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Formula 1
Australian GP
2012 Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix
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Lap 49: Well almost straight into the garage... Ferrari having some trouble getting Massa's car to make a tight enough right turn into the box.
Lap 49: Alonso is beginning to struggle for grip in his Ferrari and Maldonado is now right behind in a battle over fifth.
Lap 49: Senna rejoins the race but a horrible day is over for Massa. He drives straight into the garage.
Lap 48: Button dips under 90 seconds for the fastest lap as he edges to almost four seconds clear of the scrap between Vettel, Hamilton and Webber.
Lap 48: Senna and Massa both make it back to the pits.
Lap 48: Senna's car also appears to be damaged and they are both touring round the circuit.
Lap 48: The pair made contact and Massa has suffered damage to the Ferrari.
Lap 48: That allowed Senna to take 14th back from Ricciardo and the Williams immediately tried a move on Massa at Turn 3.
Lap 47: Ricciardo was side by side with Massa into Turn 1 but wasn't able to get the job done initially and lost time in the opening complex of corners.
Lap 47: Hamilton sets the fastest lap and continues to eye a move on Vettel to take back second place.
Lap 46: Hamilton remains in DRS range of Vettel but can't make it work on his latest trip down to Turn 1.
Lap 46: Senna is not being dropped in 15th and he makes it a three-car battle.
Lap 46: Vettel was just a thousanth slower that Button on that lap as the Red Bull finally gets on the leader's pace.
Lap 46: Ricciardo continues to make some progress at the back. He has caught Felipe Massa and a fight begins for 13th.
Lap 45: Nevertheless, he is pressing on for the moment and maintains ninth place ahead of Raikkonen, with di Resta 11th, Vergne 12th and Massa 13th.
Lap 45: Button continues to set the pace with a new best of 1m30.220s.
Lap 45: Sure enough, the Sauber's rear wing end plate is flapping around in the airflow and the Japanese could get a big surprise come his way soon.
Lap 45: The DRS is now enabled as Button crosses the line a comfortable 3.8 seconds clear of Vettel.
Lap 44: Raikkonen reports on the team radio that Kobayashi's rear wing is damaged and it is shedding pieces.
Lap 44: Button sets a strong new fastest lap of 1m30.567 to extend his advantage to 3.4 seconds over Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso and Maldonado.
Lap 43: @OfficialSF1Team enjoyed Kobayashi's move on Raikkonen: @kamui_kobayashi passed WC RAI. Fight boys!
Lap 43: Ricciardo has passed Bruno Senna and takes 14th place in the Toro Rosso.
Lap 43: Button is clocked 2.5 seconds clear of the scrap between Vettel, Hamilton and Webber.
Lap 43: Kobayashi gets his own back on Raikkonen and takes ninth place from the Finn at Turn 3.
Lap 43: Hamilton also has to be wary of Webber, who is right behind him and was setting a quick pace before the interruption.
Lap 42: Caterham reporting that Kovalainen also has a steering problem, the fate of his team-mate Petrov, as the Finn is retired.
Lap 42: Button is clear off out front and it has been a great restart for the McLaren man.
Lap 42: Hamilton gives chase to Vettel but is still behind the Red Bull running down to Turn 3.
Lap 42: No passing moves from any driver into Turn 1 at the restart.
Lap 42: The safety car comes into the pitlane and we are racing once again.
Lap 41: Button hits the throttle and powers away into the restart.
Lap 41: The safety car will pit at the end of this lap.
Lap 41: Actually, Kovalainen pitted after coming through the pack and is being wheeled into the garage.
Lap 41: The track is now clear but there is another lap to go under safety car as the pack shuffle is completed.
Lap 40: DRS will be disabled for the first two laps after the restart.
Lap 40: Kovalainen, Glock and Pic are now moving through and will head back round towards the rear of the train.
Lap 39: Lapped cars can now pass the safety car.
Lap 39: Rosberg is eighth with Raikkonen ninth, Kobayashi 10th, di Resta 11th, Vergne 12th and Massa in 13th spot.
Lap 39: Button leads from Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso, Maldonado and Perez with the pack now neatly formed behind the safety car.
Lap 39: Ricciardo pits again for Toro Rosso, as the truck arrives at the scene and the course workers begin to recover the Caterham.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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