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17:02 Five lights, GO! 17:01 A quick formation lap from Vettel and he's waiting on the grid. The Caterham's now forming up at the back. I sense a shunt at turn one... 16:59 We're away on the formation lap. The top ten all on super softs, and only Sutil, Ricciardo, Perez and Maldonado starting on mediums 16:58 We're two minutes from the start. How long the super soft tyres can last is going to be the first big question. Well, the first big one after who leads in to turn one... 16:56 The Williams team members are all wearing black armbands today in memory of Lady Virginia Williams who died recently 16:54
16:51 The wind has picked up and there are dark clouds nearby. I've decided to make no predictions - weather or otherwise - as I've got EVERYTHING wrong so far this weekend! 16:49 Preetam is happy with Hulkenberg's misfortune: "Now sutil in 11th grid and PDR in 9th very good chance that both driver will get points...my predict Force India will finish 5th in constructor.." 16:46 The weather was bright sunshine just now, but cloud cover means it's a little overcast now. The track is bone dry at the moment but we may well see rain at some stage this afternoon 16:42 With the cars on the grid and various members of the media trying to speak to the drivers, we'll tell you how you can get to speak to us. You can email us using the link above or you can get in touch via Twitter @ESPNF1 16:38 Got to feel for Hulkenberg, who was starting 11th and had free choice of tyres which could have been crucial with the top ten all on used super softs. The next best placed man in that regard is now Sutil. 16:36 BREAKING NEWS: Nico Hulkenberg will not start the race due to a fuel system problem:
16:32 So it's Vettel on pole by some margin as part of a Red Bull lockout with Lewis Hamilton third. The RB9 looked dominant as the track dried, but that was in qualifying conditions. Will the race be the same? Will it rain? Will Webber sort his starts out enough to beat Vettel in to turn one? There's plenty more questions after that too 16:30 Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's live coverage of the Australian Grand Prix. It's been a busy day at Albert Park so far, and if you missed the conclusion of the delayed qualifying, here's what happened |
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Lap 1 |
Vettel leads away and Massa makes it up to second! Alonso passes Hamilton for third in to turn three, brilliant start for Ferrari. Webber with a shocker. Hamilton and Raikkonen fighting over fourth while Massa defends from Alonso - no team orders there |
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Lap 2 |
Hamilton looks slow at this stage as he holds up Raikkonen. Webber is seventh behind Rosberg. Vettel leads by two seconds at the end of lap one. Bad start for Grosjean who is 11th. Raikkonen passes Hamilton in the final sector and streaks away |
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Lap 3 |
Massa with the fastest lap and the gap is 1.8s. Raikkonen went round the outside of Hamilton at turn 13. Bianchi with a great start up to 16th for Marussia, Ricciardo a shocker too and last in the Toro Rosso DRS is enabled |
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Lap 4 |
Massa again closes the gap slightly but it was Alonso who was quicker than his team-mate and right behind the second Ferrari. Perez attacking Grosjean for 11th on the medium tyres. A replay of the start shows I was once again wrong, very clean. Alonso made the best start but had to lift behind Hamilton |
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Lap 5 |
Vettel with a slow lap and Massa is within 0.8s! Button already pits for medium tyres. Perez is through ahead of Grosjean. Sutil is right behind his team-mate di Resta now while Webber pits at the end of the lap. Gutierrez and Grosjean in too |
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Lap 6 |
Vettel leads Massa by just 0.7s while Alonso is 0.6s behind his team-mate. Raikkonen is coming to join the party too. Webber has quite a slow pit stop. Ricciardo up to 14th after passing van der Garde. Bianchi up next for him |
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Lap 7 |
Vettel responds to peg the gap. The front three are all running in a line - this is what we wanted to see! Raikkonen now 3.5s off the leads but Hamilton is another 4.1s back - with Rosberg 4.1s behind his team-mate. Vettel's in the pits. |
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Lap 8 |
