2007 Australian Grand Prix

The 2007 Australian Grand Prix , officially the 2007 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix , [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 18 March 2007 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit . It was the first race of the 2007 Formula One World Championship . The 58 lap race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari after starting from pole position . Fernando Alonso finished second in his McLaren car, with teammate Lewis Hamilton third on his Grand Prix debut.

The Grand Prix was also the first since the 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix where all Formula One entrants utilized Bridgestone tyres as Michelin quit the sport after the 2006 season .

The morning session of Saturday brought with it sunny skies, but also a light drizzle at the start of the session. This forced teams who went out early to use their wet tires, but what little water was on the track dried up quickly enough to have no effect on any racer on dry tires. Räikkönen was the consistent pace-setter and topped the chart with a 1:26.064. Fisichella pushed his Renault to second with a time of 1:26.454. Rookie Lewis Hamilton came third over his teammate, the double and defen...

Fernando Alonso took command of Part Two with a lap of 1:25.326 to put him at the top of the leaderboard, with teammate Hamilton closely behind in third. BMW's Nick Heidfeld split the McLarens with second. However, Felipe Massa was knocked out of qualifying after an error in turns nine and ten brought his Ferrari to a halt, meaning he started the race from 16th on the grid, which would later become 22nd on the grid due to an engine change. Super Aguri's Takuma Sato made it through to part three....

Alonso again set the benchmark in Part Three with a time of 1:27.050. But he was soon knocked off top spot by Räikkönen, who went a second quicker with a lap of 1:26.072. Räikkönen kept pole position , with Alonso second, but Nick Heidfeld was third after Lewis Hamilton had an untidy middle sector which saw him end up in fourth. Robert Kubica was fifth, with Giancarlo Fisichella sixth.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was seventh with the Toyotas of Ralf Schumacher and Trulli eighth and ninth. Super Aguri's Sato rounded out the top ten.

At the start, Räikkönen got clear off the line. Alonso was passed by Heidfeld on the left and was stuck behind Räikkönen to his front. Hamilton was also briefly stuck behind the leading three before taking the outside line coming into the first corner to take third place; Alonso dropped to fourth position. McLaren team principal Ron Dennis would later accuse BMW of "showboating". [ 7 ] Anthony Davidson stalled on the grid and after getting underway hit Adrian Sutil , but managed to keep going. B...

Christijan Albers in the Spyker became the first driver to retire in the new season, missing his braking point at the Sports Center corner and hitting the tire barrier. The first to make a pit stop was second place Heidfeld on lap fifteen; four laps later Kimi Räikkönen pitted and came out in fourth behind Hamilton, now leading on his Grand Prix debut; Alonso and Robert Kubica . Alonso was the first of the two McLarens to pit, suggesting that Hamilton was on a heavier fuel load than his Spanish ...

The Briton's McLaren pitted a lap later and rejoined behind Räikkönen, who had now reclaimed his lead, but ahead of Heidfeld, who had now dropped to fifth position, and Alonso, despite being held up by the lone Spyker of Adrian Sutil , who received a drive through penalty for the infringement. Honda's Jenson Button also received a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Toro Rosso's Scott Speed became the race's second retirement after two of his tires deflated and he crashed at the ...

Six laps later at the same chicane saw Nico Rosberg overtake Ralf Schumacher for seventh place and soon pulled away from the Toyota . On the same lap, Kubica became the third retirement of the race after problems with his gearbox, which was the part of the car the Polish driver had been most worried about during the pre-season. At the front, meanwhile, Räikkönen was increasing his lead over Hamilton, his lead now over 18 seconds.

On lap 49, David Coulthard 's attempt to pass Alexander Wurz ended with Coulthard's car vaulting over the Williams, narrowly missing the Austrian driver's head. Both drivers escaped unharmed. [ 9 ]

Notes:

37°50′59″S 144°58′06″E  /  37.84972°S 144.96833°E  / -37.84972; 144.96833