HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2013 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
motor race that was held on 17 March 2013 as the opening round of the 2013 World Championship. The race was held at the
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
in the
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
suburb of Albert Park. It was the 78th race in the combined history of the
Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...
– which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928 – and the 18th time the event has been held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen with
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...
coming second and
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Vettel won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from to with Red Bull, and rema ...
coming third. This was the last time a Formula One race was won by a driver from a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, until
Pierre Gasly Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Gasly won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri. Born and raised in Normandy, Gasly began competitive kart racing age ...
won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix driving for
Scuderia AlphaTauri Scuderia AlphaTauri S.p.A, or simply AlphaTauri, was an Italian Formula One racing team and constructor that competed from to . It was one of two Formula One constructors owned by Austrian conglomerate Red Bull GmbH, the other being Red Bull ...
, 147 races later. It was also Lotus's last win, Kimi Räikkönen's last race victory until the 2018 United States Grand Prix, and also the last win for a Finnish driver until Valtteri Bottas, who made his debut in this race, won the 2017 Russian Grand Prix.


Report


Background

Following the collapse of HRT F1 in December 2012, 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 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 minutes of qualifying. During the winter off-season, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...
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. 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 use the system honestly, threatening penalties to any driver caught using DRS outside the designated areas. The same error meant that the stewards would be unable to notify drivers via telemetry of warning flags, instead relying on marshalls around the circuit to display them and teams to warn drivers up upcoming flags during the race. Tyre supplier
Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...
provided teams with the super-soft and medium compound tyres for the race, compared to the soft and medium selection offered in 2012.


Qualifying


Q1

Prior to the first qualifying session of the season, Melbourne had experienced a record heatwave and no rain for almost the entire month of March. These dry conditions, however, did not prevail with precipitation occurring over free practice, turning into heavy rainfalls just before qualifying. After an initial thirty-minute postponement from the official 17:00 (local time) start, the first session of qualifying eventually started and was held in wet conditions with all drivers on wet tyres. Conditions were tricky, resulting in some drivers taking off-field excursions.
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
lost control of his car during turn 2 and slid into the wall. He was able to reverse back onto the circuit and continue, albeit with minor damage to his rear wing.
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
also spun into the wall after turn 14, escaping with only a broken front wing. As the track dried out, however, drivers switched to intermediate tyres and lap times began dropping for over the remainder of the session. Esteban Gutiérrez spun at the same place as Massa had previously, stalling the engine. The incident ended his qualifying session and prejudiced the lap times of others drivers. At the end of Q1, six drivers were eliminated. Pastor Maldonado qualified seventeenth after going off the circuit, whilst Gutiérrez's crash meant that the Mexican was unable to continue and was subsequently eliminated in eighteenth place. Marussia's
Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Nice, Bianchi was the grandson of endurance racing driver Mauro Bianchi and the great-nephew ...
(on his Formula One debut) and Max Chilton qualified nineteenth and twentieth respectively, ahead of the Caterhams of Giedo van der Garde and
Charles Pic Charles Maurice Marcel Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Montélimar, Montélimar, Drôme, Pic began kart racing, karting aged 13 wi ...
. The latter failed to set a lap time within 107% of the fastest time, set by
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German and Finnish former racing driver and entrepreneur, who competed under the German flag in Formula One from to . Rosberg won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes, and w ...
, meaning his participation in the race depended on dispensation from the race stewards.


Q2

With debris from several accidents during Q1 scattered across the track, the break between Q1 and Q2 was extended to allow marshalls to clean up. Over this period, however, rain intensified forcing a postponement of the session. Marshalls resorted to brooms in a bid to remove puddles forming on the poorly drained public road surface. With qualifying and the race being run late in the afternoon to accommodate European television audiences, twilight approached and the stewards tried to schedule a restart at 18:30 and then finally 18:50. The rain continued, albeit very lightly, and stewards ultimately chose to suspend qualifying. The final two sessions (Q2 and Q3) were thus rescheduled for Sunday morning. The Q2 session was scheduled to begin at 11:00 (local time) while the weather was cool and cloudy with an air temperature of only . The track remained damp from overnight rain and was also cool ; humidity was hovering around 63%. In the end, it was
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...
, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Éric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo,
Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Pérez was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Red Bull, and won Gr ...
and Valtteri Bottas who failed to make it through to Q3.