Both Ferraris stay out, as does Raikkonen. Three second stop for Vettel and he's out behind Maldonado in 11th place. Raikkonen is flying. He's 1.2s behind Alonso and gaining very quickly. Alonso runs a touch wide at turn 12 and Raikkonen is right behind him now. Massa pits first as he's the lead driver of the two |
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Lap 9 |
Great stop from Ferrari but the undercut means Vettel stays ahead. Vettel is past Maldonado. Raikkonen all over the back of race leader Alonso. Sutil up to fifth on the medium tyres behind the two Mercedes. Both Alonso and Raikkonen pit |
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Lap 10 |
Vettel with the fastest lap and we're exactly as we were, but with Vettel having pit first he's got a bigger gap now. Hamilton leads Rosberg by 3.7s and the Mercedes seems to be doing OK at looking after its tyres |
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Lap 11 |
Massa sets the fastest lap as he tries to close the 2.2s gap to Vettel, but Vettel goes round the outside of Perez at turn three for fourth place. Massa will hope to clear the McLaren quickly. And he does with a great move around the outside of turn 13. Dark clouds are gathering. |
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Lap 12 |
Alonso uses DRS to pass Perez on the pit straight. Hamilton does a lap within 0.5s of Vettel despite having done 11 laps on these super softs. Very impressive... Raikkonen set the fastest lap on lap 11 and then he's past Perez in to turn 11 at high speed. |
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Lap 13 |
Hamilton is doing a great job and leads Rosberg by 4.8s. Vettel now 1.7s behind third-placed Sutil and has Massa catching him by half a second per lap. Mercedes mechanics out and it's for Hamilton |
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Lap 14 |
Rosberg now leads, while Hamilton rejoins in 8th behind Perez. Button is 10th ahead of Webber - absolute nightmare for the second Red Bull so far. Vettel is stuck behind Sutil with both on medium tyres. Rosberg pits and Sutil leads! |
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Lap 15 |
Impressive from Sutil, but the bigger news is that Massa is just a second behind Vettel. Aonso is right there too and Raikkonen 2.9s back. Rosberg rejoins in 10th ahead of Button after a bit of defence. Robert asks: "Is there any news on the weather? Are we expecting rain for the race??" There's a threat of showers but nothing yet... |
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Lap 16 |
Sutil continuing to lead and hold off Vettel. Sutil actually 0.1s quicker on that last lap. Massa and Alonso directly behind Vettel, while Raikkonen is starting to close on the leaders now. Perez pits from sixth for the first time having started on mediums |
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Lap 17 |
Sutil pulls away by another 0.1s. Vettel keeps getting DRS though to keep the Ferraris at bay. Hamilton is the quickest man on track right now but 15s off the lead |
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Lap 18 |
Sutil has pulled over a second ahead of Vettel which means he no longer has the DRS to worry about. Massa's eyes will have lit up under his helmet at that news. Sun shining now so maybe we can't depend on rain, though some dark clouds still nearby. Webber is in the pits for his second stop |
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Lap 19 |
Vettel now 1.2s behind Sutil. and Massa just 0.5s behind Vettel. Raikkonen is 4.4s off the lead and less than 2s behind Alonso. Perez is told McLaren believes "almost all other cars are on a three-stop strategy as well". Grosjean pits from 11th |
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Lap 20 |
Sutil does have the super soft still to run and is yet to stop, but he's pulling away from Vettel now... This is incredible. Raikkonen is starting to catch this train and Alonso pits! Second stop for Alonso while Sutil is yet to pit. Alonso rejoins in 7th behind Rosberg |
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Lap 21 |
Vettel seems to be struggling a touch on these tyres as he pushes hard. Sutil is coming in at the end of this lap and Vettel is straight in the pits too! Sutil retains his lead over Vettel, though he may have struggled to slow for the pit lane limiter line... ALONSO IS THROUGH |
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Lap 22 |
As both Sutil and Vettel rejoin, Alonso is ahead of the Red Bull and then gets Sutil on the exit of turn one. Massa looks like he's trying to two-stop from here, and Raikkonen is 1.4s behind him |
