Australia 2007
2007 SEES NUMEROUS CHANGES TO THE REGULATIONS, THE MOST NOTABLE OF THESE BEING THE TYRE REGULATION; BOTH HARD AND SOFT COMPOUND TYRES MUST NOW BE USED AT SOME POINT DURING THE RACE. AS THE SOFT COMPOUND TYRES TEND NOT TO LAST VERY LONG, IN PRACTICE THIS WILL RESULT IN 'SOFT' TYRES ONLY BEING USED FOR ONE STINT. KIMI RAIKKONEN 'ANNOUNCED' HIS ARRIVAL AT FERRARI WITH AN EMPHATIC WIN FROM POLE POSITION ON THE GRID, EFFECTIVELY LEADING FROM LIGHTS TO FLAG - THE FERRARI CLEARLY BEING APPRECIABLY FASTER THAN ITS NEAREST RIVAL, MCLAREN. UNFORTUNATELY, WE WERE UNABLE TO WITNESS THE BATTLE FOR SUPREMACY WITHIN THE FERRARI TEAM BECAUSE FELIPE MASSA SUFFERED GEARBOX PROBLEMS IN THE THIRD QUALIFYING PERIOD. THIS INITIALLY LEFT HIM 16TH FASTEST ON SATURDAY BUT BY SUNDAY FERRARI HAD DECIDED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE, RESULTING IN THE 10-PLACE DROP DOWN THE ORDER AND THAT PUT HIM AT THE REAR OF THE STARTING GRID. BECAUSE OF MASSA'S VIRTUAL ABSENCE FROM THE RACE, LEWIS HAMILTON (4TH ON THE GRID) WAS ABLE TO TAKE A DESERVED 3RD PLACE ON HIS F1 DEBUT. HIS MOVE ROUND THE OUTSIDE OF TURN 1 AT THE START TO TAKE 2ND PLACE - AHEAD OF HIS WORLD CHAMPION TEAM-MATE WITH NICK HEIDFELD SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN - SPOKE VOLUMES FOR HIS ABILITY. NEVERTHELESS, FERNANDO ALONSO CONFIRMED HIS CLASS WITH THE AID OF A BETTER PIT-STOP STRATEGY AND FINISHED 2ND HAVING ALSO QUALIFIED 2ND. THE MOST NOTABLE DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE WAS THAT OF HONDA - OUTQUALIFED BY THEIR 'B' TEAM, SUPER AGURI, WHO ARE USING A MODIFIED 2006 HONDA CHASSIS!
STARTING GRID
| |
| 1.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 2.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 3.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 4.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 5.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 6.
|
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
| 7.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 8.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 9.
|
Ralph Schumacher
|
| 10.
|
Takuma Sato
|
| 11.
|
Anthony Davidson
|
| 12.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 13.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 14.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 15.
|
Alexander Wurz
|
| 16.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 17.
|
Scott Speed
|
| 18.
|
David Coulthard
|
| 19.
|
Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
| 20.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 21.
|
Christijan Albers
|
| 22.
|
Felipe Massa
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 2.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 3.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 4.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 5.
|
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
| 6.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 7.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 8.
|
Ralph Schumacher
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Kimi Raikkonen
|
10
|
| Fernando Alonso
|
8
|
| Lewis Hamilton
|
6
|
| Nick Heidfeld
|
5
|
| Giancarlo Fisichella
|
4
|
| Felipe Massa
|
3
|
| Nico Rosberg
|
2
|
| Ralph Schumacher
|
1
|
Constructors :
|
| McLaren
|
14
|
| Ferrari
|
13
|
| BMW
|
5
|
|
| Renault
|
4
|
| Williams
|
2
|
| Toyota
|
1
|
| Honda
|
0
|
| Super Aguri
|
0
|
| Red Bull Racing
|
0
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso
|
0
|
| Spyker
|
0
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
19th March 2007
The HTML code for this page has been validated by the World Wide Web Consortium.