Round 1 of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship — the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s iconic Albert Park Circuit. A new season begins, filled with anticipation, new rivalries, and the promise of one of the most competitive years in F1 history.
From the very first laps, the race delivered everything fans love — strategy battles, safety car drama, and thrilling overtakes. Jenson Button started the year in perfect fashion, mastering the conditions and securing a dominant win for McLaren. Behind him, world champion Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton fought fiercely for the podium, while Fernando Alonso pushed his underperforming Ferrari to the limit for valuable points.
It was a race that set the tone for the unpredictable and exciting 2012 season — a year remembered for seven different winners in the first seven races.
Relive the excitement, the atmosphere of Melbourne, and the start of a truly remarkable F1 championship.
#F12012 #Formula1 #AustralianGP #Melbourne #AlbertPark #McLaren #JensonButton #Hamilton #Vettel #F1History #GrandPrix #Motorsport #F1Highlights #F1Classic
#LeMans2016
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#ToyotaVsPorsche
#RacingDrama
#LegendaryRace
From the very first laps, the race delivered everything fans love — strategy battles, safety car drama, and thrilling overtakes. Jenson Button started the year in perfect fashion, mastering the conditions and securing a dominant win for McLaren. Behind him, world champion Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton fought fiercely for the podium, while Fernando Alonso pushed his underperforming Ferrari to the limit for valuable points.
It was a race that set the tone for the unpredictable and exciting 2012 season — a year remembered for seven different winners in the first seven races.
Relive the excitement, the atmosphere of Melbourne, and the start of a truly remarkable F1 championship.
#F12012 #Formula1 #AustralianGP #Melbourne #AlbertPark #McLaren #JensonButton #Hamilton #Vettel #F1History #GrandPrix #Motorsport #F1Highlights #F1Classic
#LeMans2016
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#ToyotaVsPorsche
#RacingDrama
#LegendaryRace
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00in a place he would want to be running third rather than first let's go down to
00:00:03Ted with 25 laps to go so I've just popped back into the McLaren garage
00:00:08absolutely packed McLaren garage here small place with all the Lewis
00:00:11Hamilton's mum and his girlfriend absolutely standing room only in here
00:00:15but they're just telling me that the drivers are saving their tires at the
00:00:18moment so they're telling them just to stick to it because they need to get to
00:00:22the second stop window which opens at around lap 38 39 so they're hearing
00:00:28those calls from the drivers that the the tires are starting to go off but
00:00:32they're just telling them to save the tires keep going something interesting
00:00:35though they're slightly concerned about Vettel closing in just steadily and the
00:00:40gap remains about two seconds Vettel to Hamilton Hamilton's managing that gap
00:00:45though at the moment Martin should they really be too concerned
00:00:49he just wants to get to the end of the race and see Nicole again doesn't he
00:00:52she does look absolutely glorious today but where were we we're in a race weren't
00:00:57we yes button Hamilton 10.8 seconds but it does seem as if Jensen's got he can push a
00:01:03little bit harder on this phase of the race as if he's kept his tires just a
00:01:08little bit better we know that Lewis is not happy with his and Vettel's homing in
00:01:12now a tenth of a second on the last lap
00:01:15the 12 clear of Alonso Webber has just about halved the gap to Alonso in three
00:01:19laps so uh he's catching quickly now that he's got
00:01:23Rosberg out of the way Maldonado though just about hanging on to Webber in six
00:01:28Kimi Raikkonen still putting in personal best 40 seconds off the lead but he's seven
00:01:33if Maldonado can finish six that will be an absolute bonus for the Williams team and
00:01:38better than really anything they could manage last year trouble is if you look at the pace of
00:01:43Sergio Perez at the moment he's currently running ninth if he can maintain that and
00:01:48keep to a one stopper he's running in about a net fifth place at the moment which would be
00:01:53absolutely miraculous given that he started the race right at the back of the field after that
00:01:59gearbox change sorry Martin as Alonso now comes in for his pit stop giving uh Mark Webber even more
00:02:07clear air ahead of him Alonso what's running in fourth he's got to make them work for 23 laps obviously
00:02:14well uh under half tank of fuel in there now so it helps the tires the track rubbers in and he puts
00:02:21a set of the medium compound on he will surely expect to get to the end of the race on that set
00:02:25of tires it's a question of whether maybe Rosberg's the only one looking at three stops at the moment
00:02:32Perez helping for one stop still doing personal best still doing fastest ever sectors through the grand
00:02:40free and uh butters lead now 10.8 seconds so Barton comfortable Hamilton now less than two seconds the
00:02:50gap between himself and Sebastian Vettel in fact it's just over a second and a half Vettel's gone three
00:02:55tenths faster on this current lap so maybe they are right to be a little bit concerned about the
00:03:02pace of Lewis Hamilton still a long way from this race being decided at the moment albeit it's looking
00:03:10very very nice indeed for Jenson Button as the clock ticks towards six o'clock here in Melbourne this evening
00:03:16the day showing no signs of setting on Jenson Button's happiness and delights at the moment on course
00:03:25for a second win down under
00:03:29pass to Maldonado we watch running in fifth place at the moment after Fernando Alonso's pit stop
00:03:34and maybe Williams have found something with this car certainly found a way to start the season after
00:03:41all the horrors of their worst season in formula one in 2011 this is a much better showing from the famous
00:03:48old team in the opening race in 2012.
