Vettel wins in Ozposted in F127 | 03 | 2011

WORLD CHAMP Sebastian Vettel got the defence of his title off to the perfect start when he gave a flawless performance to win the Australian Grand Prix at a canter.

The Red Bull ace, who started the opening Formula One race of the year from a dominant pole position, was never headed during the 58-lap race at the scenic Albert Park circuit in downtown Melbourne.

McLaren's Lewis Hamliton delivered a result which he admitted was beyond the team's expectations two weeks ago when he finished a distant second. The former world temp was also forced to cope with a broken floor on his McLaren.

Perhaps the biggest star of the show though was Vitaly Petrov. The Russian stepped up to the plate as new Renault No1 driver, following the horror smash which has sidelined Robert Kubica for the season, to take a stunning third place, his first podium in 20 starts.

The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber's Red Bull and the second McLaren of Jenson Button — who recovered from a drive-through penalty after overtaking Felipe Massa's Ferrari via a slip road — completed the top six.

Top rookie Sergio Perez took the chequered flag in an unbelievable seventh. While the rest of the teams opted for a two- or three-stop strategy, the Mexican — who clearly looked after his Pirelli tyres better than anyone else — stopped just once in his Sauber.

But hours after the race finished, both the Sauber of Perez, and that of his team-mate Kamui Kobayashi who had originally finished eighth, were disqualified after scrutineers found the cars had infringed technical regulations.

The decision propelled Bathgate's Paul di Resta, on his F1 race debut, into a point-scoring position. The 24-year-old Scot delivered a solid performance running as high as ninth at one stage before dropping back to finish 12th, one place behind his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil. But following the Saubers' disqualification, the Force indi cars were promoted to ninth and 10th. Vettel meanwhile stressed he is keeping his feet on the ground despite his dominant win.

"I tried to keep saying to the team that we need to keep our feet on the floor," he explained afterwards. "We got a lot of points, which is very important, and we enjoyed ourselves, which is even more important. It is a long year and a lot of things can happen.

"The guys sitting next to me, plus Ferrari is always very strong, Mercedes did not have a great start but they will come back stronger than last year.

"It will be very close but it is important to finish, so big, big compliments to the people back at the factory. The car was quick but also reliable and that is the key. It's the first time I have finished the Australian GP as well so I am very, very happy.

"It was not an easy race. The start was crucial. I had a good getaway but didn't know if it was enough until I saw Lewis and Mark battling for position. On the first stint I trying to hold a gap and then at some point you reach a cliff and the tyres see some degradation.

"Lewis caught up and we came in. I could not have done more laps and after my stop it was crucial to get past Jenson, which I could do immediately so that was very, very important. After that the second part of the race I didn't know what was going on behind Lewis and with him dropping off in terms of amount of pressure I could control the situation a bit better.

"There were a lot of things to learn today and we need to have another look at the race." And his closest rival Hamilton was delighted to finish on the odium after struggling through the pre-season testing.

"I think we can definitely take this and be very proud of ourselves," Hamilton admitted. "The guys did a great job coming into this weekend. A week or two ago we were not expecting to be anywhere near top five, to come away with second and the car more reliable, I think it is a great achievement for us guys.

"We were clearly catching Seb (Vettel) earlier in the race. Strategy is one for sure we can work on but we have a good pace and I am looking forward to the next race.

"The plank and the part of the floor is massively damaged," he said. "I don't know when it happened. I was losing quite a lot of downforce with that, so was trying to nurse the car home for points as we need them for later in the year."

Australian Grand Prix — Provisional Results:

1. Vettel: Red Bull-Renault, 1h29:30.259;

2. Hamilton: McLaren-Mercedes, +22.297;

3. Petrov: Renault, +30.560;

4. Alonso: Ferrari, +31.772;

5. Webber: Red Bull-Renault, +38.171;

6. Button: McLaren-Mercedes, +54.300;

7. Massa: Ferrari, +1:25.100;

8. Buemi: Toro Rosso-Ferrari, +1 lap;

9. Sutil: Force India-Mercedes, +1 lap;

10. Di Resta: Force India-Mercedes, +1 lap;

11. Alguersuari: Toro Rosso-Ferrari, +1 lap;

12. Heidfeld: Renault, +1 lap;

13. Trulli: Lotus-Renault, +2 laps;

14. D'Ambrosio: Virgin-Cosworth, +3 laps;

Not classified/retirements:

Glock: Virgin-Cosworth, 50 laps;

Barrichello: Williams-Cosworth, 49;

Rosberg: Mercedes, 22;

Kovalainen: Lotus-Renault, 19;

Schumacher: Mercedes, 19;

Maldonado: Williams-Cosworth, 10;

Liuzzi: HRT-Cosworth, 1;

Karthikeyan: HRT-Cosworth, 1.

Disqualified:

Perez: Sauber-Ferrari;

Kobayashi: Sauber-Ferrari.

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Jim McGill