Who said F1’s boring?!
A fantastic Australian GP has silenced all the critics of the new rule changes in F1. All the drama, chaotic grid order changes and some nice overtakes and blocks, all ONLY because of the gamble that the F1 pilots took with their tyres when refueling was out of the equation.
My Star of the race without a doubt was Robert Kubica. He had a fantastic start, helped majorly by the first corner incident and followed it up with some awesome blocks. It was amazing how he managed to hold his nerve while defending his position against a clearly superior and charging McLaren of Lewis Hamilton during the first half. He never looked like being in trouble when Felipe tried his best to overtake him (He was ordered to but no one saw any hint of it on the track!). A P2 by any measure is nothing less than fantabulous for Renault. Well done Kubica!
For all the hype that was created for Lewis Hamilton being the dominant of the McLaren British duo, there was absolutely no sign of it when it really mattered! Jenson Button is an excellent driver when it comes to taking care of his tyres. That’s why the whole no refueling thing could be playing to his advantage. Lewis on the other side is aggressive and still has a lot to learn. We could see his intent in the way he overtook Nico Rosberg. Getting a clean exit over the S-curve he had the power and slip stream to take him past Nico over the high speed second sector. With full credit to Lewis, I suspect the Mercedes was not as fast as the McLaren. However with far fresher tyres and clearly the better car, Lewis could not even get close to making a solid move on the real champion material Fernando Alonso. Like Schumi, Alonso is one of those guys whom you don’t want to chase or get chased by in the last few laps with no more pit stops. Even Michael with his all conquering Ferrari could not a find a way past Alonso’s Renault at the 2005 San Marino GP.
After a dismal qualifying performance, Lewis accelerated his way to 7th at the start from 11th, thanks to Alonso’s spin caused by eventual race winner Button. No one was to be blamed. It was a clear racing incident. Button wanted the inside line after a good start and Alonso as usual never budged. Since Alonso entered the corner first, there was no reason why he should not block. It was a typical first-corner-Albert-Park incident. How Alonso went to the last position and came all the way to 4th is an amazing story. He went to the last position, went to the pits after the Kobayashi-Hulkenberg incident and muscled his way through the entire grid with some wonderful demonstrations in F1 overtaking combined with the one stop strategy.
All credit to Jenson again for managing his tyres as usual and patiently winning his second Australian GP on the trot. It was a pretty normal race for him once he got his strategy right by opting to run the soft tyres for 50 laps. He did struggle in the beginning on a not-so-dry track, but eventually managed to hold on to his car and in fact half the pack followed his switch to soft tyres in the next few laps.
Felipe Massa’s blitzkrieg off the start line was by far his best ever start and without doubt, THE start of the race. He raced past his more aggressive team mate in no time and was in second place after the first corner escaping the spinning Alonso. It was more disappointing later that Webber passed him for 2nd though he got it back via his pit stop strategy. Massa must have been pretty relieved that it wasn’t him blocking Lewis rather than his champion team mate because that would be too much to ask from this young man who has proven quite a few times to go for a spin when under pressure. He was enjoying the cushion of his team mate protecting him and it was pretty dissatisfying that he did not use this to push Kubica; or maybe he just couldn’t.
All Webber did on Sunday was to prove himself once again to be among the worst losers in F1. You cannot get any worse! The little tap on the back of Lewis while trying to pass him was such a rookie mistake and it cost him dear. He must be glad he could at least get some points. For all the Schumacher lovers who enjoyed his most hyped heroic comeback, this race was a total disaster. Hit at the first corner, he had his nose cone changed and rejoined the race at the least favored position on the grid. He did overtake the last few, but his duel with Luca di Grassi was one of the best to watch. The moment Schumi passed Di Grassi, the latter made a spirited re-pass on the 7-time champion as if to say “Hey there mate! U aren’t lapping me and U have to fight for my position!!” Even though Schumi won the duel, his inability to pass Algersuari for a considerable amount of laps was shocking. Maybe the car was damaged or his real talents are shown only now with a not so good car. Either way, let us just hope that he doesn’t make a mockery of his comeback because his younger counterpart loves challenges and has had the better of him in all their duels so far. Rosberg is a promising young talent and with the right car, believe me, he can win races. For once, Michael Schumacher is feeling how a real team mate challenge feels like. I’m afraid this won’t last long because at the end of the day, it’s the same old Ross Brawn who runs the office!!
Before I conclude, am I forgetting something here? Oh yes. I almost forgot! There was this little 22-yr old who started from pole and lead the race till lap 26. Poor Sebastian Vettel: Of all the drivers I’ve seen in my times, I consider him the second most unlucky guy of all times. He ran a perfect race, started perfectly from the cleaner side of the track and had no hiccups until that one fatal moment of a suspected brake failure.
Just in case you are wondering who THE most unlucky man is, it’s the Iceman himself – Kimi Matias Raikkonen.