00:03:51I just answered a tweet from uh Nikesh saying he says if you're at first and you come up behind
00:03:56back markers can you still get access to the DRS and the answer is yes you can they can't differentiate
00:04:02which cars which in which position so yeah you do get the advantage when you're lapping of using the DRS
00:04:09Icky Kovalainen's just pitted in the caterer
00:04:14Bruno Senna back in 15 let's just have a look through here Crofty what do you reckon
00:04:18John Eric Verne up to 11 doing 31 sevens quicker than the two leaders
00:04:28push push push
00:04:31and of course he will and why shouldn't he as the gap coming down again
00:04:36Verne's having a strange race he shows flashes of pace and then just fades off again as Hamilton
00:04:42now pits so Sebastian Vettel is going to have to push push push so it's Jenson Button
00:04:47uh coming into the pits now our race leader is that
00:04:53so let's just have a look Jenson Button is the harder compound tyre is it that's going to be going on
00:04:58keep the rev still don't rock the chassis mechanics then can get the wheel nut on quickly and look at
00:05:04that they've pitted the two McLarens together that was brave one sticky wheel nut on button and uh
00:05:10they've got themselves a major headache that's a confident team for you they've obviously done
00:05:15their drills during the course of the winter car broken down there Caterham looks like the Caterham of
00:05:20Vitaly Petrov just running back there man who was on the podium last year it is Petrov's Caterham and
00:05:27that that's going to cause all sorts of bother down the main straight i wonder if they'll consider that
00:05:31a safety car situation because they cannot uh clear that easily away well it wouldn't surprise me at
00:05:38all someone's going to have to get out there and push it well they might they might if it was a bit
00:05:43near at the end of the race i think they'd just leave it but that's uh that's a difficult judgment
00:05:47call there for Charlie Whiting well the last thing you want is someone losing a safety car coming out
00:05:52i was going to say the last thing you want is someone to lose it coming out of the final turn
00:05:56martin and then slew across the track straight into a car that's uh stuck on the roadside now
00:06:02how does this affect things McLaren have just been in for a double pit stop Sebastian Vettel
00:06:10hasn't made his second pit stop neither has Mark Webber obviously the field bunches up here
00:06:16but this is going to be interesting to see who it helps and who it doesn't yes and they're giving
00:06:20a what they call a delta time on the steering wheel an earliest time of arrival back into the pit so
00:06:26they don't rush past any incident and now he can go as soon as he's past that first safety car line
00:06:31can nail it down the pit lane and uh he can now make a stop i wonder where he's going to feed back
00:06:36into the pack and whether it's played into their hands or not but then they can't just nail it back
00:06:42to the pits they have to moderate their speed here he comes into the uh garage of 22 of his favorite
00:06:49men in the world except uh 21 of them only like him the man on the front jack won't appreciate that
00:06:55you see how keen he was to get uh in and out again jensen button goes through so he's ahead of
00:07:01hamilton he's ahead of hamilton he is going to be ahead of hamilton because the next car there you
00:07:05can see is heki covalainen oh dear even coming out behind the safety car he runs a bit right uh wide
00:07:12pastor maldonado comes in there wow that's changed it so now then uh bettel with no cars between him and button
00:07:23he can start the race right behind the leader that has worked very nicely indeed it was a brave call
00:07:31from mclaren to bring both guys in at the same time as alonso stays ahead of pastor maldonado on
00:07:38the track you don't know when there's going to be a safety car there it's a very high chance there
00:07:43will be a safety car here you just don't know when you normally expect it in the first lap or two
00:07:48so this is what caused the safety car broken down catering on the pit straight and being a temporary
00:07:54racetrack there are you know there's no perimeter road there's no service roads much not there is
00:07:59any way up against the pit wall but that is not a car that's easy to recover i'm not quite sure what the
00:08:05problem was with the tiny petrol but he stopped rather suddenly could he not just a free wheeled
00:08:10down to the print exit a little bit with that would that have been a bit safer yeah if you lose hydraulics you
00:08:14lose throttle gears and power steering and what have you all at the same time so um that uh you know
00:08:21it just chugs to a halt basically a bit like you stall your car how is that race face the red bull so far
00:08:30okay gents the red bull's pace has been very similar to ours but so we have been fuel four so we have
00:08:35plenty of them oh juicy information so we've got some uh some motor i remember they're restricted to
00:08:44eight engines per season and that's not changed but we do have 20 races this year instead of 19 so
00:08:50they need to eat these engines out not just in the race but in the in the 255 days of this 2012 season
00:08:59that it's going to be and so basically that's really caught jen's attention uh oh hang on i've
00:09:06got a new contender here how well was he going but that's exactly the sort of message that mclaren
00:09:11would like to be sending out as well isn't it we haven't been trying 100 so far so just in case
00:09:17you're listening down at red bull you're not about to get an advantage on us as into the pits comes
00:09:23kimmy reichner i thought it was a catering wasn't it another kimmy reichner or heike kovalainen
00:09:29they're both the same helmet sponsor this year and i think it is heike kovalainen you need to be
00:09:34careful there because he was perilously clear you're allowed to pass a car when you've when you've passed
