2011 Formula One Results **SPOILERS**

Practice one

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:26.831
2 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:27.158 0.327
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:27.749 0.918
4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:28.152 1.321
5 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.430 1.599
6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.440 1.609
7 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.483 1.652
8 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:28.690 1.859
9 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.725 1.894
10 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:28.765 1.934
11 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.842 2.011
12 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:28.928 2.097
13 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:29.314 2.483
14 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:29.328 2.497
15 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:29.403 2.572
16 19 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:29.468 2.637
17 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.643 2.812
18 15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:31.002 4.171
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:32.428 5.597
20 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.282 8.451
21 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.289 8.458
22 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault
23 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth
24 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth

 

FP2

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.854
2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.986 0.132
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.001 0.147
4 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:26.014 0.160
5 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:26.283 0.429
6 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:26.590 0.736
7 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.789 0.935
8 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.101 1.247
9 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:27.280 1.426
10 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:27.448 1.594
11 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:27.525 1.671
12 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:27.528 1.674
13 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:27.536 1.682
14 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:27.697 1.843
15 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.095 2.241
16 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:28.376 2.522
17 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:28.583 2.729
18 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:29.386 3.532
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:30.829 4.975
20 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:30.912 5.058
21 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.106 6.252
22 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.135 6.281
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth
24 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth

 

FP3

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:24.507 15
2 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:25.364 0.857 14
3 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.553 1.046 15
4 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.567 1.060 16
5 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:25.906 1.399 18
6 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.121 1.614 16
7 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.417 1.910 17
8 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:26.520 2.013 17
9 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:26.746 2.239 17
10 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:26.856 2.349 15
11 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:27.008 2.501 17
12 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.011 2.504 15
13 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:27.066 2.559 14
14 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:27.087 2.580 15
15 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:27.180 2.673 15
16 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.068 3.561 7
17 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.077 3.570 9
18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:29.772 5.265 17
19 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:30.003 5.496 18
20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.261 5.754 15
21 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:30.496 5.989 5
22 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.704 6.197 18
23 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:41.554 17.047 5
24 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth No time 1

 

Qual.

A bit deplessing if you're a Ferrari or MS fan

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.296 1:24.090 1:23.529 16
2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.384 1:24.595 1:24.307 19
3 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:25.900 1:24.658 1:24.395 15
4 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.886 1:24.957 1:24.779 18
5 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.707 1:25.242 1:24.974 19
6 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:25.543 1:25.582 1:25.247 18
7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:25.856 1:25.606 1:25.421 17
8 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.031 1:25.611 1:25.599 18
9 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.717 1:25.405 1:25.626 17
10 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:26.232 1:25.882 1:27.066 15
11 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:25.962 1:25.971 13
12 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:26.620 1:26.103 11
13 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.812 1:26.108 9
14 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:27.222 1:26.739 16
15 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:26.298 1:26.768 17
16 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:26.245 1:31.407 15
17 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:26.270 12
18 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:27.239 10
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:29.254 10
20 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:29.342 12
21 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.858 10
22 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.822 8
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:32.978 11
24 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:34.293 11

 

Walk in the park for Verrel. Webber struggled. weird.
Hamilton still a gun driver.
Thrilling race for mercedes *cough(

 

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 +1 Lap
12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
13 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari +1 Lap
14 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault +1 Lap
15 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault +2 Lap
16 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth +4 Lap
Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +9 Lap
Ret 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +10 Lap
Ret 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +36 Laps
Ret 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault +39 Laps
Ret 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +39 Laps
Ret 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth +49 Laps

 

Neither Red Bull used KERS. They're not saying why.

 

Pity about Perez.

 

I like this guy.

Andrew Davies hails the new red threat. Vitaly Petrov finally showed why Renault had so much faith in him...

Star of the Race
Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 3rd
Apart from an absolutely stunning performance in qualifying, Vitaly had a brilliant start from the dirty side of the grid and drove an immaculate race. He didn't benefit from anybody falling off the road in front of him. At the end of the race when he came under pressure from Alonso he held on.

