The complete 2010 Australian GP review

PRACTICE

Practice 1 - Friday AM

Robert Kubica led the way for Renault as the weekend got underway, beating Nico Rosberg's Mercedes to the top spot by just under 0.2 seconds, with Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel filling the other top five places.

Entertainment was provided by Kamui Kobayashi, who smashed his front wing on a marker cone - and then lost the replacement approaching Turn 3 when the weakened mounting failed. Both incidents caused red flags. His team-mate Pedro de la Rosa wasn't having much fun either, stopping with a clutch problem.

The new teams got more practice mileage this time, although a gearbox oil leak and a differential problem respectively hampered Timo Glock's Virgin and Jarno Trulli's Lotus.

Paul di Resta makes his first Friday practice appearance with Force India, and does an extremely respectable job to take 11th.

Practice 2 - Friday PM

Drizzle and sometimes quite concerted rainfall meant only 15 minutes of second practice took place on a dry track - and McLaren took advantage of that to take a one-two with Lewis Hamilton and Button.

This time life was less happy for the new teams, with only Lotus having a fairly trouble-free time. Glock only managed nine laps after his early problem was repaired, a telemetry box issue sidelined Lucas di Grassi before he could set a time and an out-lap gearbox failure for Karun Chandhok and a fuel pressure issue with Bruno Senna's car meant no laps at all for Hispania.

Saturday Practice

Local favourite Mark Webber announced his challenge for pole position by beating Fernando Alonso to the top spot in a fairly incident-free final practice.

Michael Schumacher was third for Mercedes ahead of Vettel and Rosberg.

QUALIFYING

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

On pole for the second race in a row, Vettel confirmed his status as favourite for the top slot on Saturday. It was close between him and team-mate Webber, but in the end the German managed to pull that extra bit that secured 'revenge' for him, overshadowing the Australian in his home race after Webber's 2009 Nurburgring pole.

2. Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Webber declared himself pleased with second position, although he obviously admitted he wanted pole, especially in front of his home crowd. The bigger downside, perhaps, was the the Red Bull driver would start from the dirty side of the road.

3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Despite missing out on a front row slot, the Spaniard had to be happy with his effort, being the only man to get close to the Red Bull duo. As a bonus, he would start from the clean side of the road, something that could prove vital come the start.

4. Jenson Button, McLaren
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Following a strong Friday, when the team looked like one of the favourites for pole, Button felt his McLaren had changed on Saturday morning, lacking grip around the lap. The world champion still did a good job as he equalled Hamilton in their qualifying battle.

5. Felipe Massa, Ferrari
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Massa was unable to match the pace of his Ferrari team-mate, as he struggled to generate sufficient temperature for his tyres to work properly. The result was that the Brazilian finished some way behind Alonso and, with cool temperatures also expected for the race, he wasn't too hopeful.

6. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

Despite outqualifying team-mate Schumacher for the second race in a row, Rosberg was still disappointed with his qualifying performance. The German reckoned he had made too many mistakes during his final flying lap and admitted there was more to extract from the car.

7. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Although not completely happy with his car's handling following some changes after practice, Schumacher felt that his biggest problem in qualifying was the traffic. The seven-time champion complained that both Alonso and Hamilton had got in his way during vital laps.

8. Rubens Barrichello, Williams
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

Another driver who felt he lost time in traffic, the Brazilian reckoned he could have set a better time, although it was not clear if that meant a better position. Nonetheless, Barrichello was still pleased to have made it to Q3, and he believed P8 was were his car belonged.

9. Robert Kubica, Renault
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

After a strong start on Friday, where he posted the quickest time in opening practice, Kubica's efforts were hindered by the lower temperatures. He still managed a solid performance to get the Renault into Q3 once again, but he admitted the car was not easy to drive during qualifying.

10. Adrian Sutil, Force India
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

Sutil was happy to confirm Force India's pace on a completely different circuit, but the German was not too happy despite making it to Q3. He felt seventh or eighth was possible, but during his two runs in Q3 Sutil could not get his tyres up to the perfect temperature.

11. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Not an easy weekend for Hamilton, for the second year in a row distracted by off-track events - this time in the shape of a highly-publicised brush with traffic police when leaving the circuit on Friday night. In qualifying he admitted he was simply not quick enough, saying he felt he had extracted the maximum from his car, but surprised to be knocked out in Q2.

12. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

It was a good performance by the Swiss driver, who got the best out of his Toro Rosso to get near the top ten, although Q3 was out of reach. Buemi not only got himself in a strong position to fight for points but also outpaced team-mate Alguersuari by some margin.

13. Tonio Liuzzi, Force India
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Liuzzi was angry after failing to get a clean lap at all during the qualifying session - the Italian particularly furious with de la Rosa and Hulkenberg. The Force India driver was convinced he had the pace to reach Q3, but as it was he had to settle for 13th.

14. Pedro de la Rosa, Sauber
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

For the second race in a row, more was expected from the Sauber after a solid practice effort. Nonetheless, de la Rosa was happy with his driving and felt his car was still a step away from being able to fight to get into the top ten.

15. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Like in Bahrain, Hulkenberg was left disappointed after failing to reach his goal of making it to Q3. The rookie, in his first visit to Australia as an F1 driver, conceded he was simply unable to put a good lap together and the result was a grid slot seven places behind his team-mate.

16. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Kobayashi was hoping for a better result after a promising final practice, but in the end the Sauber driver did not have the pace to be close to the top ten. The Japanese, start from the same place as in Bahrain, was still encouraged by Sauber's pace, as he felt the team was closer to the top.

17. Jamie Alguersuari, Toro Rosso
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Not quite on the same pace as his team-mate Buemi since the start of the weekend, the Spaniard was still happy with his showing, especially on the harder tyre compound. Alguersuari, driving at Albert Park for the first time, admitted there was still a lot of room for improvement.

18. Vitaly Petrov, Renault
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Another driver who was left disappointed, Petrov was downbeat after missing the Q2 cut, as the Russian joined the newcomers in finishing qualifying early. The Renault racer said he was hindered by traffic and that he was unable to put together a good lap.

19. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Kovalainen had reasons to be satisfied with his performance after emerging as the quickest of drivers in one of the new teams. His pace was also more encouraging than in Bahrain, the Finn finishing 'just' four seconds off the pace.

20. Jarno Trulli, Lotus
Team-mate qualifying battle: 1-1

Trulli completed a good day for the Lotus team, although the Italian struggled with his driving as he was bouncing around in the car due to a problem with his seat. All in all it was another solid day of work for Lotus, who continued to look the strongest of the newcomers.

21. Timo Glock, Virgin
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

Another very troubled weekend for the Virgin team saw Glock complete very limited mileage ahead of qualifying. The German was also forced to run with a heavier car due to a fuel pick-up problem, so outpacing team-mate di Grassi was pretty much all he could have hoped for, and he did that.

22. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

Although di Grassi was also unable to escape problems, at least the Brazilian felt he had a good run in final practice and faced qualifying quite prepared. He still finished behind Glock, though, as he didn't manage to maximise his car's pace on his flying lap.

23. Bruno Senna, HRT
Team-mate qualifying battle: 2-0

A fuel pressure problem on Friday, followed by a hydraulic problem on Saturday morning meant Senna faced qualifying with less track time than he was hoping for. Nonetheless, the Brazilian did what he was supposed to do and finished ahead of his team-mate, while not too far from the Virgin cars.

24. Karun Chandhok, HRT
Team-mate qualifying battle: 0-2

It was never going to be a worse weekend for Chandhok than in Bahrain, and the Indian did enjoy the benefit of some extra running. He still had problems during Friday's second session, but all in all the HRT driver was still delighted with his efforts.

