| 13.30 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix. The race gets underway in 30 minutes. |
| 13.32 | It was a perfect start to the new season for Kimi Raikkonen as he stormed his way to a comfortable Pole Position yesterday in qualifying. While Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa suffered gearbox problems and stopped on track, there were no such issues for the former McLaren Mercedes racer as he took the Pole by over four-tenths of a second. |
| 13.34 | 2006 race winner Fernando Alonso qualified his McLaren Mercedes second on the grid but did not seem to be comfortable with the MP4-22 package. Indeed, for much of the session it was rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton showing the way within the team. Alonso will push hard, but it is clear that the Raikkonen-Ferrari package is the one to beat in Melbourne. |
| 13.36 | Perhaps the most impressive looking car in terms of stability and grip is the BMW Sauber F1.07. With awesome front end grip and fantastic rear end stability, Nick Heidfeld did a great job to qualify third. Watch out for this package as it may be the one that will be able to take the challenge to Raikkonen in race conditions. |
| 13.38 | Lewis Hamilton qualified a very impressive fourth fastest in his debut with McLaren. In GP2 last year the British driver proved he is a very feisty racer so it will be interesting to see how he takes his race craft up a level in Formula One. Such is Hamilton’s talent, a race win in the right circumstances is very much on the cards in the rejuvenated McLaren squad. |
| 13.41 | Robert Kubica starts fifth in the second BMW Sauber. The Pole has proved to be a strong racer and it would be of little surprise to see him challenging team-mate Nick Heidfeld for position before too long. |
| 13.42 | Renault may have won the event on 2005 and 2006, but this year the team do not seem to have a complete grasp of the R27 and Bridgestone combination. Giancarlo Fisichella starts fifth and will be seeking solid points while rookie team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will do what he can from 13th on the grid. |
| 13.44 | Mark Webber starts an impressive seventh in the Red Bull Renault. Webber, something of a qualifying specialist, will be looking to bring the team some points with the new Adrian Newey designed RB3 while team-mate David Coulthard qualified a distant 19th and has it all to do. |
| 13.46 | The Toyota duo of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were pretty surprised to make the top ten in qualifying with the TF107. As ever, race pace may well be an issue for the squad as they seek a points paying position. However, the teams have traditionally had good reliability and this may well play into their hands as the race unfolds. |
| 13.48 | Customer car row aside, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson were impressive for Super Aguri Honda as they line up tenth and 11th. Using the reworked 2006 Honda chassis, both looked comfortable and will be aiming for points this afternoon. |
| 13.50 | Williams Toyota has a good pre-season test programme but come qualification itself, Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz were left disappointed with the FW29 package. Rosberg starts 12th while Wurz is just 15th on his return to Formula One. Given a reliable run, lower points paying positions are the team’s target at this stage of the season. |
| 13.52 | Honda sold on the intellectual property rights to the RA106 to Super Aguri and now it seems the new RA107 is far from effective. The car lacks balance, has an inherent braking stability problem and it was all Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello could do to qualify 14th and 17th. Barrichello gains one position courtesy of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari engine change, but the team are way off the pace and will not be a factor this afternoon. |
| 13.54 | Towards the rear of the field, the Toro Rosso and Spyker squads battle it out but neither team has looked on the pace so far in Australia. They will be busy keeping an eye out for Massa as he looks to carve his way up the order in the opening laps. Credit to Adrian Sutil though as he has shown the way to Christijan Albers at Spyker this weekend in what is his Grand Prix debut. |
| 13.56 | As the drivers await the instruction to fire the engines, there are some questions over tyre strategy. Each driver must use both the Bridgestone soft and medium compound during the race. The softer tyre, visible (or not) through some rather pathetic white dots on the outer tyre wall, is said to be worth 0.3 to 0.5s a lap. Expect most to start on the softer option tyre and run the harder rubber in a short stint at the end of the race. |