It was a stunning result for the Russian. Jake Humphrey asked Renault boss Eric Boullier afterwards what he could have done with Robert Kubica in the car and Eric rightly said that he may not have beaten Vitaly today. Petrov's result is the most emphatic vindication of his decision to keep Russia's only F1 driver in the car.

What's more, if Vitaly can get on the podium a whole lot more this season there is a shedload of money to be made from Compare the market.com (compare the meerkat.com). All Vitaly needs to do is end whatever he says about his race with the phrase "Simples" and he's got a cheeky free product placement. "I came up the inside of Jenson into Turn 1. Simples."

Overtaking Move of the Race
Lap 25, Jenson Button on Kamui Kobayashi
This doesn't go into the book because it was an overtaking exemplar, or because it was dramatic and race-changing. It may not even have been the first, but it was the first one we saw 'live' in high definition. Jenson Button deployed his DRS to reduce the drag and overtake Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber down the Melbourne straight into Turn 1. It allowed him to progress, just as it allowed Alonso to progress, and gave more dimension to the race.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1st
Vettel got away with it. On the one hand he managed to beat his KERS-equipped rivals without the benefit of the system - which could have made the gap to McLaren much bigger. On the other, he wasn't pressured by Lewis Hamilton who was closing on him up until the first tyre stops and whose damaged floor can't have aided the McLaren's performance. He also got past Jenson Button in a move that looked illegal at the time and was glossed over by the Red Bull apologist in the BBC commentary box (see Brundle + Coulthard).

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 2nd
The McLaren performance in Melbourne was staggering. Their revamped MP4-26 hadn't run a race distance (come to think of it, neither had Mark 1) yet both covered the 58 laps with only a bit of bodywork coming loose. To do so and still threaten Red Bull's pre-eminence was an amazing feat. Lewis Hamilton could easily have won this race.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 4th
Not a bad day's work for Fernando, he was only a second away from a podium position. From fifth on the grid that's got to be satisfying, especially considering he was back in 9th place on the opening lap. His usual combination of remorseless speed

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 5th
Amazing to think that Mark Webber got the same result in the all-conquering Red Bull as he did in his Minardi all those years ago. It was a curious race for Webbo, like somebody had left the handbrake on the car. He has had enough side-by-side comparisons with Vettel to know that he isn't that much slower than the World Champion, especially on street circuits. Yet today it was like he was driving a different car. Maybe Helmut Marko is lending a hand in race preparation these days.

A combination of slow teamwork and a small on-the-grass excursion gifted P4 to Ferrari at the final pit-stop and if performance is going to be close this year then these will be the difference between a bag-full of points

Sergio Perez, Sauber DQ
It's difficult to know how much the illegal Sauber wings aided their race pace but Perez had a brilliant debut by any standards. He lucked into a strategy that paid off and didn't make mistakes. A confident debut.

DRS (Drag Reduction System)
Before the start of the season we had dire predictions that the DRS rear wing was going to make F1 too easy and that overtaking would be commonplace. From the moment that Jenson Button failed to get the drag on Felipe Massa's Ferrari in the opening laps it was clear that you needed to have a lot of momentum and skill to get past the car in front. Make it too easy and it kills regular overtaking. Had Jenson breezed past, then the McLaren driver needn't have thought too hard about where he was going to overtake the next car on track, he'd just close the gap to the car in front, then use the straight. The difficulty in executing a DRS pass led to him trying elsewhere on the circuit and ultimately to far more entertainment.

Losers
Mercedes
Through no fault of their own, the Mercedes team's involvement in the Australian GP was over after 23 laps. Their ambition to be the No.3 team in 2011 has taken a significant blow. With Renault performing so well, at this rate they'll be lucky to hang on to P4.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 7th
A fantastic start from Felipe - it was hard to credit that the red car in front of Jenson Button was Massa not Alonso, but the yellow helmet was the give-away. Full marks for feistiness, but he didn't look to have Alonso's speed in the race and it could have been a lot worse than 7th. As with Mark Webber, he started 2011 the way he ended 2010.

Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 14th
It's never good to go out in Q3 while your team-mate goes on to Q1 and grab a podium. Any more of this and the Renault team will start asking Robert Kubica for weekly progress reports.

Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth, DNF
He may have been the most experienced driver in the field but Rubens Barrichello was full of rookie mistakes throughout the OZ GP weekend. His overtaking move on Nico Rosberg that put the Mercedes driver out of the race should be stored on You Tube: The How Not To Overtake in F1 collection. It beggared belief that a driver of his skill and his experience could even attempt it. He may have produced a crafty move to get in front of Kobayashi, but this was real Formula Close-Your-Eyes stuff.

Jenson Button, McLaren, 6th
Jenson learned that patience is a virtue, especially if you're going to start badly and not cover your inside line. Button must have been looking at Alonso on his outside all the way down to Turn 1 because he left a barn door open which Petrov drove through.

This ultimately allowed Massa through too and ruined his afternoon. Massa defended fairly and Jenson had no complaints about the robustness of it. His choice of the exit road should have prompted a call from the team straight away to let Massa back past. Martin Whitmarsh may have asked Race Control, but they've had experience in the past of Race Control saying one thing and the Stewards saying another.

The stewards then delivered a drive-through penalty and it was a lesson learned. The good thing was that Jenson looked like he had the pace to challenge along with Lewis Hamilton and that can only be good news for the races ahead.

Race Stewards
We were told that stewards were going to clamp down on overtaking moves made off the track this year. It didn't happen. Button's misdemeanour was an easy one to spot, but they should have hauled Vettel back and even worse, they ignored Buemi's overtaking move on Sutil that was made outside of the yellow lines.

Brundle and Coulthard
Oh dear. What a mistake this has been. Brundle and Coulthard in the commentary box delivered such a lopsided performance that it's difficult to know how the BBC can continue with it for much longer. And it's not a question of giving them time to improve either, the information given out through the race was adequate enough. Two drivers chatting together. Very cosy.

However the kind of person reading this column is deep enough into the sport to know what's going on in the race at any time. It would be interesting to see what a novice F1 fan made of it all, because neither commentator bothered to summarise what had gone on through the race, what the positions were, what the developments had been. It was a commentary of two fans with a lot of insight, not a professional commentary that filled the gaps for casual viewers. Jonathan Legard and James Allen may not have been Murray Walker, but at least they filled the gaps with what Martin Brundle maybe thought was inane banter.

The worst thing is, and this is the reason why it shouldn't be allowed to continue, is that David Coulthard is still employed by Red Bull and Mercedes (in DTM) so he is a partial commentator.

If you're a pundit giving an opinion that's fine, viewers can factor in the natural spin that he brings to comments about Red Bull. During a race commentary he has to be absolutely objective. He is a recorder of fact.

I'm not a fan of any particular team but if I were a McLaren fan I'd be offended by the sheer glee at which David predicted that Lewis Hamilton's car was going to grind itself into the tarmac and become illegal by the end of the race. Perhaps he was trying to add to the drama by bigging it up. Whatever, we can't suspend our view because we've heard him fighting the Red Bull cause for too long now.

The other point to note was that Coulthard was very light on Sebastian Vettel when he drove off the road for an illegal move on Jenson Button. Vettel and Buemi should both have given places back in the race. Vettel was only able to drive past Button at the speed he did because he had no intention of sticking to the race track on the exit of the bend. What's the point of employing two ex-grand prix drivers when a 12-year-old Physics student could have pointed that one out. Coulthard immediately went into PR mode and covered for his Red Bull colleague by suggesting all four wheel didn't cross the yellow line. Replays after the race showed they were miles outside the yellow line.

Commentators have to be neutral or they become a problem and Coulthard is a problem already. He has to quit at least one of his day jobs.

Andrew Davies

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it doesn't look close.

FP1
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FP2
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