QUALIFYING RESULTS
Pos  Driver         Team                   Q1        Q2        Q3
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault      1:24.774   1:24.096  1:23.919
 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1:25.286   1:24.276  1:24.035
 3.  Alonso         Ferrari               1:25.082   1:24.335  1:24.111
 4.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:24.897   1:24.531  1:24.675
 5.  Massa          Ferrari               1:25.548   1:25.010  1:24.837
 6.  Rosberg        Mercedes              1:24.788   1:24.788  1:24.884
 7.  Schumacher     Mercedes              1:25.351   1:24.871  1:24.927
 8.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1:25.702   1:25.085  1:25.217
 9.  Kubica         Renault               1:25.588   1:25.122  1:25.372
10.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1:25.504   1:25.046  1:26.036
11.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes      1:25.046   1:25.184
12.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:26.061   1:25.638
13.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes  1:26.170   1:25.743
14.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari        1:26.089   1:25.747
15.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth     1:25.866   1:25.748
16.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari        1:26.251   1:25.777
17.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:26.095   1:26.089
18.  Petrov         Renault               1:26.471
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth        1:28.797
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth        1:29.111
21.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1:29.592
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth       1:30.185
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth          1:30.526
24.  Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth          1:30.613

All Timing Unofficial

THE RACE

Even before the start, the chances of Formula 1 putting the tedium of Bahrain behind it with an epic Australian Grand Prix looked pretty good.

For one thing, Melbourne has always attracted drama and incident. For another, it had been raining, and more showers were forecast. If this star-littered field couldn't create a thriller with those ingredients, then there really was something desperately wrong with F1.

But what followed over the next 93 minutes delivered even more excitement than expected, beginning with a chaotic first lap. Sebastian Vettel had no difficulty converting his pole into a first corner lead, partly because all those around him scrabbled slowly off the line - except Felipe Massa, who found some handy traction and zig-zagged between his wheelspinning rivals to emerge in second by Turn 1.

His Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso's getaway had been particularly tardy, and the championship leader was sandwiched between Jenson Button's McLaren and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes into the first corner, where contact between Button's left front and Alonso's right rear sent the Ferrari spinning into Schumacher.

"I was halfway alongside him on the inside and I don't know if he just couldn't see me because of the mirrors, but we touched," said Button. "I'm sorry for Fernando, but I couldn't really do much."

The Mercedes was knocked sideways and had its front wing mangled, while Alonso was chasing the medical car by the time he was pointing in the right direction. Button escaped damage, and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton had to take to the grass but ultimately gained places as everyone else was backing off to circumnavigate a Ferrari-shaped roadblock.

Further back, Kamui Kobayashi clouted something unknown at Turn 3, which led to his Sauber's weakened front wing detaching itself (not for the first time this weekend) on the next long straight. The surprised Kobayashi slammed into the inside wall approaching Turn 6 then ricocheted into Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg's Williams, which were passing through the corner unaware that they were about to be violently harpooned.

"It looks as if I touched a kerb or another car in Turn 3. Everything was very close and I don't really remember anything major, but on the data it looks like there was something," said Kobayashi. "I had no worries about the front wing, but a few corners later it went off and got stuck under the car. At first I had no idea what had happened. I had no control anymore."

The crash was spectacular and messy, and prompted a four lap safety car period, but all three drivers were unhurt.

Robert Kubica had found the clearest path through the lap one mess and moved up from ninth on the grid to fourth, behind Vettel, Massa and Webber, but ahead of Nico Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Adrian Sutil and Rubens Barrichello. Vitaly Petrov had also made another great start in the second Renault, getting up to 10th, with Pedro de la Rosa, Tonio Liuzzi and Jaime Alguersuari on his tail, although he would spin out within a few laps.

Heikki Kovalainen had stayed in front of his fellow newcomers, with the two Hispanias next up after the Virgins started from the pitlane, but the second Lotus of Jarno Trulli was unable to race at all due to hydraulic problems on the grid. Alonso and Schumacher would take the restart from 18th and 20th respectively.

Webber was in a combative mood and Massa was struggling with his Ferrari - two factors that would play a big part in the afternoon's entertainment - so the Red Bull wasted little time in diving past the Ferrari into Turn 6 to regain second a lap after the green. Just behind, Hamilton squeezed past Button into Turn 3. The world champion was not enjoying his McLaren's behaviour on intermediate tyres, and decided he had little to lose by pitting for slicks.

