Australian Grand Prix. Melbourne (Albert Park) 14:15 & 16 March 2008

Race - 16 March

Just 7 cars finished the Australian Grand Prix today out of the 22 starters, 5 being eliminated on the first lap, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Anthony Davidson, Jenson Button and Adrian Sutil. Kimi Raikkonon taking advantage of this moved up from 15th to 8th., but it was Lewis Hamilton that was in charge of the race consistently pulling away from BMW's Robert Kubica. Felipe
Massa had to pit for a new nosecone during the caution period having lost control of his Ferrari and spinning exiting the first corner when challenging Heikki Kovalainen for third place. Jarno Trulli was the next retirement (+39 laps) and David Coulthard was taken out in a racing accident with Felipe Massa when the Brazilian took the inside line, only to retire a few laps afterwards, obviously had damaged his suspension (+29 Laps). Nelson Piquet (+26 laps), Takuma Sato (+ 28 laps) were the next retirements followed by Timo Glock., making a promising entry in Formula 1 in the Toyota, but
having a big moment, spinning several times down the track with just 15 laps remaining. There were many safety car incidents and Lewis Hamilton kept his cool, having had plenty of experience last year of this situation. Robert Kubica, not having lived up to yesterday´s promise, was the next victim retiring with 11 laps remaining and finally Kimi Raikkonen called it a day after two mistakes and a badly sounding engine? (+4 laps). Rubens Barichello had driven a brilliant race, but was running out of fuel and there was a safety car out! He had no alternative but to come in. The lolipop man made a mistake and a mechanic was injured and the Brazilian passed a red light! Sebastian Bourdais had been driving a brilliant race, but sadly had to retire during the last 3 laps. Fernando Alonso behind had been holding off Heikki Kovalainen who eventially managed to overtake the Spaniard, but the ex world champion was having nothing of it and retook his position on the straight. Nick Heidfeld drove his usual sensible race to take a well deserved second place with Kiko Rosberg taking third and his first career podium, two twenty three years on it for the first time. Fernando Alonso, now in better spirits at Renault must have been very pleased with his fourth place as must be the team, justifying their decision to invite him back. Heikki Kovalainen was just unlucky today, finishing fifth with Rubens Barichello a well deserved sixth and rookie Kazuki Nakajima scoring points in just his second race and confirming the promise of the Williams Toyota. Driver of the Day – Lewis Hamilton.

Heikki Kovalainen had the consolation of setting the fastest lap - 1:27.418

Qualifiying - 15 March
Lewis Hamilton (1:26.714) took pole position today having set the pace in two of the three qualifying sessions. In the third one he faced a strong challange from Robert Kubica´s (1:26.869) BMW who will line up alongside the McLaren driver. The Pole could well have taken pole position had it not been for a mistake on his fastest lap. The other McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen (1:27.079) confirming the form of yesterday was third fastest with the first Ferrari of Felipe Massa (1:27.178) fourth. Nick Heidlfeld (1:27.236) was fifth, Jarno Trulli (1:28.527) sixth, Nico Rosberg (1:28.687), David Coulthard (1:29.041), Timo Glock (1:29.593), and Sebastian Vettel mechanical problems preventing the young German from setting a time. filling the top ten places on the grid. World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will start 16th a fuel pump failure in Q1 preventing him from participating in Q2 and Q3 the Finn crawling to a standstill in the pit approach

Australian GP TV schedule (ITV)