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Lap 23 |
Vettel dives past Sutil in to turn three from a long way back. Great move. Alonso next up for Vetetl. Hamilton is third but Massa pits and will have lost out here. Raikkonen leads |
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Lap 24 |
Poor Massa. Alonso has track position and Massa didn't really extend his stint so rekoins in 7th behind Sutil. Raikkonen leads but Hamilton is catching him at about 0.6s per lap. 10.5s the gap. |
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Lap 25 |
Scratch that last post - Raikkonen is quick as he does a lap 0.6s quicker than Hamilton and at the same pace as Alonso. Sutil has caught the back of Vettel again
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Lap 26 |
Rosberg has Alonso close behind him now. Alonso is 0.8s clear of Vettel and Sutil 0.6s behind the Red Bull. A weather radar says 'Rain expected' in about 10 minutes! Not that we need it... |
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Lap 27 |
Rosberg has parked it well so there's not even yellow flags |
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Lap 28 |
Massa close behind Sutil in to turn one and he attacks in to three but Sutil defends well. Alonso has put 1.2s between himself and Vettel. Webber warned of light drops of rain coming between turns 13 and 14 |
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Lap 29 |
Raikkonen is not that quick any more and leads Hamilton by 13s with Alonso 3s further back. It's raining as Massa attacks Sutil in to turn three. Ponchos going on in the crowd. Alonso is reeling Hamilton in now |
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Lap 30 |
Raikkonen's pace is improving while Hamilton is told "now is the time to push" and he replies with "this is as much as I've got at the moment". Alonso right on the back of the Mercedes now |
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Lap 31 |
Alonso can't get through on Hamilton in to turn one or turn three. A proper battle between these two and Hamilton asks "is Alonso on a three-stop?" The reply is "Yes he is, but we want to keep him behind" |
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Lap 32 |
Oh dear. Hamilton hugely locks up trying to hold off Alonso in to turn 13 and he has to pit immediately. He rejoins in 7th ahead of Webber. That lap hugely helped Raikkonen though as he was 3.2s quicker than Alonso on that lap. The Ferrari fell back in to the clutches of Vettel though |
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Lap 33 |
Raikkonen quicker on the next lap too and he leads by 16.4s. Hamilton is told how many laps of the race are left, which suggests he's attempting a two stop. Alonso, Vettel, Sutil and Massa covered by 2.3s |
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Lap 34 |
A good lap from Alonso and he cuts Raikkonen's lead to 15.1s. Raikkonen bringing himself right in to the two-stop window though, and as it stands he'll have a handsome lead going in to the final stint. Hamilton is 1.9s ahead of Webber and pulling away. Lotus mechanics ready... Raikkonen is in for another set of medium tyres |
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Lap 35 |
Alonso goes through in the lead. Raikkonen rejoins back in fifth but he's in good, clear air and just needs to do 23 laps on these medium tyres. With fuel burning off he should be fine. Hamilton radios in to say "My tyres are not going to last 27 laps at this pace". He's 26s off the lead but was hoping not to pit again |
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Lap 36 |
Raikkonen is just 13s off the lead as Alonso runs a touch wide at turn five. Vettel doesn't seem to have the pace and is 3.6s behind Alonso, but he's gapped Sutil by three seconds too. Alonso has put the hammer down in response to Raikkonen. Massa pits for a final set of medium tyres |
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Lap 37 |
Massa back out, while Button is doing a good job in 8th place ahead of Grosjean and Vergne. Vettel pits from second place to react to Massa. New mediums at Red Bull, and Hamilton is ahead in to fourth place |
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Lap 38 |
Button and Grosjean pit together and leave together. Spots of rain on Vettel's on-board camera as Massa chases him down. Raikkonen ups his pace in third and is 14.7s behind Alonso |
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Lap 39 |