"I didn't have a balance on the inters, I was really struggling and I lost a couple of places, so I thought 'let's get in, stick the slicks on,'" said Button. "When I went into the pitlane I thought I had made a catastrophic decision as it was soaking wet..."

It initially looked that way, with Button sliding over the gravel at Turn 3 as he tried to slow down on slicks for the first time. But in fact his gamble had been absolutely correct - the rest of the circuit was drying rapidly, and new fastest sector times in the remaining two thirds of the lap proved his strategy would work.

Within two laps, most of the rest of the field had followed Button's example, although Red Bull left Vettel and Webber out at first expecting more rain - which did eventually come, but only as a trifling drizzle.

Button's pace while everyone else was struggling on intermediates or getting slicks up to speed allowed him to jump several cars in the pits, and then ease past Kubica into Turn 13 as the Renault driver felt his way around on cold tyres.

By the time Vettel finally took slicks on lap nine, he was only just able to rejoin ahead of Button, whose bravery had paid off in style.

Webber wanted to pit at the same time, but with Red Bull unwilling to queue its cars and Vettel having already called for the tyres, the Australian had to stay out and lead on inters for a further lap. Briefly getting stuck in first gear in the pit exit didn't help his cause, and neither did immediately slithering onto the Turn 1 grass. By the time Webber had got going properly, he was down in sixth behind Vettel, Button, Kubica, Rosberg and Massa, and with Hamilton right behind him. Alonso was rapidly gaining ground on this gaggle too, having hacked through the midfield with little drama and lapped on a par with leader Vettel as he recovered from the Turn 1 clash.

With the track now all but dry and the stops completed, were the fans in for a static run to the flag of the kind that caused such concern in Bahrain? Far from it, thanks mainly to Massa's skittishness and Webber and Hamilton's determination to make progress.

On lap 15 Webber dived past Massa into Turn 1 to take fifth, with Hamilton coming from a long way back to follow him through as Massa lost momentum on the kerbs, and then picking up Webber's slipstream out of the corner and trying to go around the outside of the Red Bull into Turn 3.

Webber braked late to try and hold Hamilton off, but banged wheels with the McLaren as he disappeared over the gravel, delaying Hamilton enough to allow Massa back through, while Alonso also came past by the time Webber got himself back on track - although the Australian had no regrets.

"In the end, when you are a little on the back foot, I think it is best to throw caution to the wind and get into it," he said.

"I was thinking of Bahrain for the people at home - that maybe we should do something different - so in the end I didn't want it to finish like that but hopefully it was a bit more enjoyable [for the fans]."

Six laps later they were at it again: Massa got wildly sideways out of the penultimate corner, and despite giving Hamilton as little room as possible - the McLaren lost a chunk of its nose on the back of the Ferrari - had to concede fifth place into Turn 1. He tucked back in and tried to retaliate without success at Turn 3, while Alonso's attempt to get around Massa on the outside while his team-mate was focused on Hamilton left the Spaniard struggling on the still-damp extremes of the track and losing a place to Webber again.

With Massa cleared, Rosberg was next on Hamilton's list. The Briton had earlier tried an ultra-brave pass on Massa approaching the sixth gear Turn 11 kink, but been deterred by the Ferrari's defensive driving. He pulled it off on Rosberg though, sweeping around the outside and grabbing fourth.

That cost the McLaren momentum onto the next straight though and Rosberg looked set to repass into Turn 13 - but had to back off for yellow flags as moments earlier race leader Vettel had slid into the gravel as his Red Bull suffered a wheel problem.

Until then, Vettel had looked absolutely serene in the lead, inching away from Button to establish a 4.3s cushion just before things went horribly wrong.

"A lap or so earlier I already felt something was wrong," said Vettel. "I had some sparks coming up from the left front wheel. I didn't know what it was. We wanted to pit on that lap. A couple of corners before I had huge vibrations. I approached Turn 13 all easy and cautious, and it didn't help.

"It's a shame - I think we had the race under control even though the conditions were difficult. It breaks my balls. It's nobody's fault, but we need to get on top of it and make sure that we see the chequered flag in Malaysia."

