xvvvz

2011 FORMULA 1 QANTAS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Provisional Results
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 58 Winner 1 25
2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +22.2 secs 2 18
3 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 58 +30.5 secs 6 15
4 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +31.7 secs 5 12
5 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 58 +38.1 secs 3 10
6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 +54.3 secs 4 8
7 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 58 +65.8 secs 13 6
8 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 58 +76.8 secs 9 4
9 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +85.1 secs 8 2
10 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 10 1
11 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 16
12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 14
13 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 12
14 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 57 +1 Lap 18
15 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 56 +2 Laps 20
16 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 54 +4 Laps 22
Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 49 +9 Laps 21
Ret 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 48 +10 Lap 17
Ret 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 22 +36 Laps 7
Ret 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19 +39 Laps 19
Ret 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 19 +39 Laps 11
Ret 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 9 +49 Laps 15

Nola

So what did you think of the race?

xvvvz

I guess we had more on-track passing action in the midfield to make it more interesting compared to previous years but up front it was not much different. The tops cars pulled out to a nice lead and then weren't threatened much for the rest of the race. I guess I was hoping for more lead swapping. The impact of the wing was not as much as expected given all the pre-season chatter.

Congrats to Red Bull. Quite a car and quite a drive. Renault engines had a good day. It was good to see people like Petrov, Perez and Kobayashi in the top 10. Perez and di Resta both had good first races.

I hope HRT and Virgin can get into the game so that they can stay around and keep a full grid. Massa needs to step up his game or he could be moved out although Alonso probably wouldn't mind a teammate like Massa that is good enough to occasionally block and follow team orders but who isn't a consistent threat.

Malaysia should give a better picture of who is definitely good and who was just lucky/hit with bad luck at Australia

What did you think?

xvvvz

The FIA has announced that the two Sauber-Ferrari's have been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix results because the top element of the rear wing was found to not conform with the rules, and were infringing on the dimensions of the bodywork in the diffuser area.

Nola

I enjoyed it. I am disapointed with Ferrari as they should have a faster car, and with McLaren because theirs should be slower (I am a McLaren detractor)! That said, the wrong McLaren got sent back today (I am also a Lewis detractor!). I think Massa had a "Fernando is faster than you" moment. Apparently DSR works for fast cars not to be stuck behind slow ones, not really to un-equal the equals. KERS does.... nothing?...

My summary:

WIN: Pirelli, Petrov and Reb Bull tricking everyone into thinking they had a mini KERS (they didn't have one at all)

STINK: KERS, Massa and the Stewards for DQing Sauber