Massa with the fastest lap. Sutil in 2nd is told not to waste his time with Raikkonen who is 4.2s behind him. Quick mention for Bianchi who is doing a great job in 16th and running quicker than those ahead of him |
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Lap 40 |
Alonso pits and rejoins in third, quite a way behind Raikkonen. Sutil now leads by 3.7s from Raikkonen. Vettel is past Hamilton in to turn one and will set off after Alonso. Massa struggling to pass Hamilton as light rain continues to fall in the final sector. Massa is through now round the outside in to turn 13 |
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Lap 41 |
Alonso is catching Raikkonen - the gap is 7.1s between the two. Ricciardo retires with what we believe to be a broken exhaust. Bottas pits for a third time from 14th and may drop behind Bianchi |
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Lap 42 |
Alonso takes 1.5 SECONDS out of Raikkonen on that last lap. Sutil continues to lead but has to stop again as he hasn't used the super soft yet. 5.5s between Raikkonen and Alonso. Webber passes di Resta for 8th with a great move around the outside of turn nine |
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Lap 43 |
Raikkonen responds to close within 1.2s of Sutil and and the gap to Alonso is 6.3s. Hamilton pits for a new set of mediums and stays sixth, just ahead of Vergne. Alonso flying now as Raikkonen retakes the lead from Sutil |
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Lap 44 |
Alonso takes two seconds out of Raikkonen on that lap. Race on. Raikkonen is 4.5s ahead of Alonso. Vettel and Massa with good pace too. Webber passes Vergne in to turn three for th and has Hamilton up ahead |
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Lap 45 |
Alonso with another quick lap and he's now four seconds off the lead. Sutil is 1.3s ahead of him too. Vergne pits from eighth. Alonso struggling to find a way past Sutil |
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Lap 46 |
Good lap that for Raikkonen, as he pulls 4.6s clear of Alonso. Alonso uses DRS on the run to turn three and is through up to second place. A squabbling van der Garde and Chilton up ahead and then Raikkonen, who is pushing again. |
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Lap 47 |
Good lap from Raikkonen and that actually bought him time - the gap now 6.2s. Sutil pits for super soft tyres. Chilton attacked van der Garde but didn't make it stick so has allowed Alonso through. Nobody between the front two now but a growing gap... |
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Lap 48 |
Raikkonen leads by 7.7s and Alonso may have overcooked his tyres? Vettel is 4.9s behind Alonso and Massa another 2.9s back. Alonso is told of the gaps in Italian. Hamilton just 3.2s behind Sutil at this point |
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Lap 49 |
Make that 1.8s between Hamilton and Sutil. The gap at the front is 7.9s and Vettel can't match the pace. Massa is closing at 0.2s per lap. Bianchi's radio: "There is rain on the radar, very light. Very light rain". Chilton's past van der Garde |
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Lap 50 |
Hamilton is catching Sutil by 0.5s per lap. Hamilton actually quickest on track right now. There's an undercurrent in Hamilton v Sutil too after the pair's friendship ended over Sutil's nightclub incident in China |
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Lap 51 |
Raikkonen seems to have this covered at present as he leads by 7.4s. Hamilton uses DRS in to turn three but Sutil defends well. He's on super softs though and I can't see him keeping Hamilton at bay. Hamilton dives through in to turn nine with a good move. Webber all over Sutil now and after some good racing Webber is through |
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Lap 52 |
Vergne does the fastest lap of the race. Sutil's tyres are shot and he needs to pit. Di Resta is 8th and catching him at about seven seconds per lap! Bianchi pits for a third time for Marussia having been just 15s behind Bottas |
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Lap 53 |
Raikkonen leads Alonso by 7.2s while Vettel is 8.9s back. Massa in fourth is 5.5s behind Vettel and slower now. Perez in 12th is catching everyone ahead of him but is five seconds off the points - though Sutil is dropping like a stone |
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Lap 54 |
Alonso cuts the gap to 6.7s as we enter the final five laps. Hamilton is catching Massa but is 17s back so won't close up enough. Button in 9th has Grosjean and Vergne right behind him |