As Vettel's Red Bull lurched and spun into the gravel, the McLaren garage erupted with delight, for Button now had a 6s lead over Kubica, and Hamilton was all over the back of the Renault. Kubica wasn't proving easy to pass, always managing to brake late enough to stay ahead even as the McLaren nosed alongside, but it looked like only a matter of time before McLaren was first and second.

However around half distance several midfield drivers had started pitting as they decided their soft tyres couldn't manage the full 50 laps between the track drying and the chequered flag. With those pitting all lapping a second or two faster than they had previously, the frontrunners began to follow suit - starting with Webber (who had finally passed Massa just beforehand) on lap 32 and Rosberg a lap later. They swapped places straight afterwards, the Red Bull getting around the Mercedes through the first corners as it rejoined.

McLaren decided Hamilton should come in too, which dropped him to fifth, 35s behind Button and 24s behind second placed Kubica, with 23 laps to go - and with new top four Button, Kubica, Massa and Alonso not intending to pit.

"I don't know what their idea of pitting was," said the surprised Button. "I never thought of putting on a second set. I didn't think that would be an option really."

Kubica was instructed to conserve his rubber instead - "when I had really big degradation I asked my team if we are going to pit again and they said if we can manage we will not do it, so I took a bit more care with the tyres" - while the Ferrari pair also pondered a stop before deciding there was no need.

"It was a risk we were happy to take because we know how gentle our car is with the tyres," said Alonso, "so I think the people that did the second pit stop for dry tyres were more the teams who have to worry about the durability of the tyres."

Hamilton didn't think he was in that category, and was soon raging against the pitstop decision over the radio.

"All I know is the guys always do a fantastic job, but the strategy was not right," he said afterwards. "I'd already stopped once, my tyres were fine, and they brought me in for a second stop."

His tyres were definitely not in good shape by the time he caught back up to the Kubica, Massa, Alonso train - but Hamilton felt that was a consequence of the strategy too.

"I worked my backside off to catch a 20s gap and by the time I got there my tyres were destroyed and it was impossible to overtake," he complained.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that had McLaren known that the Ferraris and Kubica would have stayed out, it probably wouldn't have brought Hamilton in.

"We made a decision as a team. Ultimately that's disadvantaged him. We could've have a one-two," Whitmarsh conceded. "At the time at which we took the decision, I personally believed it was the right call. Now in hindsight you can see how the race played out."

Hamilton's frustration was about to increase. Both he and Webber were right up behind Kubica and the Ferraris again with eight laps to go, but were stuck there. On lap 56 Hamilton got alongside Alonso approaching Turn 13, couldn't get past, then found himself punted into the gravel as Webber speared into the back of him.

"That really wasn't cool," said Hamilton, who dug himself back out of the gravel in time to still take sixth, while Webber pitted for a new wing and fell to ninth.

"I was looking to get the run coming back out but when I got that close, the front wing just basically did not work - I could not get the car stopped," said Webber, who apologised to Hamilton and was reprimanded - but not penalised - by the stewards.

Button stayed comfortably clear of this mayhem, masterfully keeping his tyres in shape and cruising to victory with a 12s margin over Kubica. Few predicted Button would flourish alongside Hamilton at McLaren, even fewer that he would win within two races, but he had.

"It is very difficult to put it into words," said Button. "But it's a very special feeling and we will take a lot from this. I feel I am just building in confidence and hopefully when we get to the next race we can do something similar as this feels too good."

Kubica was barely any less thrilled as he demonstrated Renault's rapid progress with second, while the Ferraris were able to hold off Rosberg and come home third and fourth.

Given his habit of starting seasons scrappily and having disasters in Melbourne, Massa was extremely happy with third. Alonso had no complaints about fourth - describing it as a "super" result on a day of mayhem for the men he considers his main title rivals - even though he had been trapped behind his team-mate for much of the distance.

"You are racing also with your team-mate. This is the second race of the championship, so there is nothing you can do," Alonso replied when asked if he had been hoping for team orders to be applied. "Also, when I arrived behind Felipe my tyres were not in any more a good shape because I was pushing very hard at the beginning. I was super happy with fourth, so I stayed there."

