has bridged the gap to RedBull and Ferrari and are ready to fight for the title. Great steady race of Kimi.

 

[Scott Webber]

what a epic write up and great stuff from Kimi, great overtake he done on Sutil, on the outside, perfectly done!

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

Shaping up to be another interesting season. Last year even though Vettel won, there was enough movement to make the season interesting. The worse thing for F1 is to be a one man show. The Vettel show these days. Good to see Kimi back in the top and good to see Ferrari with a car worthy of its name. Also nice to see Massa back in contention.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

It will be interesting to see if both the Force India cars can keep up with the pace in the next race as well.

For me the surprise of the weekend for sure. Great to have Sutil back on the grid.

Also great performance and racing of Hamilton. He really tried to race the obvious faster Ferrari's and RBR's. Poor pitstops though as both were above the four seconds I noticed where a team as RBR does the job in 2.7'ish.

 

[Tony Holder]

What is getting me is all this talk of a dog of a car for McLaren. Jeez, one race in and its doom and gloom.....

 

[Shawdad]

Leave him alone! He knows what he's doing!

Seriously though, not sure if Lotus can hang tough with Ferrari and Red Bull all season, but its fun while it lasts. Both Lotus's in the top ten! Whodathunkit?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

What is getting me is all this talk of a dog of a car for McLaren. Jeez, one race in and its doom and gloom.....

They weren't exactly impressing during the free practice and qualifying sessions either to be honest. It's a bit strange as they have been so fast during the last part of the 2012 season.

What changed during the winter?

 

[ENDR]

What changed during the winter?

One of the drivers?

 

[Tony Holder]

They weren't exactly impressing during the free practice and qualifying sessions either to be honest. It's a bit strange as they have been so fast during the last part of the 2012 season.

What changed during the winter?

Evolution of the MP4 27. It is a prototype car, one they have to get to grips with.

 

[Justin Webley]

During the pre season testing Lotus showed a couple of times just a glimps of what the car is able to do. Lets not forget that last year the car was getting better each race and was the fastest car on the track during the final third of the races.

I had to laugh at the commentators for the BBC as non of them even mentioned Lotus as a possible race winner, only as it got closer to the end of the race did it dawn on them that Kimi was in the best position to win.

Comment of the race, Jenson Button to his pit crew 'We said we'd give it a try and now we know'. No doubt last years car will be at the next race...

 

[Metalfreaky]

Evolution of the MP4 27. It is a prototype car, one they have to get to grips with.

I wouldn't call that car an evolotion. It's far more a revolution with a diffrent aerodynamic approche (higher chassis) and push rod front suspension.
I don't think the basis of the car is wrong but they can't make it work right now and don't untderstand how.
It reminds me much about the Ferrari at the beginning of 2012.

 

[Tony Holder]

I wouldn't call that car an evolotion. It's far more a revolution with a diffrent aerodynamic approche (higher chassis) and push rod front suspension.
I don't think the basis of the car is wrong but they can't make it work right now and don't untderstand how.
It reminds me much about the Ferrari at the beginning of 2012.

That's what I meant...thank you.
Can't see them bringing the MP4 27 back, unless they run both?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Do the rules allow such a change during the season? Think that the Australian and Malaysian GP's are a joint operation. If rules would allow it there is no way to get all the equipment on site in time. Unless they have it packed already.

 

[Metalfreaky]

That's very tricky desicion. If they still have absolutly no clue what to do after a couple of races it could be an option, but the next question is how fast will the MP4-27 stil be?
Yes, it was the fastest car last year, but every other team has gained time over the winter and is already producing and developing upgrades for their cars. The developing of the M4-27 stood still since Brasil and has no parts in the pipeline if they would switch back to it. They can't just put their upgrades for this years car on the 27.

If I had to guess I'd say, the stick with the 28. I can''t imagine that they screwed up that bad.

 

[Andrew Ford]

apparently, when testing the mclaren at barcelona and perez set fastest time with a very low ride height. the ride height didn't take into account using heavier fuel loads. so later, the car bottomed out. all linked to new suspension system. apparently making changes to the car is more awakward using the new suspension. all sounds a nightmare. wouldn't be surprised if they brought last years car back. i don't get why they made such drastic changes with 1 season before rules change anyway