Sebastian Vettel Leads From Start to Finish in the Australian Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel lead from start to finish in the opening race of the 2011 Grand Prix in Australia staying comfortably in control throughout.
In qualifying he was, by a worryingly large margin for the other drivers, faster than anyone else (read here) and he carried this form into the main race, leading from the front with a calmness that belied his age and experience.
By the end of the first lap he had already built up a lead of over 2.5 secs and perhaps rather ominously for the others, the Red-Bull team had decided not to use the KERS energy system which gives a temporary power boost to the car.
Behind him finishing in 2nd place was Lewis Hamilton, who described his podium finish as a great achievement after poor results during pre-season testing meant that he feared he wouldn’t be competitive this season.
After the race it became clear that he had also achieved this with a malfunctioning car, the floor and undertray had broken off leaving him struggling for downforce. By the end, Hamilton said that he was just trying to nurse the car home rather than chase Vettel for 1st place.
The 3rd place belonged to the Russian Vitaly Petrov with his first podium finish for the Renault team, mainly thanks to a start which saw him propelled into 4th place. He then drove a great race to hold off alonso to seal 3rd place.
Photo: enanom
