Clocking a blistering pace in the qualifying session, F1 fans would have been hoping that in race trim at least one the chasing pack might have been able to make a race out of it once the Australian Grand Prix got underway.

Several drivers attempted to keep pace with Vettel from the off, but realistically only Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren appeared to have anything near the pace required, while Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and even Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber endured awful starts to the race and were never able to make up anywhere close to the time lost on the in the remainder of the race.

To his credit Vettel once again looked imperious leading from the front and drove a perfect race to clinch his first haul of maximum points in 2011.

Hamilton was the happiest of the other runners, finishing the race in second place and leaving the former World Champion driver believing that he is in with a shot at this years championship with the improvements that have been made to the Mclaren in recent weeks.

Vitaly Petrov was the surprise driver of the day, finishing on the third step of the podium comfortably ahead of the chasing Ferrari of Fernado Alonso who had too little too late to bother the Renault-Lotus driver.

Webber and Button made up the top six finishers of the day, with Sebastian Beumi in the Toro Rosso finishing in a creditable eighth place behind Phillipe Massa.

The two Sauber drivers, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi originally finished the race in seventh and eighth respectively, but both drivers were disqualified after being deemed to have infringed regulations relating to the uppermost wing element on the car.

Sauber have announced that they will appeal against the ruling today, but Force India new British driver Scott di Resta will be hoping that the disqualification will be upheld enabling the rookie to claim a point scoring tenth place on his debut.

Australia Grand Prix results:

1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 58laps 1hr 29m 30.259s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 22.2s
3. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +00m 30.5s
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 31.7s
5. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 38.1s
6. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 54.3s
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +01m 25.1s
8. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes +1 lap

11. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
12. Nick Heidfeld Germany Renault-Renault +1 lap
13. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault +2 laps
14. Jerome d’Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth +4 laps
15. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +9 laps

Rtd Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 48 laps completed
Rtd Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 22 laps completed
Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 19 laps completed
Rtd Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 19 laps completed
Rtd Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 94 laps completed

Dsq Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.8s
Dsq Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari +01m 16.8s

Having been plagued by problems with the new McLaren race car during practise sessions so far this year the former World Champions give their thoughts on the new season ahead and where they think they stand in the current pecking order on the track.

Get behind the wheel with Lewis and Jenson as they give the ‘Inside Track’ ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Jensen Button also fulfills his dream of taking on Australia’s most renowned race track – Mount Panorama, Bathurst, in a V8 Supercar.

Strap yourselves in for an exclusive look at Button and Hamilton as they get behind the wheel to deliver the Inside Track on the Australian Grand Prix.

The season opener has been in serious doubt for over a week and Bernie Ecclestone said over the weekend that he would leave the final decision over cancelling or postponing the race in the hands of the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The Crown Prince made the announcement today, saying:

“We must focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting to a later date. After the events of the past week, our nation’s priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together; reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

The announcement was made to a generally relieved Formula 1, several drivers and teams having already expressed their desire to call off the race or to boycott the event if it did get the go ahead.

The 2011 F1 season will now get underway in Australia on March 27th. No decision has been made yet regarding whether the Bahrain round will be re-scheduled for later in the year.

Lewis Hamilton

The Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has been fined for his car stunts in front of Australian fans outside of the Melbourne race circuit.

Just two days before the Australian Grand Prix in March, Hamilton performed a series of burnouts and other moves to impress his fan base ahead of the race, in a borrowed Mercedes until he was spotted by local police.

Although not present at the hearing, the F1 driver pleaded guilty to the charge of improper use of a motor vehicle and was fined 500 Australian dollars.

Jenson Button 2010

The McLaren driver Jenson Button took the victory at the Australian Grand Prix at the weekend while his team-mate was heard angrily calling his team on the public radio over his second pit-stop decision.  Button took a massive risk coming in for slick tyres after just seven laps on a drying track but the move paid off and he proved his point by taking the chequered flag.

The weekend was a disaster for Hamilton after having his road car impounded outside of the circuit on Friday.  The McLaren driver apologised for the “silly  mistake” he made after he was pulled over by the police and charged for driving in an “over-exuberant manner”.

The Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, was forced to retire from the lead of the race after suffering a mechanical problem with the left front wheel.  The German driver reported a problem with his brakes on lap 26 of the race before sliding off track and into the gravel trap.

As the yellow flags were waved after Vettel’s car went off circuit, a battle was beginning between Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes, Hamilton and Mark Webber in the second Red Bull.  Hamilton made a move on Rosberg, taking the Mercedes driver around the outside of turn 12 and was then chasing down the Renault of Robert Kubica.  Kubica held his ground leaving Hamilton to return to the pits for another set of tyres and the loss of a place on the podium.

Mark Webber ploughed into the back of the McLaren just as Hamilton was lining-up Alonso for a pass, taking the both into the gravel and allowing the Ferrari driver to make his break.

Kubica finished in second place ahead of the two Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.  The Mercedes of Rosberg came in fifth followed by Hamilton, Vittonio Liuzzi in seventh and Rubens Barrichello in eighth.  Mark Webber managed to recover and took ninth place ahead of Michael Schumacher in tenth place.

The Formula 1 teams and drivers now head to Sepang for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix, however, the weather reports have not been great so far leading to the a repeat of last years race which was abandoned.

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	1h33m36.531
2.	Robert Kubica	Poland	Renault	58	12.034
3.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	58	14.488
4.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	58	16.304
5.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	16.683
6.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	29.898
7.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italy	Force India-Mercedes	58	59.847
8.	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	Williams-Cosworth	58	1m00.536
9.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	58	1m07.319
10.	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	1m09.391
11.	Jaime Alguersuari	Spain	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	58	1m11.301
12.	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	58	1m14.084
13.	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Lotus-Cosworth	56	2 Laps
14.	Karun Chandhok	India	HRT-Cosworth	53	5 Laps
R	Timo Glock	Germany	Virgin-Cosworth	41	Suspension
R	Lucas di Grassi	Brazil	Virgin-Cosworth	26	Hydraulics
R	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	25	Brakes/Spin
R	Adrian Sutil	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	9	Engine
R	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	9	Spin
R	Bruno Senna	Brazil	HRT-Cosworth	4	Hydraulics
R	Sebastien Buemi	Switzerland	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	0	Accident
R	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Williams-Cosworth	0	Accident
R	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0	Accident
R	Jarno Trulli	Italy	Lotus-Cosworth	0	Hydraulics
FASTEST LAP:
	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	47	1:28.358

Despite the protests from Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso that the race was not boring and that the rule changes need to be given time to see the difference they make to the sport, remains to be seen, if not perhaps the viewers will take the Spaniards advice and chose a different sport to watch on their television’s in the future!

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton give their views on this weekends second race of the season in Melbourne, Australia in this exclusive interview.

The duo take time out from their busy training schedule to test drive a V8 Supercar, discuss how they can improve on their performance in Bahrain and their enjoyment of the Melbourne track.

Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso 2009

It has now been confirmed by the Toro Rosso team, that Sebastien Buemi will be given a second season with them after signing his contract for 2010.

Buemi out-qualified his team-mate Sebastien Bourdais in his first race in Formula One at the Australian Grand Prix of 2009, finishing the race in eighth place, which later became seventh after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified.

In the third race of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix, he again finished in eighth position despite starting the race from tenth on the grid.  Things were relatively quite for a period as the rookie driver struggled to handle the pace but all that changed again at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he achieved seventh.

At the final round of the 2009 season in Abu Dhabi, he again scored eighth position and was awarded a drive for the team in the 2010 season.

It is expected that the Swiss driver will be joined by Jaime Alguersuari, who joined the team midway through the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where after qualifying in last place due to a mechanical problem he ended the race one place ahead of Buemi.

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

FIA Statement

On Monday it was reported that after the Australian Grand Prix, the Toyota driver Jarno Trulli who finished the race in third place, had been stripped of his points for overtaking McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton while behind the safety car.

Trulli was handed a 25 second penalty for the breach of rules dropping down into twelfth place, however, since then new evidence has come to light and showing how dirty the McLaren Mercedes team can play.

The FIA has today published a statement of their findings;