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Formula 1
Australian GP
2012 Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix
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Lap 29: Raikkonen now chasing down Maldonado for seventh, the Venezuelan driving a car Kimi contemplated signing up for last year of course...
Lap 29: Massa pits for the second time, allowing di Resta into 10th, Vergne to 11th and Perez to 12th.
Lap 29: Vettel matches the McLarens on his latest effort, with the gaps stabalising in the top three on the latest tour.
Lap 29: Kobayashi is also through and clear of Massa. He is up to ninth and now the Ferrari has di Resta and Vergne to contend with.
Lap 27: The McLaren pair are making the harder tyres work at this phase, with Hamilton now edging away from Vettel on the softs.
Lap 27: Massa protected the inside and the Finn simply braked later on the racing line to take track position away from the Ferrari driver.
Lap 27: Raikkonen wastes no time and sends a good move on Massa to take eighth at Turn 1.
Lap 27: All this is benefitting Maldonado who is seventh and now over 10 seconds ahead of that scrap. He can concentrate on Webber.
Lap 27: Hamilton clocks a 1m31.593s fastest lap to drop the gap to Button under 10 seconds.
Lap 26: Button is certainly the slower McLaren man at this stage with Hamilton, hurried on by Vettel, closing at up to a second per lap.
Lap 26: The duelling pair had caught Massa quickly and the Brazilian won't be able to fend off Raikkonen's attentions for long.
Lap 25: Maldonado is up to seventh now and just under five seconds behind Webber ... as Raikkonen finally drills Kobayashi to take ninth.
Lap 25: Perez may be fading on that old set of tyres, but @SF1Team is loving it: only the lonely - @SChecoPerez the only one with no pit stop so far. a strong performance! Let's rock it!
Lap 25: Hamilton is now 11 seconds behind the leader with Vettel - on soft tyres - now 1.6 seconds further back.
Lap 25: Sauber brings Perez in and not before time. He slips down the classification.
Lap 24: While Vergne in 13th posts the fastest lap of the race. He is closing down di Resta at over one second per lap.
Lap 24: News from Caterham's @MikeGascoyne: Vitaly reporting slightly long brake pedal but its ok, Heikki has lost KERS
Lap 24: Leader Button reports some vibrations from his tyres, which he says is not from locking up.
Lap 24: So Perez drops to seventh and is almost four seconds per lap slower than those around him.
Lap 23: Webber eases past Perez into Turn 9 and surely it is now time for Sauber to consider a first stop for the Mexican.
Lap 23: Ricciardo comes into the pits for the second time from 17th place in the Toro Rosso.
Lap 23: Rosberg sends a move on Perez as well, diving past the Sauber down to Turn 3.
Lap 23: Alonso makes the DRS move stick on Perez this time, putting the Ferrari up to fourth.
Lap 22: So staying out longer didn't help Raikkonen in the long run - he is still behind Kobayashi and now needs to close a two second gap to have another crack at him.
Lap 22: Button has profited significantly from Hamilton's delay behind long runners and is now over 11 seconds clear in the lead.
Lap 22: @NickHeidfeld giving some driving advice to Perez: 'Too close. Sauber should have left more space on outside to #Vettel'
Lap 22: Maldonado is eighth but 3.8s down on Webber, with Massa ninth, Kobayashi 10th, Raikkonen 11th, di Resta 12th and Vergne in 13th.
Lap 22: Perez now finds Alonso looking for a way past the Sauber.
Lap 21: Vettel sticks his nose up the inside of the Sauber running down to Turn 11, setting himself up to chase down Hamilton.
Lap 21: Glock pits for Marussia and falls to the back of the field.
Lap 21: Button said throughout winter testing that we had to keep an eye on the Saubers... He was clearly on the money.
Lap 21: Vettel is now looking for a way past Perez as Hamilton tries to pull away from that scrap over third.
Lap 21: Hamilton gets on the DRS this time and finally clears Perez into Turn 1.
Lap 21: Vettel has shaken off the closing pack and is now closing on Hamilton.
Lap 20: Maldonado, in eighth, is currently the fastest man in the top ten. That Williams is clearly working better than the 2011 model.
Lap 20: Vergne also pits and rejoins in 13th place, while Lotus does an excellent job for Raikkonen and the Finn resumes in 11th.
Lap 20: Hamilton is now clocked almost 10 seconds behind Button and is still trying to pass Perez in the Sauber, with the Mexican still to pit.
Lap 20: Raikkonen is finally in for a stop after a very strong first stint for Lotus.
Lap 19: Vettel is now fifth and on soft tyres with Alonso, Rosberg and Webber all sweeping past the yet-to-pit Vergne.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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