2012 Australian Grand Prix Results
The weekend in Melbourne started out with Lewis Hamilton taking pole position, followed by teammate Jenson Button and newcomer, Romain Grojean in third position. Vettel started a somewhat disappointing sixth, but he is not a driver to be under estimated! Hamilton was in good spirits after winning the pole position in Melbourne, his 20th. Sadly, the HRT team will not be able to compete in the Australian Grand Prix, as both its drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan did not manage to qualify within the 107% qualifying time (new rule). This means 22 drivers will contest the Australian Grand Prix.
British fans were elated with Jenson Button winning the Australian Grand Prix. He was followed by Vettel and Hamilton. Perhaps Vettel’s domination is over? Button drove a superb race, his third victory in Melbourne – it would have been four in a row, had Vettel not won in 2011. McLaren have shown their force in Melbourne and will be a team for Red Bull to beat this season. Button’s team mate, Hamilton, finished in third to show that perhaps both McLaren drivers are potential contenders this season.
First retirements came in the first lap, with Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean making contact and ending the race for newcomer Grosjean. Maldonado wass able to continue and ended up finishing the race in 13th place. The second retirement came when Mark Webber made contact with Nico Hülkenberg and took Hulkenberg out of the race. Webber suffered some damage, but was able to continue the race. In lap 47 Bruno Senna made contact with Felipe Massa, forcing him out of the race.
Up to the first 10 laps or so, Ferraris were looking good. With Michael Schumacher even moving up to third place, battling with Vettel for a while. But it wasn’t meant to be, Schumacher retired by lap 12 with gearbox problems. But team mate Fernando Alonso continued on to take fifth place. Not a good start to Ferrari.
The Safety Car was deployed in lap 37 because Vitaly Petrov spun out. This was a gift for Vettel, which slowed down the pack and allowed him to move into second place. Shortly after, Petrov’s team mate Heikki Kovalainen also retires with steering problems. This knocked out both Caterham drivers, a sad beginning to the season for the newly branded team.
The last five laps of the Grand Prix, saw the Button, Vettel, Hamilton line-up solidify and the race ended in this order. Button drove an excellent race, pretty much dominating straight from the grid, overtaking his team-mate, Hamilton, right in the first corner. A great weekend for the Brit.
On the Drivers’ Championship standings, Button garners 25 points for his win, followed by arch rival Vettel with 18 points and Hamilton with 15 points. Newcomer Jean-Eric Vergne just missed gaining a point in 11th place, but a good finish for him. Kamui Kobayashi starts off the season well in 6th place - 8 points, followed by old-timer, Kimi Raikkonen in 7th place with 6 points. Surprisingly, Paul di Resta for Force India gained 1 point in 10th place.
In the Constructors’ Championship standings McLaren reaped a nice set of points for their 1-3 finish, a total of 40 points. Team Red Bull is close behind, with their 2-4 finish, giving them 30 points. Sauber in 3rd place with 12 points, thanks to their 6-8 finish in Melbourne. Ferrari is a close 4th, with 10 points and Lotus in 5th place with 6 points.
Full Race Results
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:39:09.565s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) +2.139s
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +4.075s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull) +4.547s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +21.565s
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) +36.766s
- Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) +38.014s
- Sergio Perez (Sauber) +39.458s
- Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) +39.556s
- Paul di Resta (Force India) +39.737s
- Jean-Eric Vergne (Torro Rosso) +39.848s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +57.642s
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams) accident lap 57*
- Timo Glock (Marussia) +1 lap
- Charles Pic (Marussia) +5 laps*
- Bruno Senna (Williams) accident damage lap 52*
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) retired, lap 46
- Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) retired, lap 44
- Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) retired, lap 38
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) retired, lap 10
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus) retired, lap 1
- Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) retired, lap 0
*Note: although these drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, they were qualified as finishing, because they completed more than 90% of the race.