Regarding this...
I've uploaded the full lap for Mr Stevie, accompanied by some fitting music
Enjoy!
Was a pretty shoddy lap!
Anyway, I finally have some time to myself!
Raikkonen Victorious After Controversial Move.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen has secured his first win for Ferrari in an incident packed race, however, many are calling for the Finn to be given a penalty after he made contact with McLaren rookie, Stephen Bailey on lap 50 of the 58. The move, which resulted in substantial damage being done to the rear wing of the McLaren, paved the way for Raikkonen to take an easy win and the McLaren youngster to crawl home in 6th, nearly 50 seconds back. It is hard to judge who was at fault for the incident as the only pictures that have been found are after the McLaren is facing the wrong way with Raikkonen driving into the distance. Despite the lack of video and photographic evidence, the FIA say they will look into the incident.
Aftermath of Raikkonen/Bailey incident
Before the incident, Raikkonen had taken the lead off the line after he got away better than the McLaren. On lap 15 Bailey managed to use the Honda of Barrichello (being lapped at the time) beautifully to stick a gutsy move up the inside of the Ferrari to take the lead and held it until the coming together on lap 50.
Earlier in the race, there was another incident involving a McLaren and a Ferrari, but this time it was Alonso and Massa. The Ferrari man lost control on the exit of the fast chicane (turns 11 & 12), which resulted in him smashing into the nose of Alonso. Whilst Alonso was able to drag his battered McLaren back to the pits for a new nose, Massa smashed into the barriers and wrote off his Ferrari. Alonso slipped back to 7th, but thought back to pass Alex Wurz and then benefited from his team mates problems to grab 5th.
Whilst not the start McLaren were hoping for, they have at least got some points and showed that the cars are not only quicker, but also, already, more reliable than last years machine.
Short clip of Alonso/Massa incident
Honda suffered a miserable race, with Barrichello losing his front wing in a muliple car incident on the first lap and Button got taken out at turn 6 and stalled whilst trying to pull away.
The first lap crash accounted for Nico Rosberg and Takuma Sato, with Renault new boy, Heikki Kovalainen, losing his front wing and suffering some damage to the left hand side of the car.
Liuzzi and Coulthard were involved in a similar incident to Massa and Alonso, but it took both drivers out. Liuzzi suffered a far bigger impact than Massa did and it took some time to extract the Toro Rosso man from his car. Liuzzi was taken to the medical centre where it turned out he was suffering from mild concussion.
Liuzzi/Coulthard crash, TV and onboard
A mixed day for BMW with Nick Heidfeld finished in a fantastic second, but team mate Kubica's car got stuck in second gear which forced him into retiremen.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli scored a valuable 5 points in an unexpected points finish. This will certainly boost the struggling Toyota team after a tough winter. The same can be said for Renault, with Fisichella keeping out of trouble to grab a welcome podium and 6 points. Alexander Wurz and Mark Webber gave Williams and Red Bull a solid start to the season, after both teams struggled last year.
Australian Grand Prix result - 58 laps
1. Raikkonen - Ferrari
2. Heidfeld - BMW +7.007
3. Fisichella - Renault +22.832
4. Trulli - Toyota +33.729
5. Alonso - McLaren + 36.836
6. Bailey - McLaren + 48.940
7. Wurz - Williams + 50.569
8. Webber - Red Bull + 1:00.469
9. Schumacher - Toyota +1:06.027
10. Speed - Toro Rosso +1 lap
11. Sutil - Spyker +2 laps
12. Kovalainen +2 laps
13. Albers +3 laps
14. Barrichello +3 laps
Not classified
R. Massa
R. Davidson
R. Kubica
R. Button
R. Coulthard
R. Liuzzi
R. Sato
R. Rosberg
Pictures and championship standings to follow.
