A wet qualifying session, a DRS telemetry glitch and a late lead at Albert Park gave Kimi Raikkonen his twentieth career win.
The 2013 Australian Grand Prix opened the Formula One season on 17 March 2013 at Albert Park. Kimi Raikkonen won for Lotus from Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, and the race was the 78th in the combined history of the event.
Kimi Raikkonen won the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, and the result is notable because it was Lotus's last victory. It was also his twentieth career win, which tied him with Mika Hakkinen. The win came after a wet qualifying session, a DRS telemetry glitch and a late lead on a track that had been dry for weeks.
What changed in the rules and the grid for 2013?
HRT's collapse in December 2012 cut the grid to twenty-two entries, which forced a change to qualifying. Six cars were eliminated in the first period instead of seven, and six more at the end of the second period.
The DRS rules were also tightened. For 2013 the system was limited to designated zones in practice and qualifying, but a telemetry glitch in Friday practice left DRS unrestricted. The stewards had to rely on drivers to use it honestly and warn them through marshals, because the telemetry could no longer show flags.
Pirelli brought super-soft and medium tyres to Melbourne, compared with the soft and medium choice of 2012.
A wet qualifying session, a DRS glitch and a late lead gave Lotus its last win in Formula One.
How did the wet qualifying session play out?
Qualifying opened after a thirty-minute delay, in wet conditions, with every driver on wet tyres. Lewis Hamilton lost control at turn two and slid into the wall, and Felipe Massa spun into the wall after turn 14 and broke a front wing.
The track dried in the first session and lap times fell quickly. Esteban Gutierrez spun in the same place as Massa, stalled his engine and ended his own session, which disturbed the laps of several other drivers.
Pastor Maldonado qualified seventeenth after going off the circuit. Gutierrez went out in eighteenth. Bianchi, making his Formula One debut, lined up nineteenth alongside Chilton in twentieth. Pic did not manage a time inside the 107% window, so the stewards had to grant him permission to race.
Why was qualifying moved to Sunday morning?
Rain intensified during the break between sessions, and stewards suspended qualifying as twilight approached. Q2 and Q3 were rescheduled for Sunday morning, when the track was cool and still damp from overnight rain.
Debris from several Q1 accidents meant the break was extended so marshals could clean the track. They used brooms to clear puddles from the poorly drained public road surface, which made the delay longer than planned.
Q2 began at 11:00 local time, with an air temperature of 15 C (59 F). Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas failed to make it through to Q3. Sebastian Vettel took pole, with Mark Webber alongside him, so the Red Bulls locked out the front row.
Qualifying and the race were run late in the afternoon to suit European television audiences, which is why the twilight deadline mattered so much to the stewards.
How did the start shape the first laps?
Hulkenberg could not take part in the race because of a fuel feed problem in his Sauber. Vettel made a perfect start from pole, but Webber could not use his KERS off the line because of an electronic control unit problem, and he dropped to seventh.
The chief beneficiaries were the Ferraris. Massa moved from fourth to second, and Alonso overtook Hamilton around the outside of turn three to take third. Raikkonen moved up to fifth and then passed Hamilton for fourth at turn 11 on lap two, while Grosjean slipped from eighth to eleventh.
Vettel led by two seconds after the first lap, but Massa and Alonso soon closed the gap. Jenson Button made his first stop after just four laps to switch from super-softs to mediums, and many drivers followed him.
Webber, meanwhile, had a difficult afternoon. A slow pit stop caused by an issue with his jacks cost him further time and places, and he was ninth at one point, with Grosjean eleventh behind him.
How did the tyre choices shape the leaders' race?
Vettel waited seven laps before pitting, Massa waited eight, and Alonso and Raikkonen waited a couple of laps longer. Hamilton and Rosberg ran until laps 13 and 14 in an attempt at a two-stop strategy, which did not pay off for either of them.
Sutil and Perez had started on mediums and stayed out in front. Perez could not make his mediums last and was quickly passed by the leading group on fresher tyres, while Sutil proved far harder to get past.
Massa, like Vettel earlier, was held up behind Sutil and could not pass him despite having the faster car. Vettel had closed rapidly on Sutil without finding a way by, which helped bring Massa and Alonso back onto his tail.
Rosberg's race ended close to half distance with an electrical failure, so the tyre question became academic for him.
Why did Hamilton make a third stop?
Hamilton had tried a two-stop plan, but once Vettel and Massa passed him he decided it would not work. He made a third stop for fresh tyres and rejoined ahead of Di Resta and Webber, eventually finishing fifth.
Alonso passed Hamilton on lap 32 despite the Briton's best efforts to defend. Hamilton flat-spotted a tyre in the process and had to pit immediately, rejoining in sixth place.
Raikkonen made his second stop on lap 34 and rejoined in fifth, then worked his way forward. Massa made his final stop early, on lap 36, and Vettel followed a lap later to cover him.
How did Raikkonen take the lead late in the race?
Sutil led from Raikkonen and Alonso on older tyres, and Raikkonen took full advantage when Alonso got held up behind Sutil. Sutil had switched to super-soft tyres late, and they wore out rapidly, so he could do little to keep the leaders behind him.
Sutil was then defenceless when Hamilton attacked him on lap 51, and a recovering Webber did the same. Despite their newer tyres, neither Alonso nor Vettel could make an impression on Raikkonen at the front.
Raikkonen then set the fastest lap of the race on lap 56, on the 23rd lap of the same set of tyres. Alonso, who had backed off, nearly collided with Charles Pic while lapping him and settled for second.
Vettel completed the podium. Massa was fourth after backing off in the closing stages to conserve his tyres, and Hamilton was fifth ahead of Webber.
Final order of the 2013 Australian Grand Prix
| Position | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus, twentieth career win |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari, held up behind Sutil late on |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull, started from pole |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari, backed off late to save tyres |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes, third stop |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull, lost places after a slow start |
| 7 | Adrian Sutil | Force India, badly worn super-soft tyres |
| 8 | Paul di Resta | Force India |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren, won the ninth-place battle |
| Tenth | Romain Grosjean | Lotus, took the final point |
Who were the rookies and debutants?
Esteban Gutierrez was the best-placed rookie, finishing 13th. Jules Bianchi, on his Formula One debut weekend, finished 15th, comfortably ahead of his teammate and both Caterham cars.
Valtteri Bottas, the Williams rookie, finished 14th, one place behind Gutierrez, and he had been a rookie in the sport all season.
What did the win mean for the championships?
The result moved Ferrari to the top of the constructors' championship, with Lotus-Renault second and Red Bull-Renault third. It was Lotus's last win and Raikkonen's last until the 2018 United States Grand Prix.
The win was the last by a team outside Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull until Pierre Gasly took the 2020 Italian Grand Prix for AlphaTauri, 147 races later.
Raikkonen's win also took him back to the lead of the drivers' championship, a position he would not hold again before his retirement in 2021. The next Finnish winner after him was Valtteri Bottas, who took the 2017 Russian Grand Prix.
