Vettel begins 2011 season with Melbourne victory

Leading  from pole position Vettel was follwed by Lewis Hamiltonwho  placed a surprise second  for McLaren. Holding back Fernando Alonso and Vitaly Petrov. Petrov registered Russia’s first ever Formula 1 podium finish in third.
 

With temperatures ranging from the mid to high teens, conditions were pleasant for the large and dedicated crowd on a bright day in downtown Melbourne, with the Albert Park street circuit hosting its sixteenth F1 event since 1996.

Vettel started with a clean getaway, considering Red Bull has not used the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) for the whole. Behind, Mark Webber edged ahead of Hamilton although the McLaren was the German’s closest challenger on the run to Turn 3.

It was at the infamous third corner where a number of drivers ran into trouble; Rubens Barrichello’s Williams visited the gravel trap for the second time this weekend as the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher contacted with Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, resulting in a rear puncture, bent suspension and early retirement for the seven-time title winner.

One winner of the start was Renault’s Nick Heidfeld, who shot from 18th to 13th but failed to deliver for the rest of the afternoon, coming home only 14th and a lap behind his rapid team-mate. Petrov’s own start involved the Russian shooting from sixth to third place, with Massa fourth from eighth in the Ferrari; however, the Scuderia’s other car dropped back, with Alonso emerging from Lap 1 in only tenth from fifth on the grid.

Turn 1 was the scene of a number of overtakes, with the most notable being Massa on 2009 Champion Button. However, as the duo engaged in highly exciting combat for fifth place, the Englishman attempted the outside line into the rapid and high-speed Turn 11, running out of room and cutting the apex of Turn 12. As Alonso followed past Massa into the following bend, Button was duly handed a drive-through penalty and plummeted out of the points. A quick recovery for the McLaren saw it finish sixth, passing Kobayashi and Massa at Turn 1 on laps 26 and 49, respectively.

Vettel continued to lead from Hamilton although the latter was affected by a broken floor which continued to drag along the ground, resulting in a flurry of sparks. Further back, the second Red Bull of local favourite Webber was again out of luck for the driver’s home Grand Prix, unable to maintain Vettel’s pace and running onto the grass on Lap 42 after his third scheduled pit-stop, gift wrapping fourth place for Alonso.

The Spaniard, who set a series of fastest laps on Soft tyres, proceeded to hunt down Petrov in the final laps although the latter was able to maintain his pace in what became a squabble not dissimilar to that of Abu Dhabi last season.

In seventh and eighth, Sauber confirmed a highly promising start to the campaign with seventh and eight places – translating to ten World Championship points. Impressively, Mexican rookie Sergio Pérez made a one-stop strategy work and finished some 11 seconds ahead of his more experienced team-mate.

Despite demonstrating strong pace in the late stages, Massa was forced to pit for a last time on the 49th of the 58 tours, eventually finishing nearly one and a half minutes behind the winner after being the leading Ferrari representative early on. Behind and making best use of a revolutionary double-decker floor, Sébastien Buemi kicked off Toro Rosso’s season by collecting the last point, with a Lap 8 and Turn 13 pass on Paul di Resta’s Force India having served as a crucial element in the achievement.

The day was truly disappointing for both Mercedes and Williams. Newcomer and GP2 Champion Pastor Maldonado was the year’s first retirement at Turn 9 – with technical problems – before Barrichello attempted a highly optimistic manoeuvre on Nico Rosberg at Turn 3, damaging the German’s sidepod and meaning both silver arrows were out of the action within the space of just two laps. The Brazilian, F1’s most experienced pilot, finally returned to his garage in the closing stages.

As Timo Glock managed to rejoin, the fifth and only other retirement was Heikki Kovalainen who stopped on-track for Team Lotus. After Hispania failed to qualify on Saturday, Jarno Trulli and Jérôme d’Ambrosio were 15th and 16th for Lotus and Marussia Virgin Racing, with Glock being classified nine laps down.

Vettel’s 11th career victory equals the sum of Jacques Villeneuve plus fellow current competitors Barrichello and Massa. Furthermore, the season-opening win was the first for a reigning World Champion for five years.