Sebastian Vettel ‘bull-ies’ competition at F1 race in Albert Park - Vodafone's Jenson Button suffers drive-through penalty for

27.03.2011 / Melbourne - Cairo - Abu Dhabi /

German Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel got his world championship defense off with the best possible start in Albert Park on Sunday evening, beating Lewis Hamilton’s KERS-assisted blast as they had a drag race to the first corner.

Vettel was already 2.4s ahead at the end of the opening lap, and simply controlled the pace to win by 22.2s after a problem with the floor of Hamilton’s McLaren caused an off-road excursion in Turn One on Lap 32 and affected the aerodynamics, stability and speed in a negative manner.

During the race, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was able to match Vettel’s speed and he did a better job sparing his tires in the first stint, as both ran two-stop strategies in a race in which all the pessimistic prophecy about the reliability of Pirelli’s tires proved completely unfounded.

Behind them, Red Bull’s Mark Webber originally ran in third position ahead of rocket-starting Vitaly Petrov in the Renault, who exploited the situation when McLaren’s Jenson Button forced Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to go wide into Turn One at the start of the race. As Webber weakened after being the first to change tires, Petrov moved into the third place which he maintained throughout the remaining distance as he became the first Russian ever to stand on a Formula 1 podium after an excellent race.

The closing stages of the race reminded all Formula 1 spectators of last season's spectacular final held in Abu Dhabi as a recovered Alonso, who like Webber was on a three-stop strategy, began to hunt the Russian Renault driver. Petrov finished 8.2s behind Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, with the Spanish Ferrari driver still 1.2s behind by the checkered flag.

Jenson Button had an unfortunate race for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, unable to pass a tough Felipe Massa in the opening stages despite the drag reduction rear wing. He passed the Ferrari on Lap 11 after having to run off the track as Massa squeezed him, whereupon Alonso also slipped ahead of his Brazilian Ferrari teammate. The race stewards later gave the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver and 2009 world champion a drive-through penalty for taking a shortcut, which compromised his race completely.

Finally, however, he pushed ahead of three-stopping Massa at the end of the pit straight going into Lap 54, and brought the second MP4-26 home in sixth place behind an unsatisfied Mark Webber, who pulled off the track immediately past the pit wall after crossing the finishing line. As a matter of fact, Adrian Newey said later that he had no idea what was wrong with the Australian’s car.

Sauber’s Sergio Perez was another sensation of the 2011 season opener. Driving on his debut with the spirit of Pedro Rodriguez at his shoulder, the young Mexican drove an incredible race with just one pit stop (up to four had been predicted) and beat team mate Kamui Kobayashi for seventh place on a great day for Peter Sauber’s team. The Swiss cars’ pace was too much for Toro Rosso to handle, who saw a resurgent Sebastien Buemi fighting with Massa for ninth place. The Swiss moved ahead on Lap 51, only to be repassed by the Ferrari three laps later.

Sauber's Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi however lost their seventh and eighth places in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after both were disqualified for technical infringements on their cars.

Following post-race checks, the Melbourne stewards decided that both Sauber C30s were in breach of technical rules 3.10.1 and 3.10.2, in relation to their rear wings. The team plan to appeal the decision.

Rookie Paul di Resta ran 10th in the opening stages after narrowly avoiding a Turn Three smash between Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari. He was overtaken by Force India team mate Adrian Sutil, got ahead again after their first of two pit stops, and traded lap times with the German as they headed home 11th and 12th. It was a very strong performance from the young Scot.

Alguersuari recovered from the first-lap contact with Schumacher, which damaged his Toro Rosso’s front wing and caused an early pit stop, while Schumacher got his right rear Pirelli torn off and later retired his Mercedes due to safety reason after replacing the damaged tire at the end of the lap. With Nico Rosberg losing his engine after the acquired damage from being shot down by "experienced" driver Rubens Barrichello's Williams, it was not a great day for the Silver Arrows, especially after the promising lap times both Mercedes GP drivers achieved in the last tests held in Barcelona.

Barrichello hit Rosberg in Turn Three when an audacious overtaking move went wrong, which was a shame as he’s been flying in the early stages after losing ground in the opening lap traffic. Williams Team mate Pastor Maldonado was the first retirement when his FW33 stopped out on the track.

Same goes for Nick Heidfeld, who was totally overshadowed by his Renault team mate and could not do better than an unimpressive 14th place ahead of Jarno Trulli’s Lotus and Jerome D’Ambrosio’s Virgin.

Barrichello hit Rosberg in Turn Three when an audacious overtaking move went wrong, which was a shame as he’s been flying in the early stages after losing ground in the opening lap traffic. Williams Team mate Pastor Maldonado was the first retirement when his FW33 stopped out on the track.

Timo Glock made several pits stops, while Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus retired due to a water leak.

Sebastian Vettel now leads the world championship with 25 points to Lewis Hamilton’s 18, Vitaly Petrov’s 12, and Fernando Alonso’s 10, while Red Bull lead the constructors’ title chase with 35 points from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on 24, Renault on 15, Scuderia Ferrari on 14, Sauber on 10 and Toro Rosso on one.

AE