00:09:39the first safety car line and that was touch and go there for kovalainen but let's hope he gets away
00:09:44with it and that'll drive through maybe that he was unlapping himself but we had two laps behind the
00:09:49safety car it's very clear we're going to see a car locking up now trying not to run into the back
00:09:53of a slowing pack and uh is that a sober yeah and uh it's so easy to have a crash behind the safety car
00:10:03sounds silly doesn't it but it is because you've got to keep the tire and brake temperature and yet all
00:10:09of a sudden you've got a face full of uh the crocodile of the pack behind the safety car
00:10:14so when we get the restart and we're not anywhere near getting it yet because the truck's only just
00:10:21arrived button and vettel scrapping away another pit stop this time daniel ricardo at toro rosso perez up
00:10:30in seventh it helps him doesn't it eat those tires out to the end of the race only 19 laps to go now
00:10:36but it just allows it to close that gap as well
00:10:39and if alonzo has to pit ahead of him if there's one more pit stop to come from alonzo that's uh
00:10:45another place sergio perez will fancy getting now alonzo get to the end i mean he's he put the prime
00:10:51tires on didn't he at the stop so he'll he'll get to the end now it helps him as well sort of ensure
00:10:56that really i'd have said so he's up in fifth place he's uh it's helped him out actually the safety
00:11:04cars work very nicely for him so uh we are less than 20 laps to go but we're running behind the
00:11:10safety car here in albert park ted it's been a hurly-burly uh 10 minutes or so of activity right
00:11:16down to the pit lane with you it has it's been absolutely breathless um it started off with the
00:11:20two mclarens uh pitting your pace was very good you have a good half a second quicker than anybody
00:11:26else at the end there and remember when we restart there'll be two laps without drs it's a good
00:11:32opportunity yeah so good encouragement for uh for mark weber there it um it started with the two
00:11:37mclarens pitting together and rather cheekily the red bull mechanics came out into their pit box and
00:11:43that rather blocked the exit of both mclarens who had to swerve around them so they had sebastian
00:11:48vettel's tires out but vettel didn't pit which i thought was strange so then the mechanics went back
00:11:53in and then we had the catering stopping then we had the safety car coming out and vettel pitted that
00:11:59lap and it was because vettel was going to pit that lap anyway that he was uh able to leg it into
00:12:04the pits presumably martin and i didn't really catch this while the mclarens were out around the
00:12:10back of the circuit having to drive to a safety car uh speed limit so that's how sebastian vettel
00:12:16made up the time and managed to uh leapfrog lewis out and into second position so vettel the big
00:12:22gainer and just in front of me the pet the catering of petrov is being wheeled away so we should get
00:12:27underway again quite soon uh we're going to just wait for a little bit as the lapped cars
00:12:31now can overtake heki kovalainen timo glock and charl kirk and it's a new for 2012 regulation this one
00:12:39to basically stamp out some of the incidents we had last year when races would restart
00:12:44after a safety car period and there would be back markers lap cars in the way of cars that were
00:12:50genuinely trying to fight for position so now we get the situation where the lap cars can get out of the
00:12:56way and we can get on racing once again weber by the way just work this one out 17 seconds at one
00:13:02stage he was behind sebastian vettel now of course he's right there in the thick of it he is it's worked
00:13:08well for mark and uh i'm hoping that they might restart this at the end of the lab and they won't
00:13:14wait for those lap cars to get too far away let's uh hopefully see a safety car in this lap but you can
00:13:21see that the cars are meant to stay on the racing line those that are on the lead lap so that the
00:13:27other cars can then unlap themselves but there's so much weaving going on there you know hanky kovalainen
00:13:33is almost having to pick a chicane to go through you see see look there's lewis hamilton weaving and
00:13:39charl timo glock on his birthday trying to make his move and unlap himself i don't i i might be alone
00:13:46here i think i don't like this rule i don't so what if there's the luck of the draw if they have
00:13:50to get through some back markers on the restart so what they're the best drivers in the world let's
00:13:54see them negotiating i think we should get rid of blue flags you'll hear me say that about once every
00:14:00three races that i'll agree passing back markers is a core skill of being a racing driver as uh mark
00:14:07weather locked both his front tires which won't do them any good at all i think the net result martin
00:14:14has got to be good but when guys can actually go straight for an overtaking move and not have to
00:14:19worry about a back marker being in the way because the safety cars close them down but is there a better
00:14:24way to do it than this i see a different way we should be racing now and let the back markers get
00:14:28out of the way let them sort it out but it's interesting i spoke we've wasted the lap look
00:14:33we've now got another lap of safety car well i spoke to charlie whiting about this a couple of
00:14:37days ago and i said you know do you think we're going to extend the safety car period by three four
00:14:41maybe five laps he said no no no about one more lap that's that's all it'll take to get the back
00:14:46markers passed it's turned out i think to be the case here but nonetheless i'd rather see a racing lap
00:14:52in the safety car lap sebastian you can use the fuel you can use the fuel burn as much as you can
00:15:00okay sebastian rehearse the restart in your mind
00:15:04and it's not a famine or feast for him in a safety car restart isn't it oh and that's
