Australia – Race: Räikkönen Wins Without a Hitch!

Even before the start of the race, initial information: Nico Hülkenberg will not start due to a fuel system problem on his Sauber C32.

The other information is that the Grand Prix starts on a dry track, despite a sky that is far from clear. Raindrops sprinkle the starting grid, but no heavy showers as the drivers complete their formation lap.

The red lights are out! The 2013 season is on! Right from the start, the Ferraris emerge behind the Red Bulls! Vettel holds the lead quite easily, but Webber and Hamilton make a mistake, and the Scuderia team takes advantage. The battle is raging between the two men, and Massa holds his ground against Alonso. Behind, for the fourth place, Räikkönen and Hamilton are side by side approaching the last sector of the Australian circuit. The Finn doesn’t manage to overtake the Briton, but he is patient and passes the Mercedes on the following lap.

In the realm of poor starts, Grosjean is eleventh after four laps, on super soft tires (red), under threat from Pérez on medium tires (white). The Mexican passes him for tenth place. Button is the first driver to pit to switch to medium tires in place of the super soft ones. He is followed, a lap later, by Webber and Grosjean. At the front, the Ferraris are closing in on Vettel’s Red Bull, and the three are within 1.4 seconds after 6 laps. The German then heads to the pits at the start of the 7th lap. Massa takes the lead, ahead of Alonso, but it’s Räikkönen who is quickly catching up with the Maranello men. Massa dives into the pits, leaving the lead to Alonso: the Brazilian comes out behind Vettel and Maldonado, in 10th position. At the end of the ninth lap, both Alonso and Räikkönen enter the pits to change tires simultaneously. Lewis Hamilton takes the lead ahead of Rosberg and Sutil.

On the tenth lap, Hamilton leads Rosberg, Sutil, Pérez, Vettel, Massa, Alonso, and Räikkönen. The first four drivers have not pitted. Vettel and then Massa overtake a struggling Pérez with the medium tires he started with. The Mexican persists on the track, allowing Alonso and Räikkönen to easily take advantage. At the front, the Mercedes cars are still on the track: their super soft tires seem to hold up well, even if the times are 1 to 2 seconds slower than the drivers on medium tires. Hamilton finally goes through the pits and rejoins in 8th, on medium tires, behind Pérez. Rosberg is in the lead but pits on the following lap to fit white-walled tires: the German rejoins ahead of Button and Webber, behind Hamilton. So at the front, it’s a surprise leader since Sutil still hasn’t pitted! The German is still on the starting medium tires, and a small train forms behind the Force India with Vettel, Massa, and Alonso, soon joined by Räikkönen. Sutil’s pace is very good and comparable to his pursuers; he even manages to pull away. Webber returns to the pits: his first set of medium tires lasted about fifteen laps, while Sutil is on lap 20.

On the twentieth lap, Sutil leads the dance ahead of Vettel, Massa, Alonso, Räikkönen, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Di Resta, and Grosjean. The Franco-Swiss driver goes through the pits once again to fit a new set of medium tires. Sutil is impressive and is the fastest driver in the lead, with medium tires that have 20 laps. Alonso, blocked behind Massa, plays the card of the off-strategy and goes through the pits to put on new medium tires. Sutil and Vettel pit: the Force India driver—who hasn’t fitted the super-soft tires, unlike Vettel at the start of the race—has caught up on his delay. Upon exiting the pits, Alonso wedges himself between Sutil and Vettel but overtakes the Force India on the outside in the second corner. Massa is alone in the lead and has a clear track. His strategy is different from his teammate’s. Behind, Vettel attacks Sutil and passes him for the sixth position. Massa pits and eventually returns behind Alonso, Vettel, and Sutil. At the front, it’s Räikkönen leading, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg. In fourth place, Alonso feels Vettel’s breath on his neck but manages to keep the German at a reasonable distance. On the 25th lap, Maldonado spins after braking on the grass and ends up in the gravel at the first corner. It’s the end of the race for the Venezuelan. Another retirement: Rosberg, who stops his car in the runoff area of turn 4. The group formed by Alonso, Vettel, Sutil, and Massa gains a spot: the Force India is under threat from the Brazilian’s Ferrari. On the radios, the pits warn the drivers: rain is coming, but it should be light enough to stay on track. Images from Massa’s camera confirm this, as the Ferrari driver still fails to pass Sutil.

