F1 Is Back!

[lfc4ever]

Will it be as boring as previous though without any rule changes this year?

Or is this at least the start of the the levelling of the playing field, no engine changes, only one tyre supplier, hopefully more driver skill required.

And can I say my sincere best wishes to Lewis Hamilton and the other young guns, about time the old order was moved aside.

[Rich]

I have a good mate of mine that swears it's the greatest sport in the world, yet it bores the pants off me.

I don't care for fast cars ripping around a circuit.

[Kinell]

I have a good mate of mine that swears it's the greatest sport in the world, yet it bores the pants off me.

I don't care for fast cars ripping around a circuit.

yeah true. Best part of the race is the first lap, especially the start! The rest is just lap after lap and cars only get overtaken through pitstops.

[Jayesh87]

My mates dad work for Renualt Apparently he is quite important aswell, don't know what he does

[Rich]

Thanks Milky, very insightful

[Jayesh87]

Thanks Milky, very insightful

My bad

[Gaz]

Well Done to Lewis Hamilton for his 4th Place on the Grid, not a bad start for his first Formula 1 outing

Should be an interesting race tomorrow

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nick Heidfeld
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. Robert Kubica
6. Giancarlo Fisichella
7. Mark Webber
8. Jarno Trulli
9. Ralf Schumacher
10. Takuma Sato
11. Anthony Davidson
12. Nico Rosberg
13. Heikki Kovalainen
14. Jenson Button
15. Alexander Wurz
16. Felipe Massa
17. Rubens Barrichello
18. Scott Speed
19. David Coulthard
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi
21. Adrian Sutil
22. Christijan Albers

[Jayesh87]

What happened to Massa?

[TheStig]

Might give this a watch.

New rule changes sound ok, although there are a few that are weird (cars are now able to "unlap" past the safety car).

[livvy145]

What happened to Massa?

'The Brazilian survived the first round of qualifying in Melbourne, only for his gearbox to die in the second, condemning him to 16th place on the grid.'

[lfc4ever]

And we're off, storming start by Hamilton got to the bend in 3rd. getting past Alonso.

Shame for Davidson, from 11th to 21st!! Something went wrong with the car obviously.

[lfc4ever]

16 laps out of 58 to go, Lewis Hamilton is leading the race!

(just as I type that - he comes into the pits!)

[DannyMan2006]

Massa done well to come back. Hamlton looks set to finish 3rd.

[lfc4ever]

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton finishes 3rd and a podium finish in his first race, outstanding, well done.


BBC Race Report:


Raikkonen wins as Hamilton stars
Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari takes up the position he was never to lose at the start of the Australian Grand Prix
Kimi Raikkonen got his role as Michael Schumacher's replacement at Ferrari off to a perfect start with a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

But the Finn's drive was overshadowed by Lewis Hamilton, who made one of the most impressive Formula One debuts for years as he took third place.

The Englishman lost out to McLaren team-mate and world champion Fernando Alonso only at the final pit stops.

The McLarens raced flat out but were no match for the pace of the Ferrari.

The Finn led from start to finish at Melbourne's Albert Park with a drive reminiscent of the crushing superiority often shown by the his predecessor, who retired at the end of last season.

Raikkonen, whose team-mate Felipe Massa started last after problems in qualifying, was in a race of his own as he built a 15-second lead in the first stint, and was never troubled thereafter.

Behind him, Hamilton marked himself out as a potential future superstar with a committed, aggressive race.

The 22-year-old passed Alonso at the start and kept under control the man regarded as the finest all-round driver in F1 until the final stops.

Hamilton had a couple of scary moments when he dropped wheels off the track, but was only beaten when he was out-foxed on strategy.

Hamilton took advantage of Alonso's failed attempt to hold off the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld as the field approached the first corner and the debutant was able to sweep around the outside and into third place ahead of his team-mate.

Hamilton narrowly led Alonso until the first pit stops, and was able to maintain his advantage by stopping one lap later.

But the Spaniard had taken on more fuel than his team-mate at the first stops, which allowed him to run for two more laps at the end of his second stint.

That gave him the advantage of two fast laps on low fuel.

They may have been enough on their own to beat his team-mate, but the issue was put beyond doubt when Hamilton was held up by the Super Aguri of Takuma Sato on his way into the pits.

The McLarens were even further ahead of their closest challengers, the BMW Saubers than Raikkonen was of them.

Heidfeld was equally comfortable in fourth place, although he was briefly challenged by team-mate Robert Kubica in the middle of the race until the Pole's retirement with gearbox failure on lap 38.

The German made a relatively early stop on lap 39, but was still able to hold off the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella which did not make its final stop for another five laps.

In the first race under new rules in which teams must use each of the two types of tyre during the race, most leading teams chose to start the race on the harder tyre and use the softer ones in the final stint.

Heidfeld's BMW Sauber team chose the exact opposite of that strategy, starting on the softer tyres before switching on to the harder ones at his first stop.

Massa, who had been faster than Raikkonen throughout pre-season testing only to have his gearbox fail during qualifying, climbed impressively up to sixth place.

The Williams of Nico Rosberg took seventh, with Ralf Schumacher's Toyota in the final points position.

Schumacher's team-mate Jarno Trulli followed him home, just managing to hold off the Renault of another debutant, Heikki Kovalainen, on the final lap.

The Honda team could not even manage a top-10 place in a terribly disappointing start to the season.

The cars were way off the pace and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello could manage only 11th place, with Button in woeful 15th.

The team claim they have developments in the pipe line to address the cars lack of rear stability, but they have a mountain to climb if they want to compete for victories this season.

Englishman Anthony Davidson drove a steady race after colliding with the Spyker of Adrian Sutil at the start.

And Scot David Coulthard crashed out when attempting to pass Alexander Wurz's Williams at turn three late in the race.

The Red Bull driver admitted he had been over-optimistic and absolved Wurz from blame for the accident.

[Gaz]

What a great opening race to the season, gutted Hamilton didn't beat Alonso after being in front of him for most of the race and what a move at the first corner to overtake him, still 3rd in your debut race isn't bad going

Could be big things ahead for the young lad

The Ferrari's look quite a bit ahead at the moment but i can see it being a close season between the McLarens and Ferrari

Impressive start for BMW as well who could be a surprise package this year