00:15:08taking cover lining looks to me like he's out of the race in the catering he's looking trolley there
00:15:14both caterers out of the race during this safety car period so we have lost from the race kovalainen
00:15:26and petrov schumacher and grosjean and hulkenberg and we have a top five featuring jenson button sebastian
00:15:35betel lewis hamilton mark weber and fernando alonso behind alonso watch out pastor maldonado
00:15:42sergio perez nico rosberg might all fancy their chances and then they're going to have to watch
00:15:47out for kimmy raikkonen and kamui kobayashi there's a lot of potential for a lot of chaos within that top
00:15:5410. nico rosberg ate michael schumacher out of the race with some very long faces i'm really sad to say
00:16:01the boys at brackley and the mercedes-benz team do you think they've done their level best to
00:16:05ease off any threat of protest this weekend with both their qualified performance and what's happened
00:16:10in the race safety cars coming in nonetheless at the end of this lap and the light's already off and
00:16:17we can go racing again so it's imperative now that these guys have got the temperature in the
00:16:22tyres up to its working range yeah and as i said it shocks me how hard you have to work to make that happen
00:16:28as uh vettel very nearly runs into the back of button because there's no brake lights on formula
00:16:33one cars you don't know when the driver in front is hitting the brakes they're pretty useful these
00:16:37things stop so quickly that uh brake lights would be pretty uh useless basically but uh button knows
00:16:44how to restart but vettel has been told rehearse this in your mind have it clearly in your mind what
00:16:49you want to do anytime soon jensen is just going to leg it so it's going to be a very short very fast and
00:16:55very explosive 17 laps now towards the checker flag and button's got the jump on the ball as you
00:17:01would expect leading them down the line sebastian fettel in second place lewis hamilton quite close
00:17:06quite handy pulls over to the right hand side as you can see but into turn one button leads fettel
00:17:12leads weather leads alonzo leads maldonado leads perez rossberg raikkonen and kobayashi and they've all
00:17:19filed through without any incident as we ride on board with hamilton once again no drs for the next couple of
00:17:24laps so anything lewis hamilton's got to do is without the artificial aid of a 50 millimeter slot
00:17:30gap in his rear wing right the mclarens are picking up tire temperature before the red bull
00:17:34that just smacks of more downforce to me in terms of just more confidence in the car because
00:17:40hamilton is hustling bettel button's gone he's already around turn eight bettel the man we normally
00:17:46expect to see building those early leads hasn't been able to do anything about it he was a button was over a
00:17:51second faster in the first sector than bettel so all that rehearsing in the mind of sebastian fettel
00:17:57and he fluffed his lines at the restart jensen barton streaking ahead as he has been for most of this
00:18:04race so far fettle coming back in it in the second sector though this is going to be really interesting
00:18:10and that that second advantage that jensen button got through the first sector he might need all of that
00:18:16and a little bit more as well i'll tell you what mark weather's going to be feeling uh like he's had
00:18:20a second chance ahead a great guy has had good pace as his engineer said to him and just uh see the view
00:18:26now from the uh sauber of kimi kobayashi great move from kobayashi on kimmy raikkonen really kept it
00:18:33well under some very late breaking i think he was just pulling for a better line pulling the outside and
00:18:38it became an overtake that was uh extraordinary raikkonen then uh very very early on the brakes
00:18:45kobayashi steals his ninth place and uh raikkonen down to 10th with paul diresta right behind him
00:18:51burn 12th now massa down to 13th the other ferrari up in fifth with alonso look at button he's so
00:18:58confident today two and a half seconds clear at the end of that lap jensen buttons are already easing
00:19:04himself out of any drs threats lewis hamilton needs to watch out for mark weber who is sticking
00:19:11to him like glue weber running in the top four at the moment has never finished higher than fifth
00:19:16in his home grand prix the australian crowd still waiting for a winner at their home grand prix you
00:19:21never know they still might get one here this afternoon there's plenty more to come in this race
00:19:26in the next 15 laps well the two australian drivers still running mark weber in fourth daniel ricardo in
00:19:3414th thought the toro rosso's might be steering at some points today but 12th for verne they're just
00:19:41outside at the moment some uh a little bit of inexperience and some problems showing for those two
00:19:47to be uh completely expected i would say well he had the problem start didn't he daniel ricardo and had to
00:19:54come in for a very early pit stop uh since when he's had moments off the track genre has as well
00:20:00they've not really been the threat toro rosso would have hoped but it's time on their side what about
00:20:04back to the live action here but to cross the line now fastest lap of the race from jensen but the gap
00:20:10now 3.4 seconds doing exactly what he needed to do surprise car of the race for me the williams of
00:20:19maldonado he really has hung in there from running pace as they said they would well when they said
00:20:25look we're racing for the place we started in you know we're we're eight or seventh we think in terms
00:20:30of pace it was met with it with a slight surprise not that we didn't think the team were capable of it
00:20:36but we didn't realize that was their target for this particular weekend it's so nice to see that team
00:20:42targeting points finishes after a horror season last year for them really and good to see maldonado
