After a chaotic 58 laps in Albert Park the Brit crossed the finishing line ahead of rivals Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg. The race included 3 safety cars and many incidents with eventually only 6 cars managing to reach the finishing line. The 2008 Australian Grand Prix certainly was action packed as it has been for the past few years.
Lap one brings broken carbon fibre and dissapointed drivers
The race didn’t get off quite too quickly, with several cars colliding at the first corner. Felipe Massa made a mistake at turn one, causing him to pit for a new front wing and re-join at the back of the pack. Fisichella and piquet also tangled but only Giancarlo retired. Button, Webber and Davidson were also casualties of lap one incidents and were all forced to retire from the race.
The 2007 champion remembers what annoys him when racing
The following 20 laps saw little action. After an amazing start, Raikkonen found himself in eight position, only to get stuck behind Barichello for longer than he planned.
Coulthard v Massa. Massa comes out on top
Just when we thought it might turn back into the usual settled racing with little action Felipe and David gave us something to talk about. The safety car was again deployed when Coulthard and Massa touched. The collision forced Coulthard out of the race with a badly damaged car. When questioned David had a few angry comments to make about Massa.
Kimi gets it all wrong when trying to tackle his fellow countryman
Raikkonen was ready to show Heikki that he is the King Finn by overtaking mid way into lap 30. He took his eye off the ball, or in this case didn’t put his foot on the brake pedal soon enough. Sliding through the red gravel he manage to turn back onto the track and re-join, only to find himself back of the pack yet again.
The grass isn’t always green where Kimi is concerned
The afternoon barely improved for Raikkonen. It was like one of thise dreams where you can’t seem to do anything right. A minor mistkae from the Finn cost him dearly. One wheel was accidentally placed on the grass. The result was a spinning Ferrari, off track for not the first time in the day.
A Toyota takes to the skies
Lap 44 allowed us to see a flying Toyato. It came at the expense of rookie Timo Glock. He ran wide and hit a ridge in the grass. The result was utter carnage. Formula 1 card arn’t built to fly, so when he returned to the earth with a bang his car spun crazily around the track and into the wall. With debris everywhere and an unsafely parked car, the drivers had to endure another session behind the safety car. Timo climbed out of the car looking winded, although he was able to walk which is good news.
Rubens doesn’t obay the traffic lights
During the third safety car period, Rubens Barichello illegally refuelled whilst the pits were still closed. After pulling away from his bay he took the guy holding the refuelling device with him. Seems he’s ok, no major injuries. Rubens was given a ten second stop/go penalty due to refuelling under red lights.
Will anyone get to the finish line in this Grand Prix?
The following next laps saw more retirements from Robert Kubicca and Nakajima. Raikkonen and Bourdais also had to retire from the race with engine problems.
I have one two world titles and you cannot mess with me…
The penultimate lap saw Kovalainen make a superb overtaking move on Alonso, only for him to loose it on the home straight. There was little he could do as all 6 of them crossed the line the following lap. A great start for Lewis Hamilton, a good effort by Nick Heidfeld and a great first podium for Nico Rosberg.
I enjoyed it, did you?
If every race turns out like that this season, I’ll be buying my first tickets to go watch one. Phew.
What did you guys make of it? I’ll post up some post-race reaction from the paddock soon.
