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Tag Archive | "Australian Grand Prix"

MELBOURNE: THE ICE MAN COMETH

Sunday, March 17, 2013

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MELBOURNE: THE ICE MAN COMETH

Kimi Raikkonen has scythed up the grid to take the first win of the F1 season at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. Raikkonen's Lotus was only thereabouts in qualifying, starting the race from seventh on the grid. A solid start put him into the top five, and he fought his way up from there. 'I was a bit disappointed this morning after qualifying,' explained the Finn. 'It was more about timing than maximum speed for all the cars, so not an ideal starting place [in seventh].' 'I knew that my car was quite good, it was feeling good all weekend. The secret to Raikkonen's controlled victory was the Lotus' supreme tyre use, which enabled him to run a two-stop strategy. 'In a way I was very confident, but of course you have to get through the start and the first lap, and it's the first race so you never know what's going to happen. 'We got it exactly right. We followed the plan and it worked out perfectly for us. It was one of the easiest races I've done, to win the race.'

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RED BULL FRONT ROW LOCKOUT AS VETTEL TAKES POLE

Sunday, March 17, 2013

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RED BULL FRONT ROW LOCKOUT AS VETTEL TAKES POLE

Sebastian Vettel has taken the first pole position of the year at Albert Park after rain washed out yesterday's first session. Vettel made driving in the tricky damp conditions look effortless, despite the guessing game as to when the track would be ready for slick tyres. Hamilton and Rosberg looked threatening, and the Briton set the first quick time on intermediates. Vettel, predictably, had an answer to every challenge, and responded with increasingly unbelievable lap times. Button decided to sample the supersofts and it proved to be the tyre to be on, the 2012 Melbourne winner temporarily going faster. But once the rest of the field cottoned on, the McLaren was quickly outclassed.

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DROUGHT BREAKS FOR F1 QUALIFYING

Saturday, March 16, 2013

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Qualifying for the 2013 Australian Grand Prix has been postponed until Sunday after rain lashed the track, making the circuit undriveable. While Q1 was run this afternoon Q2 and Q3 have been shifted to 11AM tomorrow morning, with the race to go ahead at 5PM. The weather bore down on Albert Park early in the afternoon, affecting mot of FP3, and continued to soak the circuit for the two hours before qualifying. For what was to be a highly anticipated session, Melbourne managed to keep the world in suspense for an extra thirty minutes while the FIA allowed the track to dry before giving qualifying the green light.

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VETTEL ON TOP AS McLAREN STRUGGLE IN MELBOURNE

Friday, March 15, 2013

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VETTEL ON TOP AS McLAREN STRUGGLE IN MELBOURNE

Sebastian Vettel has opened the 2013 season with a Friday cleansweep, topping both practice sessions comfortably at Albert Park. A truck arrived overnight filled with upgrades for his RBR9, which the team went about testing throughout the day - Vettel seeming unperturbed by the modifications being made to his car. Further down the pit lane, however, McLaren had an afternoon to forget as serious problems in the MP4-28 hampered the day's running. Speculation throughout pre-season testing that the largely redesigned McLaren wasn't up to scratch seem to be proving true, with the team struggling to understand its own new concept. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted that taking the team In a new direction was risky, but believed it would ultimately pay off.

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NEW AUSSIE GP SPONSORSHIP JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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NEW AUSSIE GP SPONSORSHIP JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME

Some race good new from the Albert Park bunker as the Australian Grand Prix announced that iconic watch maker Rolex will sponsor the 2013 Australian Formula One Grand Prix. The announcement comes as Rolex becomes the global timing partner of Formula One. Victorian State Premier and colourful man about town Lord Ted of the Toorak Village, staggered briefly into the sunlight to announce the wonderful news to an expectant, hangover and mostly hostile media contingent. “This is an incredibly exciting announcement for Melbourne and our state. It highlights the attention and respect Melbourne, as the season opener, commands internationally. There are few sporting events in Australia that have the global visibility of Formula One,” Mr Baillieu said.

