2011 Australian Grand Prix

The 2011 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix ) [ 2 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 2011 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne . It was the 76th race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix that dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928. Originally planned as the second race of the 2011 Formula One season , it became the season opener with the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix due to civil unrest in the country. [...

Race

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound. This was the same tyre selection that Bridgestone had chosen to bring to the Australian Grand Prix in the previous year. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

Practice

Despite claiming during the off-season that they were a second behind their rivals, McLaren followed Red Bull in claiming the two fastest times in the second session, with Jenson Button a tenth of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton , Alonso and Vettel. Intermittent showers late in the afternoon led to race control declaring the circuit to be wet, but no driver used the wet or intermediate tyres, and a dry line was quickly established. The final half hour was run under race conditions as a simul...

Qualifying

The second session opened with a mistake from Rubens Barrichello that saw him spin off. He failed to set a time, and so qualified seventeenth on the grid. Sauber 's Sergio Pérez also struggled with a hydraulics problem that cost him track time. Michael Schumacher failed to advance to Q3 by one hundredth of a second. Jaime Alguersuari qualified twelfth, followed by rookie drivers Pérez, Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado . Adrian Sutil was left sixteenth on the grid when, on a fast flying lap, he...

The final session started with Sebastian Vettel setting a time that quickly proved to be unbeatable. Mark Webber held second place for much of the period before Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were able to split the Red Bull cars. Webber was able to reclaim third from Button, but was mystified as to his lack of pace compared to his team-mate; Vettel was almost a second faster than Hamilton. He was observed to set a similar time later in the session without using his KERS device at all during th...

Race

Vettel made the best start from pole whereas the McLarens of Hamilton and Jenson Button started slowly from second and fourth on the dirty side of the grid. This left Vettel unchallenged into the first corner, with Hamilton's KERS button allowing him to just keep second from Webber. Button was unable to defend his position as he was under challenge from Fernando Alonso and Vitaly Petrov . Petrov took fourth and Alonso was pushed on the grass and dropped back, while Button dropped to sixth behind...

Sebastian Vettel was 2.4 seconds ahead of Hamilton at the end of the first lap, and he increased it to 3.2 seconds at the end of lap 2, with Webber right behind Hamilton. Hamilton then began to respond to Vettel's fast laps, easily pulling away from Webber and keeping the gap to Vettel around 3 seconds. Webber and Petrov were comfortable in third and fourth, with the main battle on the track being Jenson Button's repeated attempts to get fifth from Massa. Button tried many times to pass Massa, b...

Quick Facts

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2011 Australian Grand Prix Distance

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:25.296	1:24.090
2	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:25.384	1:24.595
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:25.900	1:24.658
4	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:25.886	1:24.957
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:25.707	1:25.242
6	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:25.543	1:25.582
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:25.856	1:25.606
8	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:26.031	1:25.611
9	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:25.717	1:25.405
10	18	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:26.232	1:25.882

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	58	1:29:30.259
2	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+22.297
3	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	58	+30.560
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	58	+31.772
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	58	+38.171
6	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+54.304
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	+1:25.186
8	18	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	57	+1 Lap
10	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	57	+1 Lap

Table 3

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	25
2	Lewis Hamilton	18
3	Vitaly Petrov	15
4	Fernando Alonso	12
5	Mark Webber	10
Source:[17]	Source:[17]	Source:[17]

F1ABY Commentary

Did the rain ever truly wash away the tension simmering beneath Albert Park, or merely reveal the raw ambition pulsing through each driver’s veins? Vettel’s victory felt less like a calculated triumph and more like a young man, still finding his footing on the world stage, seizing an opportunity with a brutal, almost unsettling, grace. Petrov’s podium, a fleeting shimmer of Renault’s potential, underscored the precarious nature of momentum in this brutal sport. Hamilton, predictably, shadowed the Red Bull, a seasoned hunter perpetually circling its prey. The crowd, a restless sea of anticipation, absorbed it all – a microcosm of the global anxieties that gripped the world that spring.

The rain hadn’t washed away the ghosts of Albert Park; it merely revealed the desperate ambition etched onto Sebastian Vettel’s face. A young man, barely twenty-two, carrying the weight of a nation’s expectations and the relentless pressure of Red Bull’s dominance – a pressure that, today, tasted undeniably like victory. Petrov’s podium was a flicker, a momentary defiance against the established order, but the true narrative unfolded in the steely gaze of the champion.

F1ABY Trivia

The rain, a sullen grey smear across the Albert Park sky, felt less like a threat and more like a judgment. Vettel’s Red Bull, a beast of 680 horsepower – the naturally aspirated V8 roaring with a displaced 2. 4 liters – seemed to relish the slickness, a predatory grace honed by countless simulations. Hamilton, in his McLaren, wrestled with the rear end, a frustrating dance dictated by the McLaren’s complex tire management system, a subtle but crucial difference in grip compared to Red Bull’s aggressive setup. Petrov, meanwhile, held onto the podium, a quiet triumph for Renault, their engine’s 6. 0-liter V8 a surprisingly potent force in the damp conditions.

The rain, a persistent, sullen guest, seemed determined to rewrite the script entirely. Petrov’s podium, a solitary flash of Renault’s potential, was a curious anomaly; considering the team’s 13% chance of a top three finish this season, it hinted at a volatility simmering beneath the surface. Hamilton, predictably, shadowed the Red Bull, a frustrating 1. 8 seconds adrift, demonstrating a consistent, if ultimately insufficient, challenge.

F1ABY Tales

The rain, a venomous grey slick, clung to Albert Park, mirroring the desperation in Petrov’s eyes. A fractured radio message, a frantic plea for confirmation – was it the blue car ahead, or simply the ghosts of a misjudged braking point? Hamilton, a glacial calm behind the wheel, was a predator, patiently stalking the Russian’s every move. Vettel, of course, held the advantage, a sculpted statue of precision, utterly impervious to the chaos. Petrov’s gamble – a late-race surge – had vanished, swallowed by the track’s merciless embrace. The Australian sun, obscured, seemed to mock the fragility of ambition.

The rain hadn’t truly ceased, not in the way a driver expects, but rather, settled into a sullen grey film clinging to Albert Park. Petrov, a man sculpted by the steely resolve of a Siberian winter, watched Vettel disappear into the mist. He’d felt the shift, that subtle tightening in the Renault chassis – a consequence, perhaps, of his own cautious approach. A veteran of the army, Petrov understood the value of measured aggression; a principle betrayed by the Red Bull’s relentless surge. He wondered, with a flicker of something akin to frustration, if the championship was already slipping away, not through speed, but through the quiet, almost imperceptible, accumulation of advantage. The air hung thick with the scent of damp asphalt and the unspoken pressure of a nation’s sporting hopes.