2010 AUSTRALIAN GP // RACE RESULTS

The second round of the 2010 Formula One World Championship is in the books and what a race it was. Starting under wet conditions, the field of 24 took to the streets of Melbourne for what would be the most exciting Grand Prix since China in 2008. Starting on pole was the Renault powered Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. After a mechanical issue stumped Vettel's chances for victory in Bahrain, the young German was eager to collect his first win of 2010... [read more]

Off to a strong start, Vettel pulled away from the pack and maintained a sizable lead until the brakes failed on his RB6. The mechanical failure, the second in as many races, forced Vettel off into the gravel trap and out of the points.

With Vettel no longer in contention, Jenson Button in the Mercedes powered McLaren pulled into the lead having swapped his rain tires for slicks at the most opportune time. A few laps later, Button's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was brought into the pits for what proved to be an unnecessary stop following a similar move by Michael Schumacher and Mercedes GP. The time off track proved costly for Hamilton, as the former F1 champ reentered the race a few places back. Then, with only two laps to go, Hamilton, who had fought his way to fifth and was hot on tail of Fernando Alonso, was hit by the Red Bull RB6 of Mark Webber.

Hamilton was able to recover and managed to finish the race in 6th, however he wasn't shy about his disapproval of McLaren's decision to bring him in for tires, while Button was left to finish the race on his original set of slicks, venting over the radio to McLaren's team boss, Martin Whitmarsh.

Also of note was the performance of Renault driver, Robert Kubica. Driving a rather uneventful race, Kubica pulled into second place early and never really looked back. Felipe Massa, on the other hand, had quite the fight for third, defending his position from his Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso, who having spun early in the race, fought his way from 9th to 4th in but a few laps.

All in all, the 2010 Australian Grand Prix was one of the most exciting GPs we have seen in some time.

2010 Australian Grand Prix // Race Results:

1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58
2. Robert Kubica Renault 58 12.034 12.034
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 14.488 2.454
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 16.304 1.816
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 16.683 0.379
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 29.898 13.215
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 58 59.847 29.949
8. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 58 60.536 0.689
9. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 58 67.319 6.783
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 58 69.391 2.072
11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 58 71.301 1.910
12. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 58 74.084 2.783
13. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 56 2 laps 2 laps
14. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 5 laps 3 laps

Not classified:

15. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 41 17 laps 12 laps
16. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 26 32 laps 15 laps
17. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 25 33 laps 1 lap
18. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9 49 laps 16 laps
19. Vitaly Petrov Renault 9 49 laps 25.106
20. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 4 54 laps 5 laps
21. Nico Hülkenberg Williams-Cosworth 0 58 laps 4 laps
22. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 58 laps
23. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 0 58 laps
24. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 0 58 laps

Images and Info: F1Fanatic
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey