Sebastian Vettel wins F1 Australian GP

MELBOURNE: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel made an ideal start to his Formula One title defense, driving a flawless race to outpace McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and win the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Starting from pole position, Vettel maintained his lead after the first turn, sped away and was never seriously threatened. Hamilton's chances of launching a pursuit were hampered by a damaged floor on his car and he had to settle for second, 22 seconds behind the German.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov was a surprise third, claiming his first ever podium finish with a strong drive.

"Fantastic race, really controlled," Vettel said. "Very cool, excellent car, excellent stops."

Vettel, who drove a two-stop strategy on the new Pirelli tires, made his first pit to change to softer rubber in the 14th lap, importantly emerging in third ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button. Vettel was back in the lead after Hamilton and Petrov pitted two laps later, and he controlled the race from then on.

"Lewis didn't push so hard any more. It was not an easy race," Vettel said, belying appearances. "The start was crucial, I was on the clean side and I had a good getaway."

Fernando Alonso finished fourth, while Australian Mark Webber was fifth, as both used three-stop strategies — one more than the podium finishers.

Button was sixth, falling short in his bid to win the race for a third straight year. He had to do a drive-through penalty after using a slip road to pass Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the early part of the race, and that cost him a shot at third.

Sauber's Sergio Perez was an impressive seventh in his first grand prix; remarkably only pitting once. He finished ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi, while Massa was ninth and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi took the last point in tenth.

It was a bad day for Mercedes, with both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg forced to retire.

"I had a good start, made up quite a few positions, then had a good run into turn three, but as I turned in someone (Jaime Alguersuari) knocked on to my right rear," Schumacher said. "The consequence was I had a puncture which destroyed the right tire, and driving back to the pits basically destroyed the right floor. In the end the team decided for safety it wasn't worth staying out."

Hamilton also damaged the floor of his car when he went wide on turn one of his 32nd lap, or perhaps shortly beforehand. He continued on even though he said after the race the floor was "massively damaged."

It was a creditable performance by McLaren, who were expected to be off the pace early in the season after a difficult offseason.

"We can take this and be very proud of ourselves," Hamilton said. "A week or two ago we were not expecting to be anywhere near the top five."

Petrov's mature performance was impressive and would give a boost to a Renault team who lost No.1 driver Robert Kubica to serious injury after a rally crash during the off-season.

"The team did everything perfectly and we should be massively proud," Petrov said.

Rosberg was forced to retire shortly after colliding with Williams' Rubens Barrichello on the 24th lap. Barrichello was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the crash.

Results from Sunday's Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the 5.5-kilometer (3.3-mile) Albert Park circuit with driver, country, car, time and laps completed:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, I hour, 29 minutes, 30.259 seconds, 58 laps.

2. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1:29:52.556, 58.

3. Vitaly Petrov, Russia, Renault, 1:30:00.819, 58.

4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 1:30:02.031, 58.

5. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:30:08.430, 58.

6. Jenson Button, Britain, McLaren, 1:30:24.563, 58.

7. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Sauber, 1:30:36.104, 58.

8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Sauber, 1:30:47.131, 58.

9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:30:55.445, 58.

10. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 1:29:28.705, 57.

11. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1:29:54.794, 57.

12. Paul di Resta, Britain, Force India, 1:30:23.766, 57.

13. Jaime Alguersuari, Spain, Toro Rosso, 1:30:28.923, 57.

14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Renault, 1:30:43.901, 57.

15. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Lotus, 1:30:53.536, 56.

16. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Belgium, Virgin, 1:29:34.518, 54.

Fastest Lap

Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:28.947 on lap 55.

Drivers' Championship

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 25

2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 18

3. Vitaly Petrov, Renault 15

4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 12

5. Mark Webber, Red Bull 10

6. Jenson Button, McLaren 8

7. Sergio Perez, Sauber 6

8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan 4

9. Felipe Massa, Ferrari 2

10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso 1.

Constructors' Championship

1. Red Bull, 35

2. McLaren, 24.

3. Renault, 15.

4. Ferrari, 14.

5. Sauber, 10.

6. Toro Rosso, 1.


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