Jenson Button (McLaren) stole the lead of the Australian Grand Prix from teammate Lewis Hamilton and never looked behind, on his way to victory of the season's first race.
Despite having to switch to 'fuel-saving' mode because of a miscalculation by the team, Hamilton, and Button more so, proved McLaren has pace this year.
On his end, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel bettered his rough qualifying performance, first by overtaking a slow-staring Romain Grosjean in lap 1, and then by snatching second position from Hamilton in the late stages of the race.
By doing, the German proved Red Bull is not as far behind the Brits as it looked. His teammate Mark Webber salvaged a bad start to cross the finish line of his home Grand Prix in fourth place.
Sludged down the order by his bad take-off, Grosjean was hit by a fast-approaching Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault), thus ending a promising race on the sidelines.
It was also a tough day for Mercedes, whose drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were starting an encouraging 4th and 7th. Schumacher had to retire from third on lap 10 because of transmission problems, and Rosberg slid all the way down to 12th.
Former champions Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) recovered from their bad qualifying to finish respectively fifth and seventh – better than what they had foreseen.
Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez had a good day, bringing home 12 points between them. Daniel Ricciardo had a solid outing in his debut race for Toro Rosso, finishing ninth. Force India's Paul di Resta rounds up the top 10.
Race results* – Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)
1 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 58 laps in 1h34min09.565s
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 2.139s
3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 4.075s
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 4.547s
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 21.565s
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 36.766s
7 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 38.014s
8 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 39.458s
9 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 39.556s
10 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 39.737s
11 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 39.848s
12 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 57.642s
13 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1 lap
14 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1 lap
Fastest lap by Jenson Button (McLaren) in 1min29.187s
Retirements
0 lap - Nico Hulkenberg
1° lap - Romain Grosjean
10° lap - Michael Schumacher
34° lap - Vitaly Petrov
38° lap - Heikki Kovalainen
46° lap - Felipe Massa
52° lap - Bruno Senna
53° lap - Charles Pic
Drivers' standings (after round 1)
1.Button 25; 2.Vettel 18; 3.Hamilton 15; 4.Webber 12; 5.Alonso 10; 6.Kobayashi 8; 7.Raikkonen 6; 8.Perez 4; 9.Ricciardo 2; 10.Di Resta 1.
Constructors' standings (after round 1)
1.McLaren-Mercedes 40; 2.Red Bull-Renault 30; 3.Sauber-Ferrari 12; 4.Ferrari 10; 5.Lotus-Renault 6; 6.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2; 7.Force India-Mercedes 1.
*Unofficial results
Despite having to switch to 'fuel-saving' mode because of a miscalculation by the team, Hamilton, and Button more so, proved McLaren has pace this year.
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| Jenson Button, McLaren (Photo: McLaren) |
On his end, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel bettered his rough qualifying performance, first by overtaking a slow-staring Romain Grosjean in lap 1, and then by snatching second position from Hamilton in the late stages of the race.
By doing, the German proved Red Bull is not as far behind the Brits as it looked. His teammate Mark Webber salvaged a bad start to cross the finish line of his home Grand Prix in fourth place.
Sludged down the order by his bad take-off, Grosjean was hit by a fast-approaching Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault), thus ending a promising race on the sidelines.
It was also a tough day for Mercedes, whose drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were starting an encouraging 4th and 7th. Schumacher had to retire from third on lap 10 because of transmission problems, and Rosberg slid all the way down to 12th.
Former champions Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) recovered from their bad qualifying to finish respectively fifth and seventh – better than what they had foreseen.
Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez had a good day, bringing home 12 points between them. Daniel Ricciardo had a solid outing in his debut race for Toro Rosso, finishing ninth. Force India's Paul di Resta rounds up the top 10.
Race results* – Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)
1 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 58 laps in 1h34min09.565s
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 2.139s
3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 4.075s
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 4.547s
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 21.565s
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 36.766s
7 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 38.014s
8 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 39.458s
9 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 39.556s
10 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 39.737s
11 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 39.848s
12 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 57.642s
13 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1 lap
14 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1 lap
Fastest lap by Jenson Button (McLaren) in 1min29.187s
Retirements
0 lap - Nico Hulkenberg
1° lap - Romain Grosjean
10° lap - Michael Schumacher
34° lap - Vitaly Petrov
38° lap - Heikki Kovalainen
46° lap - Felipe Massa
52° lap - Bruno Senna
53° lap - Charles Pic
Drivers' standings (after round 1)
1.Button 25; 2.Vettel 18; 3.Hamilton 15; 4.Webber 12; 5.Alonso 10; 6.Kobayashi 8; 7.Raikkonen 6; 8.Perez 4; 9.Ricciardo 2; 10.Di Resta 1.
Constructors' standings (after round 1)
1.McLaren-Mercedes 40; 2.Red Bull-Renault 30; 3.Sauber-Ferrari 12; 4.Ferrari 10; 5.Lotus-Renault 6; 6.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2; 7.Force India-Mercedes 1.
*Unofficial results