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Lap 55 |
Raikkonen leads by 6.1s while Vettel is now 17.8s off the lead. Where did Red Bull's pace go? I warned that qualifying pace was one thing, but still... Sutil is 4.8s ahead of team-mate di Resta but Sutil may be able to hold on to 8th |
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Lap 56 |
Three laps to go and Raikkonen is now 8.3s clear after doing a personal best lap. Alonso almost ran in to the back of Pic under braking for turn 15, as he lost the rear but disaster just averted. Button with a good lap gets himself clear of Grosjean and Perez is now behind the Lotus. Something might have happened between Vergne and Grosjean |
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Lap 57 |
Raikkonen does the fastest lap of the race and is 10 seconds clear with two laps to go. The gaps are growing between the front runners as the race nears its end. Perez hassling Grosjean but can't find a way through. Di Resta 1.8s behind Sutil |
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Lap 58 |
Raikkonen starts his final lap with an 11.5s lead. No safety car, no rain, and a big lead. This is impressive. Can't say it's thanks to hot conditions either! Sutil looks to be holding on in seventh for now. can Perez find a way past Grosjean? Here comes Raikkonen, two corners to go...
Alonso comes home a distant second, while Vettel is third and Massa fourth. Hamilton crosses the line fifth just ahead of Webber in sixth. Sutil with a great final lap to retain seventh from di Resta. Button takes ninth with Grosjean just 0.6s ahead of Perez in tenth. Perfect drive form Raikkonen. Nails the two-stop strategy and, typically, doesn't make a mistake. That's the second victory in four races for Raikkonen after his win in Abu Dhabi last year. |
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Alan Permane congratulates Raikkonen before Kimi walks out and salutes the crowd outside. Sir Jackie Stewart keen to pass on his thoughts too. Raikkonen ended the race 12.4s clear and there was generally 10s between each of the top five drivers. Vettel still smiling and keen to chat with Alonso - there seems to be even more respect there this year - and three world champions will take to the podium. As the drivers come out and salute the crowd, a quick mention for Sutil and Bianchi - both with really impressive performances today. As the national anthems ring out I recall how Raikkonen was after his first win last year: within 20 minutes of the end of the race I saw him walking round the paddock with a beer in his hand... Well deserved celebrations which I expect will be repeated tonight! Indeed, this is the exact same podium as in Abu Dhabi. Vettel and Alonso clink champagne bottles and now it's time to hear briefly from the drivers... Raikkonen on the strategy: "I thought it should be easy to do it ... I knew that I had a good car but I had a good feeling that I could do well today. The car has been very good all weekend and it was a pretty nice race, not so difficult." Alonso says he's feeling "Fantastic. It was a fantastic race for us fighting all through the race. The race was action every lap and personally enjoyable. In the end a little bit sad not to win the race but Kimi was fantastic today, the Lotus car as well ... we have a very interesting year ahead!" Vettel asked where the pace went: "First of all we can be happy with today. I think we could see after a very good start that the tyres were falling apart and we couldn't go as long as other people. I think we were third quickest today in the race and I am happy with third place. You have to admit sometimes that other people are faster." Raikkonen told he's leading the championship: "It feels good but it's only one race ... there's a lot of work to do to try and win the championship" Alonso throws his cap in to the crowd and as last year's top three in the 2012 championship (in reverse order) leave the podium, we're going to end our coverage. All the reaction will be on the site very soon, so stay with ESPN. Laurence is already out in the paddock working hard and you can keep up on Twitter too. Thanks for all your comments today, see you next week for Malaysia! |
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Maldonado has beached it at turn one and DRS is disabled. Looks like Maldonado hit the brakes with a wheel on the grass
KIMI RAIKKONEN WINS THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
