What a difference two weeks make. After the yawn-fest that was the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Australian event had excitement from start to finish. Drivers were even managing to overtake each other.
It just goes to show that you don’t have to spend $150 million on a sterile Hermann Tilke creation to get a decent race… just run the track through your local car park instead.
Jenson Button’s win was definitely helped by his bold decision to stop early and swap his wet weather inter tyres for slicks. His smooth driving style then meant he could make those tyres last until the end, without needing to change again.
By contrast, Button’s team mate Lewis Hamilton did have to use another set of dry tyres. But those too began to degrade towards the end and, although he caught the fourth and third place Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, he was unable to pass them.
Hamilton was very public in his criticism of McLaren’s decision to bring him (but not Button) in again for new tyres. It was extraordinary, especially as during the closing stages he was heard complaining over the radio that even his second lot of dry tyres had gone off. That surely just proved that Hamilton was heavier on his tyres.
Either way, he was riled. It’s got to be hurting him psychologically that Button secured McLaren’s first victory this season.
After a first lap spin, Alonso’s drive from the back of the field was impressive, scything through with apparent ease. However, like Hamilton, he then seemed to reach a point where he couldn’t overtake anymore and he had to be content with fourth place, finishing just behind Massa.
Compare Alonso’s performance with that of Michael Schumacher. The Mercedes driver was also sent to the back after an opening lap bump meant his car’s front wing needed replacing. However, he seemed to struggle to overtake mid-ranking cars such as the Torro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari.
Schumacher eventually finished in tenth place, gaining a single point, but it’s debatable whether this has been the glorious return to Formula 1 he was envisaging.
Sandwiched between Button and the Ferraris was Robert Kubica in his Renault. He managed to hold onto a tremendous second place, nursing his tyres to the end despite being under constant pressure.
Red Bull should consider its weekend a disaster. The promise of a win was there following a dominant qualifying performance by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Things started going downhill when both drivers stayed out too long on their inter tyres with a drying track. Neither was going significantly slower than those cars already on slicks, but it resulted in Webber getting caught up in the pit lane traffic, dropping him several places.
Of course, the lowest point for Red Bull was Vettel’s brake failure on lap 25. It dumped him into the gravel trap and out of a race that he’d been leading since the start. Two races, two technical faults… not good.
Webber eventually finished in ninth, earning a reprimand from the stewards after he collided with Hamilton during the closing phase. His only consolation was setting the fastest lap.
Bernie Ecclestone is probably breathing a sigh of relief that Australia addressed many of the criticisms levelled at Formula 1 after Bahrain. Maybe he’s also thinking that a more interesting track should host the opening round in 2011?
Going into next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Alonso retains his lead in the championship with 37 points, followed by Massa and Button on 33 and 31 points respectively. Fans might just be wishing for a repeat of last year’s torrential rainfall at Sepang if it makes for another thrilling race.