00:20:48albeit martin on a track that you'd expect him to go well on a street circuit actually proven that
00:20:53he has got something about him in formula one yeah he's shown very well sixth place at the moment
00:21:08understood kimmy understood pieces coming off the salva rear wing is shedding parts
00:21:13and button then 3.4 seconds ahead and much quicker three tenths quicker on this current lap as well
00:21:21he's doing what bettel's done all last year and and for some time now bolts away gets out of the drs zone
00:21:27which will be active at the end of this lap and then controls the race looks after his tires yes you can
00:21:33see the rear wing end fence uh is broken and that won't be helping the downpour to the salva and i
00:21:40don't think kimmy's enjoying spitting the bits out as they come towards him is that flapping around
00:21:45enough for the stewards to uh the race director to call him in give him uh the flag
00:21:52i think as long as it stays there it'll be fine drs is enabled so we'll maybe see some attacking at the end
00:21:59this lap before then we'll go down to natalie um from work very early on i could start to feel in
00:22:08the car that the steering was actually steering wheel was starting to tilt to the right and and
00:22:13was starting to point to the right on the straight straight even straight lines and then um under
00:22:19braking the car was pulling left so there was some something weird going on and um then in the end it
00:22:24became just uh such a such a difficult to drive that we have to have a look and there was i think
00:22:29one of the steering steering arms was coming loose and was getting off the center so um just one of
00:22:36those days it was it was a tough day from the beginning i didn't have a curse from the start
00:22:40onwards the curse packed up and um and the drs didn't work at the beginning as well then it picked up
00:22:47eventually um one of those days it really is one of those days frustrating for both you and the team
00:22:53yes of course i mean we were running running quite well even with these problems we are running quite
00:22:58well and we were in contention to fight for some some people but uh next time next weekend another goal
00:23:06thank you making cover line and retired from the race not expected 41 races since he last scored a
00:23:13point probably was expected jensen button has just set a new fastest lap of the race again he has turned
00:23:20the wick up to five martin and he's now streaking ahead of sebastian brettel uh like the uh cat with a
00:23:26mouse dangling from its paws he's just toying isn't he as we watch damon hill it was massively quicker a
00:23:33full one thousands of a second between button and battle on that lap they're a tenth quicker than
00:23:38hamilton but weather right in there too on a very similar pace on a 30.2 they dropped alonso by 1.2
00:23:45seconds he's still got maldonada within the drs zone the one second behind him perez two in seventh
00:23:50hanging on well so we're not really expecting any more pit stops in this race now to uh the end well
00:23:58they're hoping they're not going to anyway but uh button then really has controlled it from the
00:24:03front i said to him on the grid didn't i you you really you fancy you can win this and he said he
00:24:07did and he's just driven supremely this is a great battle though lewis hamilton just gone fastest to the
00:24:14first sector on this lap sebastian fettel for the middle sector has put the quickest time in they are
00:24:19trading blow for blow at the moment but who's going to come up with the biggest uppercut of them all
00:24:25lewis hamilton is easily within a second as we enter now the drs detection zone jenson button
00:24:31threw it clearly out of the lead now lewis hamilton can use that drag reduction system to make gains
00:24:37there goes the flap down the straight mark weathers flap open two to try and live with it but we've seen
00:24:42throughout this weekend the mclaren with much greater pace in a straight line than the two rebels
00:24:47through turn one and two they go hamilton about 10 car lengths behind has he got the speed now
00:24:53as they make their way down to turn three 160 170 miles an hour no just too far away on this
00:24:59occasion new fastest lap from hamilton 129 865 so first man under the 92nd mark and he's got a fancy
00:25:07a run around that red bull as soon as he can get drs up behind him he'll use it to get close into turn one
00:25:14and then a half a chance to pass down into turn three that looks like the story at the moment because
00:25:19button's got his nice 3.8 second cushion and these two are starting to watch each other a big lock up
00:25:25into nine there that'll cost lewis on the exit oh and that's gonna cost felipe massa and bruno senna as
00:25:31well right tangled right right right puncture for massa and a bit of body work flew off as well from that
00:25:36ferrari and we're just getting a little bit too close the brazilians there is that a puncture as well
00:25:42for the williams yeah front left punctured and uh don't park it there bruno a little bit of throttle
00:25:47not too much and you'll just squeeze back otherwise we'll need a safety car so paul diresta here it is
00:25:55going on in the background but it was it was daniel ricardo going off that allowed massa to get past and
00:26:02then senna uh just got far too tangled up a bit clumsy well i think the ferrari got a puncture from
00:26:09ricardo's car and then senna got a puncture from the ferrari buttons into the 29s as well as is uh
00:26:16better still three tenths quicker than hamilton we're better in the 29s as well
00:26:23as we watch fernando alonso at the moment jenson button with that fastest lap of the race alonso
00:26:28currently in fifth place but maldonado all over the back of him sebastian fettel's gained a bit of
00:26:33time on that previous lap on lewis hamilton but do you know what maldonado i just get the feeling
00:26:38martin really fancies his chances against the ferrari here and he's he's going to give fernando alonso
