Rob Griffith/Associated Press Kimi Raikkonen of Finland controling his car on turn two Sunday in the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.Kimi Raikkonen seemed to outsmart the competition in the season-opening Formula One race on Sunday, scoring a victory for Lotus in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The Finn managed to conserve his tires well enough – while maintaining a strong pace – to make only two pit stops in the race. The other top contenders had to stop three times.
Fernando Alonso came in second, in one of Ferrari’s better season-opening results. Sebastian Vettel, the defending season champion and the fastest in practice and in qualifying, brought his Red Bull machine home in third. He complained afterward of extreme tire wear problems.
At times, because of the varying pit stop strategies that were gradually played out like poker hands, it was difficult to tell who would come out on top at the end.
Raikkonen said he was pleased with the speed of his Lotus, but he cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the result in Melbourne. “It could be a completely different result next week in Malaysia,” he said in interviews after the race. “The difference today was that we got our tire strategy absolutely right.” (f1.com)
The full schedule for the 2013 Formula One season is at the bottom of this post.
In other motorsports news over the weekend:
• Kasey Kahne’s Chevrolet SS pulled away from the field on a final restart after a caution period and scored a victory Sunday in the Nascar Sprint Cup event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
The victory, the 15th of Kahne’s career in Nascar’s premier series, was his first at Bristol and his first of the season, which is now four events into a 36-race run. The runner-up was the pole-position starter, Kyle Busch in a Toyota, followed by the Ford of Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski, the defending series champion, moved into the points lead for the first time this year, as former points leader Jimmie Johnson damaged his car when a tire blew late in the race. The sixth place finisher at Bristol, Dale Earnhardt Jr., moved into second in points, nine behind Keselowski.
The series next moves to Fontana, Calif., for an event March 24. (nascar.com)
• Audi finished one-two in the Sebring 12-hour endurance race Saturday, as Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer and Oliver Jarvis took turns at the wheel of the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro. It was the first victory for a hybrid-powered vehicle in the endurance classic in Sebring, Fla., according to the organizers,
Treluyer, who had to make a fuel stop with just 20 minutes to go, was at the wheel for the close victory over the No. 2 Audi of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi. Each Audi completed 364 laps around the 3.74-mile road course. The two Audis traded the lead 21 times. The third place Toyota of Neel Jani, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost was a distant five laps behind.
In GT competition at Sebring, the Corvette driven by Tommy Milner passed the skidding Ferrari of Matteo Malucelli in the final 13 minutes for the class victory. Malucelli, apparently feeling the pressure from the fast-closing Milner, who codrove with Oliver Gavin and Richard Westbrook, slid off the course twice in the span of a single lap.
• Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, who has escaped serious injury in two fiery crashes in his most recent races, bounced back Sunday with a victory in the N.H.R.A. Gatornationals in Gainseville, Fla. He beat Clay Millican in a razor-close duel to the line in the finale.
Brown’s strong performance gave him the series points lead, despite his fiery mishaps of late.
Johnny Gray, who says he’s retiring at the end of the season, took the victory in the Funny Car class. Quicker reaction time gave Allen Johnson a victory over Jeg Coughlin Jr. And in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hector Arana Jr. took the win. (nhra.com)
• Cameron Beaubier won the 72nd Daytona 200 motorcycle classic on Saturday, riding a Yamaha YZF-R6 to a decisive victory. His teammate Garrett Gerloff, coming back from a leg-breaking crash at Daytona a year ago, was a distant 22 seconds behind. Bobby Fong of the RMR team was third. (amaproracing.com)
• A 17-year-old sprint car driver careened off the track at Marysville Speedway in California on Saturday, and killed two spectators – one of which was his 14-year-old cousin. Authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash involving the driver, Chase Johnson, who was uninjured, and his cousin Marcus Johnson, and 68-year-old Dale Wondergem. (The Associated Press)
Schedule for Remaining Formula One Races
March 24, Petronas Malayasia Grand Prix, Kuala Lumpur.
April 14, UBS Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai.
April 21, Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir.
May 12, Grand Prix of Spain, Catalonia.
May 26, Grand Prix of Monaco, Monte Carlo.
June 9, Grand Prix of Canada, Montreal.
June 30, British Grand Prix, Silverstone.
July 7, Grand Prix of Germany, Nürburgring.
July 28, Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest.
Aug. 25, Shell Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps.
Sept. 8, Grand Prix of Italy, Monza.
Sept. 22, Singapore Grand Prix, Singapore.
Oct. 6, Korean Grand Prix, Yeongam.
Oct. 13, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka.
Oct. 27, Airtel Indian Grand Prix, New Delhi.
Nov. 3, Ethihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina.
Nov. 17, United States Grand Prix, Austin, Tex.
Nov. 24, Grand Prix of Brazil, São Paulo.
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