Behind Rosberg and the fuming Hamilton, Tonio Liuzzi was pretty delighted too, adding to his points tally with seventh on a day when a loss of engine power eliminated his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil early on. Liuzzi overtook Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa on track, ran ninth behind Rubens Barrichello until the Williams joined the mid-race tyre changers, then kept his rubber alive to take seventh once Webber had hit Hamilton. Barrichello made the most of his fresh rubber to hunt down and re-pass de la Rosa for what became eighth.

Also on the happy list were Heikki Kovalainen and Karun Chandhok, the only new team drivers to reach the flag in 13th and 14th places, as hydraulic problems eliminated Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi, and Timo Glock parked with suspension issues.

Seven of the top four teams' drivers were in the thick of the action at the front, leaving Schumacher as the odd man out. His car battered from the first lap tangle, the German legend was unable to chase Alonso back through the field - and actually needed a couple of attempts to get around di Grassi's Virgin.

Most of Schumacher's afternoon was spent behind Alguersuari, who he finally passed only to fall behind again when both changed tyres. He finally got in front for good with a muscular and inventive outside line move at the penultimate corner a few laps from home, with both then passing de la Rosa as his tyres wilted.

"It was good fun towards the end," said Schumacher, who was still smiling even though his comeback still wasn't following the anticipated script. "For the fans it was a good race..."

RACE RESULTS

The Australian Grand Prix
Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia;
58 laps; 307.574km;
Weather: Wet then dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           1h33:36.531
 2.  Kubica        Renault                    +    12.034
 3.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    14.488
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    16.304
 5.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    16.683
 6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    29.898
 7.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +    59.847
 8.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +  1:00.536
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +  1:07.319
10.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:09.391
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:11.301
12.  De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:14.084
13.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps
14.  Chandhok      HRT-Cosworth               +    4 laps

Fastest lap: 


Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              41
Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             26
Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth              25
Sutil         Force India-Mercedes         12
Petrov        Renault                      10
Senna         HRT-Cosworth                 5
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           1
Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth            1
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               1
Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth               1


World Championship standings, round 2:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        37        1.  Ferrari                    70
 2.  Massa         33        2.  McLaren-Mercedes           54
 3.  Button        31        3.  Mercedes                   29
 4.  Hamilton      23        4.  Red Bull-Renault           18
 5.  Rosberg       20        5.  Renault                    18
 6.  Kubica        18        6.  Force India-Mercedes        8
 7.  Vettel        12        7.  Williams-Cosworth           5
 8.  Schumacher     9       
 9.  Liuzzi         8       
10.  Webber         6       
11.  Barrichello    5     
       
All timing unofficial

Lap-by-lap as it happened on AUTOSPORT Live

TEAM BY TEAM

McLaren

A one-two in damp Friday afternoon practice is the highlight of a tough start to McLaren's weekend, with Hamilton all over the newspapers when his road car antics attract the attention of Melbourne's 'anti-hoon' police. Qualifying 11th darkens Hamilton's mood further, although Button takes a strong fourth on the grid.

They run sixth and seventh early in the race, Button delayed a little but not damaged in a first corner collision with Alonso. Unhappy with his car's handling on inters, Button is the first to pit for slicks - and after a brief off, he flies. Up to second by the time everyone has stopped, he picks up the lead when Vettel retires and goes on to win.

Hamilton carves through to third, is furious when he drops to fifth following the team's request that he pit for new tyres while trying to pass Kubica for second, and is then tapped into a spin by Webber. He finishes sixth.

Mercedes

A relatively quiet weekend on the cusp of the leaders. Rosberg and Schumacher take sixth and seventh on the grid, with the latter soon down to last as Alonso's spinning Ferrari collects him at Turn 1. Schumacher has a hard time trying to recover, staring at the back of Alguersuari's Toro Rosso for lap after lap, but eventually reaching 10th.

Rosberg gets up to fourth, is passed by Hamilton, finds himself seventh after being one of the mid-race tyre stoppers, and then regains fifth due to Webber and Hamilton's collision.