Q3

The Red Bulls locked out the front row with
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Vettel won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from to with Red Bull, and rema ...
on pole and Mark Webber on second.


Race

The race began at 17:00 local time, with
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...
unable to take part in the race due to worries over a fuel feed problem in his Sauber C32. Sebastian Vettel got a perfect start from pole and went into the first corner unchallenged, but the same could not be said of teammate Mark Webber who started alongside him, as a problem with an ECU meant that he could not use his KERS off the start line and he ended up dropping down to seventh. The chief beneficiaries of this were the
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
s, with
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
moving from fourth to second and Alonso to third after overtaking
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
around the outside of Turn 3. Kimi Räikkönen moved up to fifth ahead of Nico Rosberg and Webber and on the second lap took fourth from Hamilton by passing him at Turn 11. His Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean went backwards from eighth to eleventh, losing places to Paul di Resta,
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...
and Adrian Sutil. 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 laps before pitting, Massa eight and Alonso and Räikkönen two laps further. The quartet rejoined in the same order, but more spread out due to Vettel and Massa gaining an extra lap on the new set of tyres. Hamilton and Rosberg, having realized that they did not have the pace of those in front, ran till lap 13 and 14 respectively in order to attempt a two-stop strategy. This left Sutil and
Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Pérez was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Red Bull, and won Gr ...
, two of the drivers who elected to start the race on mediums out in front ahead of Vettel, Massa, Alonso and Räikkönen. Pérez was unable to make the mediums last and was quickly dispatched by the quartet on fresher mediums. Sutil was a totally different prospect. Vettel was unable to pass him despite having closed rapidly and this soon helped bring Massa and Alonso back on to his tail. Neither of them were able to make any direct impression. Räikkönen began to rapidly close in as well. Neither Webber nor Grosjean had got out of the midfield after their poor starts, with the former in ninth and the latter in eleventh. 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 drop-off in their lap times but Räikkönen was still able to drive at a consistent speed despite having pitted for the tyres four laps before the Mercedes drivers. The tyre issue became academic for Rosberg when he retired close to half-distance with an electrical failure. Hamilton was now vulnerable to the drivers with newer tyres. Alonso attacked and passed Hamilton on lap 32 despite his best efforts to defend. The Briton flatspotted his tyre and had to pit immediately and rejoined in sixth place just ahead of di Resta and Webber. 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 on lap 36. Vettel followed suit to cover him next lap, whereas Alonso, now having the cushion of a gap was able to wait until lap 39. On the same lap, after releasing Button from 11th place, Daniel Ricciardo was forced to retire with a broken exhaust. Sutil now led from Räikkönen and Alonso but could do little to keep them behind with older tyres. Räikkönen took full advantage when Alonso got held up behind Sutil as the Finn had a seven-second gap to the Spaniard. Hamilton decided that a two-stop strategy was not going to work once Vettel and Massa passed him. He made a third stop for fresh tyres, again rejoining in front of di Resta and Webber. 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 of the race on lap 56, which was the 23rd lap on the same set of tyres. Alonso backed off and settled for second after almost crashing into the back of
Charles Pic Charles Maurice Marcel Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Montélimar, Montélimar, Drôme, Pic began kart racing, karting aged 13 wi ...
while lapping the
Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...
driver. 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.
Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Nice, Bianchi was the grandson of endurance racing driver Mauro Bianchi and the great-nephew ...
was 15th, comfortably ahead of his teammate and the two
Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...
s. Ferrari took the lead in the Constructor's Championship, with Lotus-Renault second and Red Bull-Renault third. 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.


Classification


Qualifying

;Notes: * —
Charles Pic Charles Maurice Marcel Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Montélimar, Montélimar, Drôme, Pic began kart racing, karting aged 13 wi ...
failed to set a time within 107% of the fastest time in the session, but was allowed to start by the race stewards.


Race


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


See also

*
2013 MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge The 2013 V8 Supercars Albert Park Challenge was a motor race for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was a stand-alone event not part of the 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship, but it was attended by all of the International Ch ...


References


External links

{{F1GP 10-19
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...