00:26:43a bit of punishment in the next 10 laps
00:26:48well we'll find out there's no doubt about it he's certainly got the pace to hang on to the ferrari but
00:26:53ferrari be massively relieved if they can finish fifth might uh put a half a smile on the face of
00:26:59fernando alonso we haven't seen one at any other point in the weekend but in the cold light of day
00:27:05they're still the thick end of a second a lap off the pace and that's just one of their drivers the
00:27:09other one uh was nowhere to be seen no felipe massa currently down in 15th as we go down to 10. and
00:27:15pastel maldonado is giving alonso this uh this pressure because alonso's tires are fading very fast i think
00:27:22they would have gone through a free stop strategy with fernando alonso had the safety car not come
00:27:26out came out the safety car gave alonso's tires a fritter breathing space as we see uh bruno senos
00:27:32senos made it back to the pits it is and uh that's good for him and a slow tire change though uh on the
00:27:38front but um yeah as uh ferrari are out oh they're retiring felipe massa okay felipe massa's race is over
00:27:45guys down here at ferrari not the first time felipe massa has retired or had their insolence and the
00:27:51australian grand prix but out of the race one ferrari left bruno seno back out onto the racetrack
00:27:57and of course a lap down in that particular williams as there is felipe massa's cars and they
00:28:02even struggle to get it back into the carriage second time in for seno for damage isn't it after
00:28:07his first lap collision rather too many adventures for bruno seno this afternoon as they try to get the
00:28:13nose off that and a trolley underneath it to get the ferrari out of the pit lane into the garage at least
00:28:19it's not lewis hamilton he's crashing into this year he'd like to have a chance wouldn't he be
00:28:24anywhere near him and it's not going to get much better you would feel ahead of the malaysian grand
00:28:29free at this time next week back on board now with pastor maldonados look at the lack of traction
00:28:36fernando alonso's getting coming out of the left-hand part of that chicane maldonado will certainly have
00:28:42seen that closing in but not enough as they make their way through turns 11 and then 12. this the battle by
00:28:48the way for fifth and sixth place stewards will be talking to two brazilian drivers after the race
00:28:54massa and senna confirmed on the bottom of the screen they're investigated after that contact
00:28:59johnny herberts uh the driver steward here and part of the uh gang of four that are presiding over the
00:29:05race this weekend now let's look again at traction for that ferrari coming out at the final turn
00:29:11and fernando alonso almost lost it in practice the other day drs enabled now for pastor maldonado
00:29:18used up all his curves on the lap so couldn't attack at the start to give him extra boost down the
00:29:23straight it really gets him a lot closer and he's got it available then as uh alonso getting very wide
00:29:30on the exeter too he's ringing the neck of that ferrari and he's just staying ahead of faster maldonado
00:29:37the williams is a faster car there is no doubt about that in this phase of the race reunited with
00:29:43renault once again which seems to have made a little bit of a difference in terms of power
00:29:47for the williams team and there's the uh body work that needs to be expected i
00:29:52expected i should say that they've got a spare part before we get to koala lupa next week
00:29:57wouldn't want the uh prancing horse the uh scarlet red to look anything other than
00:30:01doing i don't know if it was when uh massa kicked it as he got out i more suspect it was the contact
00:30:08with the williams that's going to be investigated buttons leave 3.5 seconds a quarter of a second
00:30:14clear of that all that time hamilton seven tenths behind now so 5.6 seconds covers the top four down
00:30:20to webber mark webber has just gone four tenths of a second faster than lewis hamilton in the middle
00:30:26sector which is quite crucial if it hamilton can't eke out any further advantage in this lap
00:30:33then webber's going to be able to use the drs on the next lap that drag reduction system to try and
00:30:38get back at him as we watch paul di resta running a lonely 13th place before cindia and it seems that
00:30:44his tires are starting to give way of it as well if that slide had anything to do with di resta being
00:30:49passed there down the straight by jean-eric verne in the toro rosso it's been a weekend where for
00:30:56cindia would hope to have scored a point not looking like it's going to happen at the moment
00:31:00riding on board now with ricardo and seeing a reflake going into turn three
00:31:08a good move by the young man from perth mark webber's just set the fastest lap of the race but
00:31:14frustratingly for him he's still over a second behind lewis hamilton hamilton picked up a bit of time
00:31:19in the final sector his teammate jensen button though comfortable once again the gap that was
00:31:2610 seconds over 10 seconds at one stage of the race now just under four seconds but with seven
00:31:31laps to go martin it's it's more than enough for him it could well be but there might be a sting in
00:31:36the tail of this race yeah five and a half seconds covers the top four but then alonso and maldonado
00:31:42is a very good fight rosberg's on the back of perez for seventh and eighth kubayashi and reichen
00:31:48very close together in ninth and ten points go down to tenth of course then the two tororossos so
00:31:53we've lost kovaline and petrov schumacher grosjean and hülkenberg and they're then pretty much line
00:32:02astern and you can still hear the cars um with a bit of a misfire in the slow corners they put them
00:32:07down to four cylinders to save fuel slightly better traction as well that's within the rules of course
00:32:13they're just not allowed to uh pop and bang and use the engine to drive the aerodynamics underneath
