Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP drives during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit on March 17, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: Getty Images)

Mercedes
Nico Rosberg was on good form from the start of the weekend, taking third on Friday and topping both Q1 and Q2. However when it mattered he slipped to sixth, while Lewis Hamilton – lucky to get going after hitting the barrier in Q1 – had a great debut for Mercedes by earning third. Hamilton ran fifth in the early laps and looked set for a good result after stopping later than rivals. However he struggled in what was supposed to be his final stint and had to switch from three to two stops, eventually finishing fifth. Rosberg retired after hitting electrical problems when running third, not far behind his team mate.

Sauber
Along with Force India Sauber appeared to have jumped McLaren. In the top 10 all weekend, Nico Hulkenberg missed out in qualifying by taking 11th, although that gave him a free choice of tires. Rookie Esteban Gutierrez crashed in Q1 and had to settle for 18th. Hulkenberg didn’t even get a chance to start the race after the team discovered a fuel system problem in the garage, and did not have enough time to rectify it. Gutierrez spent most of the race running at the front of the rookie group, ultimately claiming 13th spot.

Force India
Paul Di Resta was hampered by a floor issue on Friday but after that was resolved he earned a solid ninth in qualifying. Adrian Sutil was in the top 10 in all three practice sessions, but things didn’t quite work out for him in qualifying, when he couldn’t better 12th. Sutil started on the medium tire and his late first stop allowed him to move into the lead. He stayed there for seven laps before pitting, regaining it later when others stopped again. He dropped to fifth at his second stops but struggled on the supersoft and slipped to seventh. Di Resta finished eighth after losing time in traffic and held station behind his team mate at the end.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela and Williams is interviewed by the media during previews to the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit on March 14, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: Getty Images)

It was clear from the start of practice that, like McLaren, Williams was struggling for speed. Rookie Valterri Bottas had a solid first weekend, not making any mistakes, making Q2, and qualifying 16th. Pastor Maldonado was the quickest guy not to make Q2, struggling with an “undriveable” car in 17th. The team split the strategies, with Bottas starting on the supersoft and Maldonado on the medium. Both drivers made mistakes and straightlined Turn One and Maldonado later spun into retirement there on lap 25. Bottas kept out of trouble and finished 14th on his debut.

Toro Rosso
Unexpectedly perhaps Toro Rosso was clearly ahead of Williams all weekend, with Jean-Eric Vergne – who was very fast when qualifying was at its wettest – taking 13th place, immediately ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Vergne passed Grosjean to claim 10th on the last lap only to run wide while chasing Button and fall back to 11th. Ricciardo had a disastrous first few laps, struggling for grip on the medium tires and dropping to last place. He recovered ground from there before retiring with an exhaust problem on lap 40.

Caterham
Rookie Giedo van der Garde lost valuable time when he slid into the gravel on Friday and then knocked his wing off in Q1, shortly before team mate Charles Pic had more comprehensive contact with the wall, damaging his front suspension. They qualified 21st and 22nd, with the Dutch driver ahead. The two green cars spent much of the race in close company with each other, and neither had a straightforward race. Pic had a KERS failure on his way to 16th while Van der Garde had a slow puncture early on and was two places behind.

Marussia
Marussia was in much better shape than in previous years, and for only the second time both of its cars were ahead of both Caterhams. Jules Bianchi impressed with his pace as he took 19th, while fellow rookie Max Chilton stayed out of trouble to take 20th. Bianchi put in a storming race, breaking clear of his expected rivals and chasing those ahead. He finished 15th after an unplanned extra tire stop near the end gave him the pace to set the 11th fastest lap. Chilton damaged his front wing on Van der Garde early on, and that cost him time in the pits. He later passed the Dutchman to finish 17th.

Adam Cooper notched up his 28th season as a racing journalist in 2012. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED