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Formula 1
Australian GP
2014 Australian Grand Prix Sunday - Australian Grand Prix
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He was about to pass the pit entry when the yellow was called and a nifty jink was required.
Rain
Red Bull is warning Ricciardo of "very light rain at Turn 3", but "only a few drops".
McLaren reminds Magnussen that he can race from the safety car line and is told to watch the lights as he may spot that it's coming in before the team.
Safety car due in this lap.
Green flag
Rosberg leads the field away as the safety car peels in. We are racing once again!
Bianchi unlaps himself from team-mate Chilton but there's six laps between them on the timing screens after their troubled start.
Positions maintained at the front as Rosberg threads it through Turns 11/12 ahead of Ricciardo and Magnussen.
Bottas passes Gutierrez for 15th immediately.
Kvyat lost out in the pitstops as he queued behind Vergne, he'll want to clear Sutil quickly for ninth.
Stopwatch
Rosberg leads by 2.5s, what a restart. New fastest lap at 1m33.976s.
Quote
Hamilton is explaining his problems:
"I think I was driving on five cylinders. That's racing."
"I think I was driving on five cylinders. That's racing."
Magnussen is very close to Ricciardo, ditto Alonso, Button, Vergne and Raikkonen behind Hulkenberg.
Magnussen is right up behind Ricciardo as they turn into Turn 9. His team-mate Button is doing the same to Alonso.
Grosjean overtakes Ericsson for 12th, while Maldonado is told to "use the overtake button". He's 1.2s behind Kvyat for 10th.
Vergne's just slipping back from Button a touch, with Raikkonen not at all far behind.
Bottas is on the move: he passes Ericsson, Perez and Grosjean in quick succession to move to 12th.
Red Bull tells Ricciardo: "you can use the overtake button to defend". He might need to with Magnussen on his tail for second.
Rosberg backs it off a bit that lap (still quickest of anyone) but is right back on it as he looks to push his leading beyond 3s.
Quote
Ericsson is frustrated that marshals think he's being lapped:
"Why are there blue flags all the time? There are blue flags at every corner!"
"Why are there blue flags all the time? There are blue flags at every corner!"
Magnussen's just fallen back a bit from Ricciardo, but he's within DRS range still - that's just been enabled again.
"Ignore them," Caterham replies to Ericsson, "you're racing all the cars."
He's been pushed back from 12th to 15th since the restart.
He's been pushed back from 12th to 15th since the restart.
Three-car fight for fourth as Alonso and Button close right up on Hulkenberg.
Bottas jinks past Maldonado into 11th place. Next on the list: Sutil.
Kvyat has taken ninth from Sutil but has a 3s gap to the Vergne/Raikkonen battle ahead. He's swiftly dropping the Sauber.
Stopwatch
New fastest lap for Rosberg, 1m33.195s. And then another! 1m32.478s.
BEN ANDERSON: "Button played that safety car situation beautifully, his early stop has vaulted him from the fringes of the top 10 into the top six. McLaren looking good for a strong result for both cars at the moment, but there's still a long way to go."
Bottas passes Sutil and is back into the points in 10th.
"You do not need to save fuel, hit the beeps," Red Bull tells Ricciardo.
Ricciardo now has 1.6s over Magnussen but there's still nothing in that battle for fourth - which now has Vergne and Raikkonen involved again as well.
EDD STRAW: "Bottas will be back in the points imminently. Up to 11th and should clear Sutil's Sauber soon.
"Up front, looks like Mercedes is aiming to keep Rosberg up front with a cushion of around five seconds. Seemed to be the pattern early on. Gives enough of a margin to be safe.
"Worth keeping an eye on Alonso as well. He's fifth and seems content sat behind Hulkenberg, playing the long game as usual."
"Up front, looks like Mercedes is aiming to keep Rosberg up front with a cushion of around five seconds. Seemed to be the pattern early on. Gives enough of a margin to be safe.
"Worth keeping an eye on Alonso as well. He's fifth and seems content sat behind Hulkenberg, playing the long game as usual."
As that train of cars fighting for fourth snakes onto the start-finish straight, Rosberg's rocketing out of Turn 1. He's in control, but will his Mercedes last the distance?
In the paddock, a furious Felipe Massa is pulling no punches about Kamui Kobayashi after their first-lap crash. The Brazilian compares the incident to Grosjean's famous Spa 2012 start shunt (which earned Grosjean a one-race ban).
Personal bests that time around for Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Button and Vergne, but no changes to the order.
Hulkenberg locks up sharply into Turn 6, gets away with it - but Alonso is right on him.
Quote
Vettel is putting a brave face on his retirement, saying Ricciardo's performance up in second leaves him optimistic:
"50 per cent is down but the other 50 per cent - Daniel - is still running and in a very, very good position.
"I think the most important is that the car is quick.
"Obviously there is still a lot to do in terms of reliability.
"It's disappointing when happens to you but what can you do now?"
"50 per cent is down but the other 50 per cent - Daniel - is still running and in a very, very good position.
"I think the most important is that the car is quick.
"Obviously there is still a lot to do in terms of reliability.
"It's disappointing when happens to you but what can you do now?"
We were about to report that Alonso's got a bit of breathing space over Button now - but it's disappeared to nothing again. This battle's ebbing and flowing all the time.
Although Magnussen has fallen 3s away from Ricciardo, McLaren reassures him that "other cars may struggle with their fuel" later on.
The Lotus pair swap places as Grosjean sweeps past Maldonado into the first corner for 13th.
Rosberg has almost the entire start-finish straight to his advantage over Ricciardo. The battle for fourth occupies about a quarter of it.
Marussia orders Bianchi to let Chilton past him, telling the Frenchman his team-mate is faster and "needs to race Ericsson".
By: Matt Beer, Edd Straw, Ben Anderson, Jonathan Noble, Scott Mitchell, Andrew van Leeuwen
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