00:32:19the car any longer which means if you're going to silverstone this year you're going to go to a
00:32:23grand prix you'll find they sound an awful lot nicer sebastian fetel sets his best lap of the race so far
00:32:31needs to just look at this scrap going on here fetel from hamilton from weber second third and fourth the
00:32:40minor podium placings being decided right to the last here and how often is that the case
00:32:45here in australia where you're never quite sure of the podium lineup until right at the last moment
00:32:51about five seconds into this race when the front of weber's red bull got attacked from both sides
00:32:56i doubt he imagined he'd be in fourth place uh on lap 52 but one blink and this could all change in
00:33:06here we don't what we actually need now we need lewis to get right on the back of sebastian betel
00:33:13mark will then this comes back two years ago isn't it where in this corner mark hit lewis
00:33:20and knocked him off the track i think he was down in about sixth place at the time and mark was just
00:33:25losing his rag a little bit and lewis hamilton got t-boned off the track both toro rosso's passed
00:33:31paul di resta unfortunately so uh verne well unfortunately for di resta verne ricardo 11th and
00:33:3712th now di rest the 13th and you notice timo glock down in uh 14th place i think that's his highest
00:33:44finish if he can stay in 14th for the uh the marusha team or virgin as it was so maybe that is
00:33:50the 30th birthday present that timo glock was uh was looking for here today perez in the background
00:33:56up in seventh remember he finished seventh there last year on a one stop and was then disqualified
00:34:00along with his teammate for technical infringement after the race and that's nico rosberg then who's
00:34:06got uh kobe ashi behind him so perez has dropped rosberg kobe ashi's caught him up oh dear real real
00:34:14struggle for mercedes a qualifying performance that rosberg rather blew and certainly in the race they
00:34:20they've not looked on it this is how kobe ashi managed to get past nico rosberg he's so exciting
00:34:26under braking isn't he though kobe ashi look they they almost touched before rosberg managed to get past
00:34:31again yeah so kobe ashi goes deep on the brakes into 13 having a nice toe gets a bit hot in there
00:34:38and rosberg then comes up the inside and he's like get out get out you're not going through there
00:34:42okay then you'd love to see kobe ashi in the car that can do this though you know he's he's not a
00:34:47man that's going to be uh waiting for an invitation he's he's going to have to watch his mirrors though
00:34:52for the time being as look there's kimmy raikkonen getting quite a decent toe tries to pull out to the
00:34:56left-hand side no route through at turn 11 on this occasion but i wonder has the uh renault got
00:35:02enough pace the lotus i should say have enough pace to the street first time
00:35:11so raikkonen then it doesn't look like he's lost too much of his uh race craft to me after two years
00:35:16away but jean-eric burn now and uh daniel ricciardo is a little bit behind they're fancy look at it
00:35:22john eric burn in his first ever grand prix the youngest man on the track can see a world
00:35:28championship point just in front of him rear wing wide open so much to go five laps remaining now this
00:35:35is really getting good all the way through the field and sororoso have got previous here of course
00:35:41because uh jaime algoswari and sebastian bohemia both scored points here in the past for that team in the
00:35:47closing stages as we ride on board with mark weber he's only four tenths of a second behind lewis
00:35:53hamilton at the end of the last lap ahead of hamilton sebastian vettel is trying to close on jenson
00:36:00button and try desperately hard to get into the drs zone at the moment it's not working but he is
00:36:06gaining ted though what do you know from the pit lane well i can see lots of activity on the mclaren
00:36:10pit wall sam michael talking to the engineers and martin whitmarsh and phil prue the chief engineer
00:36:15i can see some pressing of the lewis button i think they're just encouraging him they know he
00:36:19knows he's only got a few laps left to do it he knows that he's got a little more life
00:36:23in his tires uh than uh sebastian bettel in fact that's not right no sebastian bettel has one lap
00:36:29longer in his tires doesn't he but uh bettel seems to have the pace on this fuel load at the stage of
00:36:34the race bettel's last two laps straight in the 129s whereas lewis hamilton can only manage a 30.1
00:36:40and jenson button now into the 29s i think lewis hamilton is gearing up for an attack though
00:36:46now though but i just want to mention mark webber in fourth place that's uh that's better than his
00:36:50previous finish here isn't it it is top five uh mark webber has never got beyond the fifth spot in his
00:36:57home grand prix he could be still standing on the podium hamilton and webber separated by about five
00:37:05car lengths coming out of turn four and there's going to be places that mark webber can attack
00:37:09but ken hamilton keep toying with him turning up the engine just a little bit and stay far enough
00:37:15ahead and looking at the driver tracker here jensen's button's got two-thirds of a lap in front of him
00:37:20with absolutely nothing on the racetrack so traffic's not going to bother him too much and uh vettel's now
00:37:27past glock but so jensen then with a clear run to the end of the grand prix i'd imagine and bruno
00:37:33senna uh back into the pits once again uh which may or may not be terminal for that uh williams
00:37:39car he was uh running in 15th place a lap down and the only car that was running behind him was
00:37:45charles pick in the second of the maruchas back to the action though pastor maldonado and fernando
00:37:51alonso he's not been able to shrug the venezuelan as the two-time world champion and where's maldonado
