The Australian Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2013 Formula One World Championship and brought the thrills of open-wheel racing back to the street circuit at Albert Park, Melbourne. This is always a great curtain-raiser to the season, with the winner often going on to win the Championship. It’s a long way from the European bases of most of the teams, but a great atmosphere makes the journey worthwhile. So with Raikkonen winning with surprising ease what are the changes for the new season and what can fans expect?
Drivers:
The grid includes five World Champions, four Brits and five rookies. Lewis must be looking at the Australian GP results and finding encouragement for the move that he made this winter.
Teams:
McLaren are a team with great pedigree. They have had a bad weekend, but they have the resources to pull something out of the bag. Maybe not by the next race, but they should have developed their way out of their current travails soon.
BBC Presenters:
Suzi Perry is the new face of F1 for the BBC. Along with DC she did a stand-up job job of analysing Quali and the GP.
Sponsors:
Australia was Rolex all-over. It was like watching tennis.
Weather:
A bit of bad weather and everything is shaken up. White lines on the track become lethal after a downpour. Even if they have been painted black. The one variable that the teams cannot control.
Tooned:
Has the A1 advertising location on the back of the McLaren wing.
Tyres:
Are still causing the teams heartache and making their number crunchers earn their money. Are they too unpredictable?
Can Raikkonen follow up his victory with more podiums and even a championship? The big teams have plenty of time to catch up and improve their cars, and with both Alonso and Vettel on the podium Red Bull and Ferrari are not far behind. It bodes well for Lotus’ season even if the conditions in qualifying and racing were not ideal. The iceman has put down a big marker for the other teams to ponder.
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