2013 Australian Grand Prix

Scattered Clouds, Fine and Dry [ 2 ] Air Temp 18 °C (64 °F) [ 2 ]

The 2013 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix ) [ 1 ] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 17 March 2013 as the opening round of the 2013 World Championship . [ 5 ] The race was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park . [ 6 ] It was the 78th race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix – which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928 – and the 18th time the event has been held at...

Following the collapse of HRT F1 in December 2012, [ 11 ] the grid for the season was reduced to twenty-two entries, necessitating changes to the structure of qualifying. The three-round knockout system introduced in 2006 remained in place, but only six cars, instead of seven, were eliminated during the first period of qualifying, with six more eliminated at the end of the second period. The third qualifying period remains unchanged with the ten fastest drivers all advancing to the final ten min...

During the winter off-season, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile introduced new rules restricting the use of the Drag Reduction System during free practice and qualifying, limiting its use to the circuit's designated DRS zones. [ 13 ] However, during Friday practice, the race stewards encountered a technical glitch in the telemetry system that controlled the availability of DRS, meaning that the system would be completely unrestricted. This forced the stewards to rely on drivers to us...

The Red Bulls locked out the front row with Sebastian Vettel on pole and Mark Webber on second.

All the jostling behind Vettel helped him to gain a two-second lead by the end of the first lap. That was soon erased out by Massa and Alonso who rapidly caught up. Jenson Button made his first pit stop to switch from the super-softs to the medium tyres after just four laps and was followed by many others. Webber lost even further time and places during this period with a slow pitstop due to an issue with his jacks. The leaders elected to stay longer than the others, Vettel waiting for seven lap...

On lap 20, Alonso decided to make an early second pitstop for new tyres. Sutil and Vettel came in a lap later, but the lap on fresh tyres was enough for the Spanish driver to jump both Germans. Massa stayed out for too long and dropped to the back of the group. Räikkönen, Hamilton and Rosberg now held the top three places, all three of them attempting two-stop strategies. Alonso was fourth, Vettel fifth having passed Sutil and Massa dropped to seventh. The two Mercedes started to experience a dr...

With a clear track in front of him, Alonso now started to rapidly close in on Räikkönen's 16 second lead. The Finn responded by making his second pitstop on lap 34, rejoining in fifth. During this stint, Alonso was able to drop Vettel and build a five-second gap over the German driver, who in turn was building a similar gap to Sutil. Massa, like Vettel earlier, was held up behind Sutil unable to pass despite having a faster car. The frustrated Brazilian made his final pit stop early as a result ...

When Sutil made his final pitstop on lap 46 while running third, he had to switch to the super-soft tyres as he had started on the mediums unlike the leaders. He rejoined fifth, but quickly found out that the super-softs wore out rapidly. Sutil was defenseless when first Hamilton and then a recovering Webber attacked him on lap 51. Despite the newer tyres, neither Alonso nor Vettel were able to make an impression on leader Räikkönen. Räikkönen hammered the point home by setting the fastest lap o...

Räikkönen won from Alonso and Vettel completed the podium. Massa was fourth after having to back off in the latter stages to conserve his tyres. Hamilton fifth ahead of Webber. Sutil, despite the badly worn super-softs, still held on for seventh ahead of his teammate di Resta. The battle for ninth was ultimately won by Button, with Grosjean taking the final point, holding off Pérez and Jean-Éric Vergne . Esteban Gutiérrez was the best placed rookie in 13th, one place ahead of Valtteri Bottas . J...

The win was the twentieth of Räikkönen's career, tying him with Finnish compatriot Mika Häkkinen . It was also his last until the 2018 United States Grand Prix .