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JENSON ON THE BUTTON IN MELBOURNE

Sunday, March 18, 2012

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JENSON ON THE BUTTON IN MELBOURNE

Jenson Button took home the first 25 points of the 2012 season after a dominant dominant drive at the Australian Grand Prix. The 2009 World Champion and now three times Melbourne winner rocketed from P2 on the grid to lead the race home, virtually leading from start to finish. Button swiftly passed his team-mate Lewis Hamilton on the way down to the first corner after the younger Briton pulled slowly off the line. He quickly established a three second buffer, from which point he remained untouchable. Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel hauled his Red Bull into second place, despite an uncompetitive qualifying session that had him starting from P6. Vettel jumped one place to fifth off the line after Mark Webber suffered from a problematic getaway, from which point he applied pressure to fourth-running Nico Rosberg, and quickly passed him. Although Vettel succumbed to an early and uncharacteristic mistake in the chase for third-placed Michael Schumacher, a brief excursion onto the grass triggered a mechanical failure in the W03, gifting the younger Champion P3.

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IN PIT LANE March 13 Andrew Westacott (Full Audio)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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With the sword of Ecclestone swinging precariously overhead, we look at the future of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. Grand Prix CEO Andrew Westacott joins Bret Ramsey and Michael Lamonato to talk about the race and its future.

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FORMULA 5000 LEADS AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST HISTORIC RACE WEEKEND

Friday, March 9, 2012

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FORMULA 5000 LEADS AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST HISTORIC RACE WEEKEND

New Zealand driver Steve Ross (McRae GM1) is set to claim the 2011/12 MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series crown at Australia's biggest and most prestigious classic motor racing meeting this weekend. Ross and 27 other F5000 drivers are amongst the 500-odd entries for this weekend's Phillip Island Classic meeting at the 4.4km circuit an hour-and-a-half's drive south of Melbourne. After finishing second to series super-vet Ken Smith (Lola T430) for the past two years Ross crossed the Tasman earlier this week with an 88 point lead over fellow McRae GM1 driver Aaron Burson with Rotorua man Brett Willis (Lola T330) third. Though defending series champion Ken Smith will not be at the meeting the field includes Burson, Willis, Class A (for earlier cars) standout David Arrowsmith (Lotus 70) and former series champion Ian Clements (Lola T332). It also includes UK-based series regular Greg Thornton (Chevron B24) and two of the three US drivers who contested some of the New Zealand rounds of this season's MSC series, category original Eric Haga (Lola T190) and top US historic single-seater racer Harin de Silva (Surtees TS8). The growing strength of the category across the Tasman can also be seen in the strong domestic entry - with 15 cars led by series regulars Chris Lambden (McRae GM1) and John Bryant (Lola T140) in local hands.

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WEBBER WINS BRAZIL, BRONZE! BRONZE! BRONZE! FOR AUSTRALIA

Monday, November 28, 2011

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Mark Webber has taken his first win of the season at Interlagos overnight, winning his second Brazilian Grand Prix. Webber started second on the grid for the final race of the season, but was gifted the lead on lap 30 after gearbox issues forced Sebastian Vettel to let his team-mate pass. The win secured the Australian third [...]

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GRAND PRIX COSTS $50 MILLION BUT IS SYDNEY READY TO POUNCE ?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

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GRAND PRIX COSTS $50 MILLION BUT IS SYDNEY READY TO POUNCE ?

The 2011 Australian Formula One Grand Prix cost Victorian taxpayers in excess of $50 million to run, the Victorian State Government announced today. Meanwhile, an independent costing report has estimated the immediate economic benefits to range between $32 million and $39 million and created 350 jobs. Despite this, Victorian tourism minister Louise Asher defended her government's subsidy of the race. 'You have to look at the whole year, at ongoing branding of Melbourne,' she said earlier today. This year's expense was a $700,000 increase on last year's estimated $49.3 million loss.

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