VETTEL OPENS SEASON WITH WIN
We'd had injuries, we'd had political sandstorms and now finally we had motor racing. The Aussies hadn't been expecting to host the season opener this time around but they had hosted it in '09 and before that, most of them since '96 so it's not as if they didn't know how to do it. Hell plenty of F1 fans were actually glad that the season would be starting in Albert Park! So, with Bahrain's fate in both F1 and political terms still very much up for grabs(somehow the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix's official status is only "postponed") we finally got down to business and in free practice the McLarens looked to have their uses. Those that didn't needed to beware though, those that couldn't pull off a Q1 time that was within 107% of the fastest time in that session would be at the mercy of the stewards as to whether they'd be allowed to race or not.
Well, all three Brits made it through to Q2 at the first time of asking but sure enough, the Hispanias not only failed to make the cut but their drivers became the first since '02 to register a "DNQ". The McLarens went on to make it through to Q3 though di Resta failed to make the cut - still, not a bad effort for a rookie in a Force India. In Q3 it was Lewis that was first to set a time...only for Vettel to blow that out of the water! And after that there was no way in hell anyone was going to stop the reigning world champion from starting the season on pole. Lewis would open his challenge from P2 and further down, Jenson would start his from P4.
In the race itself, well Jenson didn't have the best of starts and immediately dropped to 6th, forcing him to get after Massa and eventually get past the Brazilian, but not particularly cleanly and that eventually led to a drive-through for the '09 world champion and combined with a regular pitstop soon after, he fell to 11th. Still, he did make it back through the field again and even made it cleanly past Massa but wasn't in a position to get much further than that and had to settle opening his season with a 6th place. Further down, credit to di Resta who opened his F1 career with a 10th place finish and a world championship point at the first time of asking.
As for Lewis, well he managed to retain 2nd at the start pretty smoothly but to start with the lead looked to be dissapearing away. Eventually the '08 world champion managed to stabilise things though it wasn't untill the pit stop cycle started that Lewis was able to take the lead! That didn't last though and again the McLaren main main was forced to give chase and not only that but trouble with his undertray didn't do him any favours either. Luckilly he managed to survice those issues and came home to open his season with a 2nd place. A very solid performance from the Brit that immediately dispells McLaren's preseason gloom and shows that the Red Bulls surely won't have it all their own way.
However, for this weekend there was only one real start of the show and for most of the contest it was Sebastien Vettel. This 2011 Red Bull is clearly a quality car, maybe the best of this season's field, ultimately it's too early to tell. The fact is though that after the pitstop cycle Vettel wasn't going to be stopped - it was one of those races where the action was largely further down the field. The reigning world champion never really had to defend his lead and cruised to open his season with a win. As Jake Humprey said, "if they were to write a book about defending world championships, chapter 1 would be called 'win the opening race'". Job done for the German.
So, the initial championship standings look like this: Vettel's the initial leader with 25 points, Lewis opens in 2nd on 18. Further down, Jenson opens in 6th place with 8 points.
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