To the delight of F1 purists, Finland’s man of monotone Kimi Raikkonen won the Australian Grand Prix.
As the cars fire up in Sepang today for the Malaysian race on Sunday, what were the big talking points on the flight from Tullamarine to KL?
The results from Albert Park may be irrelevant
Those of us who survived the boredom of the Michael Schumacher Championship years are now risking heart failure at the level of on track action in the average race.
The race on Sunday had seven leaders! Over 50 passes for position! To top it all, there was a victory to a popular driver who was not fastest or even right up the top in any other session of the weekend.
To make matters even more confusing, the results of the Australian Grand Prix are not a benchmark for the rest of the season.
The temperature was much lower and the track much more slippery then what the drivers can expect for the rest of the year. This weekend’s race at Sepang will prove a much better barometer of what we can expect for season 2013.
Outstanding beginning for Lotus
Kimi won his second Australian Grand Prix with a terrific drive, making key overtaking moves when he needed to, and looking after his tyres well enough that he could use one less set then Alonso and Vettel and still cover them at the end of the race.
I have never been a Raikkonen Raver but must acknowledge that his return to F1 has seen a far more mature and thoughtful attitude to temper the recklessness or indifference he often showed at McLaren and Ferrari.
Lotus lacks the resources of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren to develop their car but right now, they have a terrific machine being driven by an in-form top quality driver. I don’t know if they can keep it up but they certainly started the season better than anyone else.
Red Bull has the fastest car, BUT!
And it is a significant ‘BUT’. Just as he has for the last four years, Adrian Newey has produced the fastest car for an unimpeded lap of a race track.
Indeed when Sebastian Vettel steamed off the start line and gained his customary two second first lap lead, the race appeared to be following the usual pattern. Instead he inexplicably fell back into the clutches of the Ferrari’s and Raikkonen who jumped past him, leaving him stuck in third.
This is probably because his car is very slow in a straight line. During practice alarm bells should have been ringing when he barely topped 300kph on Albert Park’s main straight while Lewis Hamilton was doing over 320kph.
Knowing this, it was no surprise that both he and Mark Webber found it almost impossible to pass a similarly paced car.
Speaking of Webber, if he seemed unusually positive for a man who had again collapsed in a heap for his home race, it was because he was relieved just to have started the race.
Internal gremlins again sabotaged his machine leaving him fighting Jenson Button for position, a man who in normal trim, was a staggering two seconds a lap slower.
It is likely that Red Bull will sort themselves out and be more suited to the warmer and more abrasive tracks. But until they do they will haemorrhage points.
The Mercedes and Force India Garages are already getting a little chilled
Each season brings new partnerships and there is always a guilty pleasure trying to spot the teammates who are going to fall out or at least have a titanic on-track rivalry. This being the case, it will be well worth keeping a very close eye on the Mercedes and Force India garages over the next few races.
I was fully expecting Nico Rosberg to get annihilated by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes but he is clearly a match in pace for the Brit and up for a fight.
Hamilton will be especially fun to watch, since his gushing enthusiasm for his new team is likely to calm somewhat after yet another weekend toiling away without possibility for a win.
This could be especially hilarious since he has been making numerous unkind remarks about McLaren for having the temerity to pay him millions of pounds of drive one of the fastest cars on the grid for six years and expecting him to do PR work as well.
Honestly, the nerve of these people!
The failure of McLaren and Williams
Hamilton is unlikely to be homesick for Woking as McLaren has produced a very disappointing car. It was clear from the first session that last season’s front runners were right back in the midfield.
Indeed, new drier Sergio Perez found himself behind the man who replaced him at Sauber, Nico Hulkenberg. Further back on the grid an even worse scenario was played out at Williams with Maldonaldo and Bottas behind the Toro Rossos and struggling to stay in front of the Marussia of Jules Bianchi.
The good news for McLaren is that they have the resources and know how to turn the car around and be back at the front by mid-season. The same cannot be said for Williams who lack the funds for a fast turn around and will probably be mired at the rear for the next 19 long race weekends.
Jules Bianchi, Wow!
I could easily get carried away about Bianchi but instead will let you ponder this. The last time a driver debuted at Albert Park and spent his very first race way in front of his teammate and harassing the established teams, it was 2001 and he was named Fernando Alonso.
We are being treated this weekend with prime time action with the race on ONE at 7pm Sunday night, coverage kicks off at 6:30 AEDST. Qualifying will also be broadcast in the same time slot the night before.
If it is anything like the Australian Grand Prix, we are in for another treat.
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