Qualifying re-run Saturday 15 March 1320-1505 ITV1

Live race Sunday 16 March 0330-0630 ITV1

Race re-runs Sunday 16 March 1245-1430 ITV4
Sunday 16 March 1500-1800 ITV1

Highlights Monday 17 March 0015-0115 ITV1
Monday 17 March 1800-1900 ITV4

Friday Practice - 14 March

In the morning session it was the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen (1m 26.461s) that set the fastest time at Albert Park., but the Finn said that he was not happy with the way that practice had gone, the afternoon track conditions changing dramatically. Team mate Felipe Massa spun in the afternoon preventing his from using his second set of Bridgestone and finding that the medium compound was more durable than the softer alternative. These gave better grip over one lap, but grained thereafter. Lewis Hamilton (1m 26.559s) was the fastest in the second session with his new team mate at McLaren Heikki Kovalainen setting the 4th fastest time in both sessions. - Mark Webber said that his crowd-pleasing 2nd place in practice is unlikely to be repeated later in the weekend, believing that there were four or five cars that were faster than his Red Bull, fuel load preventing anyone of drawing firm conclusions. David Coulthard in the other Red Bull lost time with his gearbox problem in the morning, but was happy with the 5th fastest time in the afternoon. - Jarno Trulli (1m 28.292s) set his fastest time this afternoon despite tyre graining. Toyota’s primary problem today, which means that the team are working hard on settings to try and alleviate the problem before the weekend. Timo Glock was busy learning the track, and still has to set up his TF108 to suit his driving style. - Nico Rosberg (1m 28.352s) only did three installation laps this morning due to a gearbox problem, but still managed to set 8th fastest time this afternoon despite further problems with the differential. Kazuki Nakajima´s Williams also had a gearbox problem in the morning which which did not assist him in learning the track. - Fernando Alonso (1m 28.360s) fastest time was set this morning, the Spaniard being concerned about the stability of the Renault under braking and team mate Nelson Piquet spun in the morning session bringing out the red flag, the incident causing problems with the gearbox and so his track learning time was seriously compromised.

Australian Grand Prix - pre race comments

Kimi Raikkonen - "Everything looks to be in good shape, Probably I have never started the season with such a good feeling. Personally I feel like there is a big difference to start this season compared to last year.I know the team and how they work. There will be no surprises. I've built up a good relationship with my engineers and we understand each other and they also know how I like to have my car set up. The car is a nice step forward from last year. Ferrari have done a good job to improve the areas that needed to be improved. The car has been improved in the slow corners and over the kerbs. We should be strong in every place, but beforehand you never know it for sure."

Fernando Alonso - "I know that a win or a podium in Australia will be difficult, but you never know what can happen during the race. It may rain; the race may take place on a drying track and you can have the chance to spring a surprise. If an opportunity presents itself, I am ready to seize it."

Nico Rosberg - "The aero department has done a really fantastic job with the FW30, That's not to disregard everyone else within the team that has been working hard on it, but the aero on the car is a real step forward. We also already have a lot of developments which are scheduled for deployment over the year. People think that we can't be as good as the manufacturer teams, but that's not the case and we can compete with them, The team has recruited some strong people over the past few years to consolidate the existing structure and that has helped us to make some good progress, he new rules which will come in next year will also wipe the slate clean which should give us a big chance to enter that realm."

Adrian Sutil - "My goals are to do everything possible to be better this year; to make fewer mistakes and get a few points. I want to help the team move forward." About his new team mate: "For me it's a positive challenge to have Giancarlo in the team as he will push me, which is important for the future, It will be difficult, but this is what I need, as if you are pushed, you have to put in your maximum effort."

Kazuki Nakajima - "Having already raced in the Brazilian Grand Prix last year, I feel a bit more relaxed going into the season because I've experienced a race weekend before and know exactly what is expected of me, As it's my debut season, it's difficult to talk about results but obviously I want to do my best in every race, It's my first year in Formula 1 so it won't be easy to get everything right first time, so my objective is to make good progress and enjoy the races." About the new chassis "It's definitely a step forward, When I drove the FW30 for the first time in Valencia at the start of January, I could tell the difference from the FW29 straight away and my initial feelings were really positive. We also have some updates planned for Melbourne which should also take us further forward. One thing is clear and that is that Ferrari and McLaren are still ahead of us, but the midfield is really close so it's going to be a big fight among those teams and we're in that group. One thing's for sure: it's going to be a great season so, if we do well, it will be well deserved."