| 13.58 | It’s dry and sunny as the drivers wait on the grid for the start of the new season to get underway. Albers is starting from the pit lane and Massa at the back after an engine change. |
| 13.59 | The engines fire up and the crews leave the grid. |
| 14.00 | The parade lap is now underway. It is hard to tell, but it looks like Alonso is on the harder tyres. |
| 14.00 | Everyone cleared the dummy grid and are on the warmup lap. |
| 14.01 | Trulli seems to have an oil overfill as the Toyota smoked away from the grid. |
| 14.03 | Raikkonen leads the field to the starting grid and takes up his Pole Position. |
| Lap 1 | The Australian Grand Prix is go! |
| Lap 1 | Hamilton around the outside of Alonso into T1 and into third. |
| Lap 1 | Raikkonen leads Heidfeld, Hamilton and Alonso. |
| Lap 1 | Davidson had a bad start and is now down to 21st |
| Lap 2 | Kovalainen has gained a few spots and is now 11th |
| Lap 2 | Alonso got boxed in by the fast starting Heidfled at the start, hence Hamilton was able to take advantage. |
| Lap 3 | Massa is up to 17th and on the move |
| Lap 3 | Button and Barrichello run together with the Brazilian looking to find a way through. |
| Lap 4 | Contact between Sutil and Davidson at the start and that explained why he dropped back. |
| Lap 4 | Raikkonen is extending his advantage at the front. |
| Lap 4 | Barrichello is stuck Behind team-mate Button and wanting Button to move over. |
| Lap 5 | Massa is right with Coulthard who in turn is stuck behind the Honda duo. |
| Lap 6 | Heidfeld remains second and is on the softer tyres. |
| Lap 6 | Massa gets a run on DC and makes the move into T1. |
| Lap 7 | Raikkonen gets the gap up to 4 seconds. Hamilton closing in on Heidfeld. |
| Lap 7 | Hamilton runs wide but does not lose position. |
| Lap 8 | Raikkonen pulls a second on Heidfeld on that last lap |
| Lap 8 | Honda still have not instructed Button to get out of the way of Barrichello who seems way quicker in race trim. |
| Lap 9 | The battle now seems to be for second as Hamilton puts pressure on Heidfeld. |
| Lap 9 | Massa is still right with the Honda duo but cannot find a way to pass at the moment. |
| Lap 10 | Alonso remains a couple of seconds behind Hamilton and seemingly content to follow at the moment. |
| Lap 11 | Massa had a good run on Barrichello... |
| Lap 12 | Albers has gone off and crashed his Spyker . Simply understeered into the barriers. A rotten weekend over for Albers. |
| Lap 13 | Raikkonen is running away at the front as the gap hits the ten second mark. Massa is still 15th and losing so much time behind the Honda cars. |
| Lap 14 | Raikkonen aside there are many close battles and the first of two pit stops will be key. |
| Lap 14 | Ralf Schumacher has team-mate Trulli running right on his rear wing. |
| Lap 15 | Heidfeld pits from second place. An early stop for the BMW driver. He takes the medium tyres now. |
| Lap 15 | Heidfeld exits ahead of Ralf Schumacher |
| Lap 15 | 15 laps too late, but the Honda duo swap positions. |
| Lap 16 | Hamilton now runs second and has a clear track in front of him. |
| Lap 17 | Massa is shaping up to pass the struggling Button. |
| Lap 17 | Massa gets ahead of Button and up to 14th. |
| Lap 18 | For the first time, Hamilton pulls a little time from Raikkonen. |
| Lap 18 | It was however a slower lap from Raikkonen. |
| Lap 19 | Raikkonen has had two laps slightly off his own record pace. The gap remains stable at 15s to Hamilton. |
| Lap 19 | Raikkonen pits the Ferrari from the lead. |
| Lap 19 | A cleam stop for Raikkonen as Hamilton leads his first Grand Prix. Raikkonen exits fourth. |
| Lap 20 | Alonso is shadowing Hamilton |
| Lap 21 | Fisichella pits from fifth. |
| Lap 21 | Fisichella battled with Trulli exiting the poits and keeps the position. |
| Lap 22 | Kubica pits from fourth. He had a lot more fuel on baord than his team-mate. |
| Lap 22 | Raikkonen's pace is not so great after his first stop. He's losing a second a lap to the two McLarens as the tyres get up to temperature. |
| Lap 23 | Alonso pits from second and takes medium tyres again. |
| Lap 23 | Hamilton contines to lead as Webber pits the Red Bull. |
| Lap 23 | Hamilton pits from the lead. He lost a little time lapping Adrian Sutil. |
| Lap 24 | Hamilton retains position over Alonso who is pushing hard. |
| Lap 24 | Raikkonen regains the lead after the first round of stops. |
| Lap 24 | Sutil gets a drive through penalty presumably for holding up Hamilton. |
| Lap 25 | Hamilton gained 4s in the stops on Raikkonen. Schumacher and Sato have both pitted. |
| Lap 25 | Raikkonen is still lapping a second off his best pace in the first part of the race. |
| Lap 26 | Raikkonen and Hamilton both lapping on the same pace as Alonso loses a little time on the last lap. |
| Lap 26 | Trulli has pitted his Toyota. |
| Lap 27 | Trulli battled hard with Wurz and gains the position. |
| Lap 28 | Raikkonen picks up the pace and extends his lead by four tenths. He seems in control of his pace. Kovalainen and Rosberg both pit. |
| Lap 28 | Massa, now seventh, has yet to pit but he will be running a longer first stint. |
| Lap 29 | Coulthard is right with Kovalainen as the Renault rookie gets back up to speed. |
| Lap 29 | Alonso closes in on Hamilton who lost ground with a small error. |
| Lap 30 | Coulthard pits the Red Bull. |
| Lap 30 | Massa pits from seventh. |
| Lap 30 | Massa exits behind Kovalainen as Button (17th) gets a drive through penalty for speeding in the pits. |
| Lap 31 | Speed (19th) has a high speed trip across the grass. he stops and climbs out. Race over. |
| Lap 32 | Button teakes his penalty. What an awful Grand Prix for Honda. |
| Wurz (12th) has yet to pit his Williams. Kubica runs just ahead of Heidfeld in fourth position with Fisichella way nack in fifth and not on the pace of BMW. |
| Lap 33 | Barrichello holds Raikkonen up. Raikkonen shows his feelings as he passes. |
| Lap 34 | Rosberg, now eighth, is right with Ralf Schumacher. |
| Lap 35 | Heidfeld is right with team-mate Kubica but yet to find a way ahead. |
| Lap 36 | Kovalainen runs wide but maintains position. |
| Lap 37 | Fisichella is now 15s behind Heidfeld and seemingly unable to take up the battle for position. |
| Lap 37 | Kubica slows. He has a problem with the BMW Sauber |
| Lap 38 | Raikkonen laps Massa. |
| Lap 38 | Massa runs tenth as Kubica pits the BMW and retires from the Grand Prix. |
| Lap 39 | Fastest lap of the race from Raikkonen on the lap he lapped Massa. |
| Lap 39 | Heidfeld makes his second stop from fourth position. |
| Lap 39 | It seems that most are running the medium tyre in stints one and two and the soft at the final sting. Heidfeld is doing the opposite. |
| Lap 40 | Raikkonen has backed off after a couple of fast laps. perhaps he is just trying to amuse himself out front. |
| Lap 41 | Kovalainen spins and loses position to Massa. He continues just ahead of Trulli. A tough weekend for the rookie. |
| Lap 41 | Now Raikkonen bangs in another fastest lap of the race. |
| Lap 42 | Now another fastest lap from kimi some 1.5s faster than Hamilton |
| Lap 42 | Raikkonen pits the Ferrari from the lead as Kovalainen makes anothermistake but keeps the Renault pointing the right way this time. |
| Lap 43 | A pit stop for Rosberg who is having a good race in the Williams. |
| Lap 43 | Sto and Trulli held up Hamilton who pits. |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton pits as does Sato and Webber. |
| Lap 44 | Sato held up Hamilton and that may cost him position to Alonso when the champion pits his McLaren. |
| Lap 44 | Webber spun his Red Bull on entry into the pits. |
| Lap 45 | Alonso is pushing hard in his McLaren. |
| Lap 45 | Fisichella pits the Renault from fifth position. |
| Lap 45 | Alonso pits from the lead. |
| Lap 46 | Alonso exits clear of Hamilton who lost time behind Sato a few laps a go. |
| Lap 46 | Ralf Schumacher pits from sixth position. |
| Lap 47 | Massa is now sixth and may not be making a second stop. He will be aiming to close down the 12s gap to Fisichella. |
| Lap 48 | Kovalainen pits and then nearly hits Alonso at turn one. |
| Lap 48 | Alonso is pulling out a gap now to Hamilton as Raikkonen loses a couple of seconds of his large lead. |
| Lap 49 | Massa has pulled 4s on Fisichella in just a few laps. |
| Lap 49 | Fisichella is around 1.2s a lap slower than most of his rivals. |
| Lap 50 | Sutil runs wide but is able to continue. |
| Lap 50 | Coulthard makes a mess of trying to pass Wurz and contact. Coulthard is out of the race with a lot of left front damage while Wurz limps away. |
| Lap 51 | Actually in fairness, Wurz did leave the door open as DC launched across the front of the Williams. |
| Lap 52 | Massa has the gap to Fisichella down to 3s from 14. |
| Lap 52 | Wurz has pulled his damaged Williams off to retire as Kovalainen has his third off of the day. |
| Lap 53 | Kovalainen now runs behind Trulli as Massa is now right with Fisichella. |
| Lap 54 | The top four now seem set. The battle is on for fifth. |
| Lap 55 | Massa is all over Fisichella and gets a good run onto the straight. |
| Lap 56 | Not this time for Massa who ducks back in behind the Renault. |
| Lap 57 | Raikkonen is on target to win the opening race of the season as he gets ready for his final lap. |
| Lap 57 | A slow lap from Ralf Schumacher in 8th. |
| Lap 58 | It's the final lap as Kovalainen shadows Trulli. |
| Lap 58 | Kimi Raikkonen wins the Australian Grand Prix. |
| Lap 58 | Alonso takes the runner up spot from Hamilton, Fisichella who holds off Massa. |
| Lap 58 | Rosberg picks up two points with a solid seventh while Ralf Schumacher gets the final point for Toyota. |
| Lap 58 | So a fantastic start for Raikkonen, Alonso battles hard to finsih second while Hamilton has a stunning debut race with McLaren. |
