COOPER: Team-By-Team- Australian GP

Formula 1

COOPER: Team-By-Team- Australian GP

Here’s how things worked out among the 11 teams...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 17, 2013 Melbourne (AUS)

Race winner Kimi Raikkonen (Left) of Finland and Lotus celebrates on the podium with third placed Sebastian Vettel (Right) of Germany and Infiniti Red Bull Racing following the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. (Photo: Getty Images)

The 2013 season started with a bang in Australia where a fascinating race saw teams choose different strategies and in some cases have to adjust them when they didn’t appear to be working out. At one stage it wasn’t clear which of two or three choices might work out but in the end Kimi Raikkonen’s two-stop –built on a relatively early move from the unloved supersoft tire – prove to be the way to go. Here’s how things worked out among the 11 teams.

Red Bull Racing
After a low-key winter Red Bull showed its hand on Friday when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were first and second, and then after a brilliant lap in Q3 the German seized pole, ahead of his team mate. Initially Vettel looked like he might run away with the race, but the Ferraris kept him under pressure and he got caught behind late stopper Sutil. Alonso jumped him at the second stops and then Raikkonen’s two-stop strategy put the Finn ahead, leaving Vettel third. Webber had a telemetry issue at the start and was without KERS until lap 20. He spent a lot of time stuck behind Jenson but he managed to recover to sixth, passing Sutil near the end.

Ferrari
The interrupted qualifying session proved to have a respectable outcome for Ferrari as Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso took fourth and fifth places, the Brazilian having been lucky to escape a heavy impact with the barrier in the wet Q1 session. Both drivers made good starts with Massa and Alonso slotting into second and third. They each took turns at leading briefly during the first stops. Massa led again before his second stop, but having lost time behind Sutil his strategy didn’t work out for him. Both Alonso and Vettel got ahead and the red cars finished second and fourth with the Spaniard in front.

McLaren
From the start of Friday practice it was obvious that McLaren was in trouble, ride over the Melbourne bumps being the main problem. The rain appeared to open an opportunity in qualifying but a premature switch to slicks in Q2 left Sergio Perez stranded in 16th. Jenson Button made Q3 but ended it a distant 10th. Button damaged his supersoft tires and knew he would need an early change, coming in on lap 4. He held off a KERS-less Webber for a while, ultimately claiming ninth. Perez made a good start on the medium tire and finished just outside the points in 11th.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen of Finland and Lotus celebrates on the podium after winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit on March 17, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: Getty Images)

Lotus was close to the front all weekend, with Kimi Raikkonen fourth on Friday and Romain Grosjean on top in the dry/wet Q3 session. Qualifying was thus a little disappointing, as the Finn took seventh and his team mate eighth. Committed to a two-stop strategy, Kimi moved up to fifth at the start, and after a relatively early first stop a long second stint left him in the lead on lap 24. He dropped back to fifth after his second stop but then moved up to second when rivals pitted before relieving Sutil of the lead. Grosjean struggled with tire issues and could not better 10th, the team believing that there might have been a problem in the car.

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