**After thirty laps**, Räikkönen is the leader, ahead of Hamilton (+12.1 seconds), Alonso (+12.5), Vettel (+15.3), Sutil (+16.7), and Massa (+17.3). The battle is fierce between Alonso and Hamilton: the two are engaged in a superb duel. The Ferrari driver is unable to gain an advantage over the Briton in the first two sectors, but at the entry to turn 13, the Spaniard attempts a maneuver; Hamilton, defending, locks up his front left wheel significantly and finally concedes at turn 14. Alonso moves into second and Hamilton enters the pits to change tires. Alonso begins putting in the fastest laps and gradually distances himself from Vettel, Sutil, and Massa. The leader pits on lap 34: Räikkönen obviously comes back out on soft tires and behind Massa, in fifth place. On the Mercedes side, Hamilton indicates over the radio that he doesn’t think the tires will last the distance to the checkered flag. The two-stop strategy initially planned is no longer viable. Alonso is attacking and must try to regain as much time as possible on Räikkönen before his stop. Massa enters the pit lane and fits medium tires once again. In the pack, Button, ninth, is under threat from Grosjean, who is himself closely followed by Vergne. Vettel comes through the pits and rejoins behind Hamilton, in fifth place. Alonso, on lap 38, also pits, leaving the lead to Sutil, ahead of Räikkönen and Alonso. Behind, Vettel then Massa overtake Hamilton, who doesn’t put up much resistance, aware of the difficulty with his tires.

**After forty laps**, Sutil leads ahead of Räikkönen, Alonso, Vettel, Massa, Hamilton, Vergne, Di Resta, Webber, and Pérez. The Force India impresses, even though the German will have to switch to super soft tires before the end of the race. A new retirement, this time for Ricciardo, who returns straight to the garage. Di Resta, in eighth position, is under threat from Webber, but the Australian struggles to overtake the Scotsman, which he eventually manages with a brilliant maneuver at turn 9. Hamilton goes through the pits and comes out in sixth position, just ahead of Vergne and Webber. The Australian overtakes the Frenchman on the 43rd lap, before the Toro Rosso driver refuels on the 44th lap. At the front, Räikkönen easily takes advantage of Sutil, who had been instructed earlier not to defend his position against the Finn: the two men are not racing against each other. The race for victory should, at this stage, be between the Lotus driver and Alonso, who is making up ground with fastest laps. The Ferrari is indeed in the slipstream of Sutil’s Force India and overtakes him on the second DRS straight. The Spaniard has lost time on Räikkönen in the maneuver but is giving it his all. Sutil, by the way, goes to the pits to switch to the super soft tires he had not yet put on. He has about ten laps to go with this set. Alonso lost 3 seconds to Räikkönen in one lap, likely due to overtaking two backmarkers and tire degradation. Nonetheless, Vettel is gaining time on the Scuderia driver, though he loses some while overtaking Chilton’s Marussia and Van der Garde’s Caterham. Sutil, fifth on super soft tires, sees Hamilton closing in on him on medium tires.

After fifty of the fifty-eight laps, Räikkönen leads Alonso by 7.6 seconds. Following them are Vettel, who is losing time on the Ferrari, Massa, Sutil, Hamilton, Webber, Di Resta, Button, and Grosjean. The Franco-Swiss is under threat from Vergne, who is closing in fast: the Toro Rosso driver is the only one on the track improving his lap times. Sutil, struggling on super soft tires, gets overtaken by Hamilton and Webber: the Force India’s tires are worn out, even though they’ve only been used for 6 laps. The end of the race could be long for the German. Up front, Alonso gradually closes the gap to Räikkönen, but the Finn maintains a 6.1-second lead with four laps to go. Meanwhile, Vettel, in third, isn’t on the attack and is 17 seconds behind Räikkönen and 11 seconds behind Alonso. The Spaniard, moreover, narrowly avoids crashing into Pic in the last sector but manages to avoid him at the last moment. The Ferrari logically slows its pace and should secure a solid second place. The battle for tenth place is intense between Grosjean and Pérez, with the Lotus driver resisting but within DRS range.

The checkered flag is lowered, and it’s victory for Kimi Räikkönen! The Finn secures the 20th victory of his career, the second for the Lotus team, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

2013 Australian Grand Prix Standings: