Raikkonen delivers for Lotus Down Under as Flying Finn sees off Alonso while Hamilton finishes fifth on Mercedes debut
By SIMON CASS
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Kimi Raikkonen produced a stunning drive full of speed and skill at the Australian Grand Prix to take first blood for Lotus in the 2013 Formula One campaign.
The flying Finn made the very best of his team’s decision to run a two stop strategy as the efforts of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel fell short.
The man who famously told his team ‘leave me alone, I know what I am doing’, during his last win in Abu Dhabi proved he has lost none of his touch as he came home ahead of Alonso in second and pole-sitter Vettel in third.
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Triumphant: Kimi Raikkonen celebrates after winning the first race of the season
1-2-3: Raikkonen (centre) celebrates with second-placed Fernando Alonso (left) and third-placed Sebastian Vettel
Party time: The long wait for F1 fans was over at last as the season kicked off in style
Cruising: Raikkonen drives through the pit lane after driving the fastest lap of the race and securing victory
The win means Raikkonen has now scored points in 18 consecutive races.
Further down the field it was a solid afternoon’s work for Lewis Hamilton on his debut for Mercedes, the 28-year-bringing his car home in fifth to concluded a weekend which will provide encouragement for the races ahead.
The same cannot be said for McLaren, the fears of both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez confirmed as they became lambs to the slaughter as the laps were reeled off around Melbourne’s Albert Park.
The trials and tribulations of a qualifying session that needed to be completed on the morning of the race thanks to the wind threatened to return for the race as the sky darkened once more for the start.
Hamilton had his work cut out from the off when Red Bull’s Mark Webber bogged down allowing Felipe Massa of Ferrari to sweep through.
The congestion saw Hamilton forced to fend off Alonso as Vettel tore off into the distance.
Take that: Vettel gives Raikkonen a burst of bubbles on the podium
Podium fun
But Hamilton was powerless to fight off Ferrari’s double world champion and by lap two Raikkonen was also past his Mercedes.
The 2008 world champion then settled into rhythm in his Mercedes ahead of a train of pursuers, as the quartet of Vettel, Massa, Alonso, and Raikkonen edged away at the head of the field.
But with Pirelli under orders to spice things up even more this season, the pit lane was soon a hive of activity with Button first to come in to swap his super softs for medium tyres.
The shake-up allowed plenty of shots of both McLarens being gobbled up by their quicker rivals, emphasising just how much work lies ahead back at the factory in Woking.
Meanwhile, Mercedes opted to keep their drivers out longer than the front runners, meaning Hamilton, on lap 11, at least led his debut grand prix for his new team.
But despite the huge progress made by Mercedes from last season, this race was always likely to boil down to a battle between Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus.
That said, having also opted for a two stop strategy work, Adrian Sutil performed admirably on his return to grand prix racing with Force India and at least gave those hunting the win another obstacle to have to overcome.
On song: Finnish driver Raikkonen of Lotus led the way in the Melbourne Grand Prix
No cigar: Fernando Alonso ran Raikkonen close but could not beat his rival
As the strategists got their calculators out so the order was given another shaken up yet again when the second visit to the pits was completed.
Ferrari’s decision to bring Alonso in a lap earlier than Vettel allowed him to bang in a quick lap and assume the lead from the reigning world champion.
But it was the call by Lotus to leave Raikkonen out for two laps longer than the rest of his rivals which proved to be a critical strategy ploy.
Calling upon all of his experience the 33-year-old, set about nursing his car home without another visit to the garage as Alonso and Vettel were forced to carry out a three-stop race.
Alonso did his best to throw down the gauntlet in the closing stages, but emphasising just how strong the combination of Raikkonen and the 2013 Lotus looks like being, the 2007 world champion even managed to set the fastest lap despite his tyres being at the point of disintegration.
Down the rankings: Lewis Hamilton finished fifth in his first race for Mercedes
After taking the chequered flag, the Finn, normally of few words, uttered over the radio: ‘I told you the car was good’.
The rest of the field will be certainly concerned at just how light on its feet the Lotus is as the Formula One circus heads for Malaysia next weekend.
As for Hamilton, he can certainly be satisfied with his afternoon’s work, coming home in fifth. But the result was also something of a reality check after all the enthusiasm about the strides Mercedes have made.
After all, Rosberg was forced to retire on lap 27 with an electrical problem while Hamilton was never really able to match the pace of Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Even so, with Button coming home in ninth and Perez out of the points in 11th, Hamilton certainly has less to be worried about than all those at his former McLaren home.
Speaking on the podium, Raikkonen said: ‘I was pretty confident before the race. I thought it should be easy to do it.
Holy smokes: Cars lock up their brakes as they approach the first corner of the Albert Park circuit
‘I got a good start and it worked well. I had doubts because it is the first race and I didn't do any long runs in the winter. But you have to get through the first laps and go from there.
‘Fernando was catching me at some point so I just wanted to make sure if the rain comes we have a big gap.
‘I was still taking it pretty easy. It was a pretty nice race. Not too difficult.’
Following a tough opening weekend, far removed from his excitement when the car was unveiled at the end of January, Button said: 'It was good to get a couple of points, but it doesn't really ease the pain.
'At this stage we still have to aim for the world championship. That has to be the target when you drive for McLaren.
'But it's going to be very difficult for us from where we are, a lot harder than we thought this year.
'For us to get back to the front, it's not going to be whilst we're racing outside Europe, but we've got what we have and we're going to deal with it the best we can and push hard for improvements.
Frustration: Jenson Button drives in front of Mark Webber but neither driver will be happy with their finish
'With Malaysia next weekend we're not going to do much before then other than hopefully understand the car a little more and extract a bit more performance.'
Button naturally trusts the team to turn around what is already a dire situation, but he knows it will not be easy.
'There is a lot for us to do, so it's not something we're going to change overnight, just hopefully sooner rather than later,' added Button.
'If we come away from Malaysia with the same sort of points we'll be ecstatic, so that shows where we are, which is not McLaren. We should be further up.
'It's tough for all of us in the team, but we're doing all we can.
'We had bad spots last year, but there is a lot more for us to do to get back to the front than last year.'
The gang's all here: The drivers pose for a group shot before the race
Melbourne, Australia Finished 17 March 2013 17:00 - 19:00 Lap 58 of 58 Position Driver Car Team Time Points 1 Kimi Räikkönen ⌚
7 Lotus F1 Team 1:30:3.225 25 2 Fernando Alonso
3 Scuderia Ferrari 1:30:15.676 18 3 Sebastian Vettel
1 Infiniti Red Bull Racing 1:30:25.571 15 4 Felipe Massa
4 Scuderia Ferrari 1:30:36.802 12 5 Lewis Hamilton
10 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 1:30:48.786 10 6 Mark Webber
2 Infiniti Red Bull Racing 1:30:50.025 8 7 14 Sahara Force India F1 Team 1:31:8.293 6 8 15 Sahara Force India F1 Team 1:31:11.674 4 9 5 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:31:24.855 2 10 Romain Grosjean
8 Lotus F1 Team 1:31:25.984 1 11 Sergio Pérez
6 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:31:26.592 0 12 18 Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:31:27.082 0 13 12 Sauber F1 Team +1 LAP(s) 0 14 17 Williams F1 Team +1 LAP(s) 0 15 22 Marussia F1 Team +1 LAP(s) 0 16 20 Caterham F1 Team +2 LAP(s) 0 17 23 Marussia F1 Team +2 LAP(s) 0 18 Giedo van der Garde
21 Caterham F1 Team +2 LAP(s) 0 19 19 Scuderia Toro Rosso RETIRED, 40 Laps 0 20 9 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team RETIRED, 26 Laps 0 21 Pastor Maldonado
16 Williams F1 Team RETIRED, 24 Laps 0 22 11 Sauber F1 Team RETIRED, 0 Laps 0
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