Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland (C) celebrates with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso of Spain (L) and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel of Germany after the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne Sunday. — AP MELBOURNE — Kimi Raikkonen won the Australian Grand Prix for Lotus with a brilliantly executed race strategy as the new Formula One season opened with a thriller at Albert Park Sunday. Finland's 2007 world champion made the most of having to make just two pit stops and was pulling away from his rivals, having just set the fastest lap time of the race, when he crossed the line 12.4 seconds clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. “It was probably one of my easiest wins,” said the ‘Iceman', cool as ever after a 20th career win that equaled the tally of retired double champion and compatriot Mika Hakkinen. Sebastian Vettel, seeking to win his fourth successive world title this year, rounded out the podium in third place for Red Bull after struggling with tire wear throughout the race. The 25-year-old German had got away cleanly from pole position but the variety of strategies forced on the teams by the tires and the pace shown by Red Bull's rivals ensured this was never going to be a procession. A few light showers contributed to an intriguing race but never threatened to disfigure it as top drivers engaged in fierce battles around the circuit and the lead changed hands with surprising frequency. Seven cars led the race at one stage or other but after Raikkonen hit the front for the second time on lap 43, it looked like only mechanical failure would stop him. It was the first season-opening win by a team called Lotus since American Mario Andretti won the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix. Alonso's Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa finished fourth ahead of 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton who had an encouraging first race for Mercedes after leaving McLaren. Red Bull's Mark Webber made a terrible start from the front row, suffering telemetry problems on the grid and losing KERS for the first part of the race, and finished sixth in his 12th attempt to win his home grand prix. The Australian said the team, constructors' champions for the last three years, was not in as good a position as it had thought. Vettel was more sanguine about his results even if he had hoped for more after dominating qualifying, which had been completed Sunday morning after torrential rain Saturday. “Of course we wanted more, when you start from pole you expect to win,” he said. “But we could see from the first few laps that the tires were falling apart. Sometimes we have to admit that other people are faster than us. I think the naked pace was there ... (but) we couldn't keep it up and the times set at the front by Fernando and especially Kimi were very impressive and obviously we couldn't do that.” Adrian Sutil, returning to the sport after a year out, enjoyed a long period as the unlikely leader of the race before finishing seventh, just ahead of his Force India teammate Paul Di Resta. Both also benefited from a two stop strategy. Alonso grumbled afterwards about being held up by backmarkers as he attempted to chase Raikkonen down but was unable to disguise his delight at his car's pace. McLaren's problems continued and Jenson Button, the winner of three of the last four races at Albert Park, was only able to manage ninth place while his new teammate Sergio Perez was 11th. Raikkonen's French teammate Romain Grosjean claimed the final point for Lotus in 10th. In a race that featured more ovetaking than retirements, Pastor Maldonado beached his Williams on the trackside gravel on lap 25 and Nico Rosberg followed him out of the race when his Mercedes developed an electronics problem a lap later. Nico Hulkenberg will have to wait until next week's Malaysian Grand Prix to get his season underway after a fuel system failure on his Sauber prevented him from starting. — Reuters