Red Bull

A brilliant front row sweep for Vettel and practice pacesetter Webber bodes well, but the race brings only misery.

Vettel has things under control, despite the team staying out on intermediates slightly too long, until a wheel problem pitches him out of the lead and into the gravel just before half distance. Webber overcomes Massa in an early battle for second, loses ground in the pits, has several trips off the road while going wheel to wheel with rivals, and is eventually ninth after smashing his front wing running into Hamilton in the closing stages.

Ferrari

Alonso is best of the rest behind the Red Bulls in qualifying, but a poor start and first corner clash with Button puts him to the back, while Massa - who had struggled for speed all weekend - bursts through from fifth on the grid to second at the start.

Still not totally happy with his car, Massa somehow survives to take the final podium spot despite spending most of the race either being overtaken or fending someone off. Alonso flies back through the field and eventually reaches fourth, stuck behind Massa for many laps.

A quietly promising weekend for Barrichello, who qualifies eighth and runs in the same position early on. He pits for new tyres mid-race and is surprised to find that his immediate rivals don't do likewise, so has to re-pass de la Rosa (and benefit from Webber's crash) to take eighth. Hulkenberg is unhappy with himself after qualifying 15th, and is taken out by Kobayashi on lap one.

Kubica tops first practice but finds the low temperatures not to his car's liking as he takes ninth on the grid. An underwhelming performance by Petrov means he is the only non-new team driver knocked out in Q1.

Both surge up the order at the start - Kubica emerging in fourth, Petrov in 10th. While the latter spins into retirement on lap nine, Kubica holds his own at the front and moves forward as others hit trouble or stop for tyres, eventually finishing a brilliant second.

Sutil feels he should have done better than 10th on the grid, while Liuzzi is confident he would have done better than 13th had he not got stuck in traffic.

An early loss of power means Sutil barely has chance to feature, but Liuzzi soon gets up to 11th. He overtakes de la Rosa, then benefits from Barrichello pitting, Webber smashing his wing and Vettel retiring to advance to seventh and more points.

Buemi is very happy to qualify 12th, but is rammed into retirement by Kobayashi's out of control Sauber on lap one. That leaves Alguersuari to lift the team's spirits. From 17th on the grid, he spends nearly the whole race fending off Schumacher. The German gets ahead shortly before they both pit for fresh slicks, and during the stops the Toro Rosso regains the initiative. Only a late error by Alguersuari finally lets Schumacher get around him, and with both passing the tyre-hampered de la Rosa soon after, the Spaniard finishes 11th.

Kovalainen is the top driver among the new teams in both qualifying and the race - qualifying 19th and finishing 13th, with few problems along the way.

It's not so straightforward for Trulli: he has a differential issue in practice, a loose seat makes qualifying a real trial for him, and he doesn't even start due to a hydraulic failure on the grid.

Gearbox and fuel pressure problems rule Chandhok and Senna out of second practice, but other than that the build-up goes reasonably well for them, and they have an undramatic qualifying too. Senna is out early in the race with hydraulic failure, but Chandhok is thrilled to see the flag in 14th.

Another lacklustre weekend for Sauber - as de la Rosa and Kobayashi qualify 14th and 16th. The drivers feel they've made progress since Bahrain, Peter Sauber isn't so sure. Kobayashi smashes his front wing once on Friday and then loses the replacement later in the session. There's a bit of deja vu on lap one, when a Turn 3 knock leads to the wing detaching itself on the next straight, sending him ploughing first into the wall, and then Buemi and Hulkenberg.

De la Rosa gets up to ninth but as his tyres fade in the closing stages he is passing by Barrichello, Schumacher and Alguersuari.

Still plenty of gremlins for Virgin, the highest profile being the revelation that its fuel tank is too small and that it consequently needs a new chassis. Both drivers have a few glitches in practice, a gearbox oil leak on Friday being particularly costly for Glock. They qualify behind the Lotus duo, start from the pitlane, and eventually retire with suspension problems (Glock) and anothe hydraulic failure (di Grassi), although they at least reach laps 41 and 26 respectively.