00:37:57going to pick his spot where can he try and find a way past fernando alonso if there is a way
00:38:02past fernando alonso between now and the chequered flag your race leader jensen button crosses the
00:38:08line ahead of sebastian feckle out by 3.2 seconds feckle was gaining and button's just gone on and
00:38:15turned up the engine and put another four tenths on that advantage the gap between hamilton and
00:38:20webber it's six tenths of a second crucially though martin they they had almost identical lap times
00:38:26on the previous lap and it is terminal for bruno senna out of the race i seem to say this half an
00:38:31hour ago the gap between the top four is 5.4 seconds it's so static that it's punch and counterpunch
00:38:38that nobody can find an advantage except for jensen just keeps building himself a nice little cushion
00:38:45and we thought didn't we it would be a race lewis hamilton the man who would charge out in front
00:38:50jensen button would save his tires it's not turned out that way but apart from one safety car restart
00:38:56it really has been quite beautiful for jensen button today i think also you know red bull will be
00:39:02moderately since a silly thing to say when they've dominated for two years but satisfied with a second
00:39:07and a fourth if the race finished right now you can see on the top left of the screen who's gained look
00:39:11perez up 15 places he's up 15 alonso up seven brykinen up seven but crucially sebastian fettel
00:39:19up four as well they said they had a better race pace didn't they yeah well i think the mercedes is so
00:39:25geared up to getting on the front row of the grid with the various devices and the seventh gear that
00:39:29they must have to run to take advantage of those high straight line speeds and i guess they were then
00:39:36hoping they could control the race from the front but they never got there so two laps remaining of
00:39:42this australian grand prix and once again mark weathers got his drs open got the uh the gap in
00:39:47the rear wing to give him a bit of extra pace down the main straight the blue flags are for timo
00:39:52glock as alonso and maldonado come up on him and jensen button just send a message to sebastian
00:39:58vettel subliminal forget it son i've just done a 29 187 fastest lap of the race half nearly half a second
00:40:05quicker four tenths quicker than bettel and uh that's game over absolutely game over but look
00:40:11at look at this maldonado half a car length behind fernando alonso going through turn three there
00:40:17you just wonder if he gives it a bit more boost to the curse the only chance past to maldonado on the
00:40:22last lap can get past alonso nico rosberg in trouble and uh sergio perez just ahead of him and this the
00:40:29battle for seventh and eight kobe ashley and raikkonen are very close behind them as well there
00:40:35they are so perez is struggling for grip rosberg looked like he was all over him there'll be two
00:40:40more lining up and the uh whoever it was was well out of shape kobe ashley i think was well out of
00:40:45shape behind them as well giving raikkonen a chance raikkonen is going down the outside into turn nine
00:40:49kobe ashley with the inside line and he had a big moment coming out of turn seven and raikkonen couldn't
00:40:55punish him for it and right there then are the two toro rosos still with a chance of a world
00:41:01championship point so the scrap for the podium continues the scrap for the points still continue
00:41:07and jenson barton starts his final lap after beating lewis hamilton to the start jenson barton has
00:41:14controlled this race lewis hamilton losing time behind perez after the first pit stops and that really
00:41:20cost him but at the moment it's first and third for mclaren it's second and fourth for red bull
00:41:25are they setting the tone for the rest of the season is it a straight fight between mclaren and
00:41:31red bull so far here today it has been but alonzo they'll be delighted with this fifth place if he
00:41:36can hang on to it against a pastor maldonado who won't give up without a fight you're watching
00:41:41kamui kobe ashley there in ninth place then raikkonen and then the toro rosso over jean eric
00:41:47bird in 11th place and uh daniel ricardo just behind him with his wing open no doubt as well so ricardo's
00:41:52got a chance then with the drs has a look at the inside thinks better of it and uh right behind
00:41:58them is paul diresta as well down in 13th place the sole remaining force india oh we've got a
00:42:03williams off that's got to be passed to maldonado then and his race ends on the final lap after such
00:42:09a thrilling battle with fernando alonso he looks like he's hit the wall there and made contact and
00:42:14maldonado loses the chance to give williams their best points finish in a long time and that was a hefty
00:42:21whack into the concrete for pastor maldonado he'll feel that tomorrow when he wakes up will he ever
00:42:26he's gone he's gone on to the astro in the curb and uh got a bit of a tank slapper on i've never
00:42:33ever seen we've been here every year since 1996 as jensen button crosses the line to win for a third
00:42:40time in australia it is buttons day down under sebastian vettel makes up for a poor qualifying day
00:42:49to bring the red bull home in second and it's lewis hamilton who completes the podium places
00:42:56we watch now nico rosberg who was running around in eighth but seemingly going very very slowly indeed
00:43:02there not sure what's happened to him we're still racing now with kimmy raikkonen ahead of sergio perez
00:43:08ahead then of daniel ricardo then john eric verne then paul de resta paul de resta just about nicking
00:43:14ahead of the toro rosso as he crosses the line perez just keeps ahead of the other toro rosso it's perez
00:43:21who finishes eighth ricardo ninth and paul de resta finishes tenth nico rosberg and maldonado out of
00:43:28the equation as far as points are concerned and here's the winner okay jensen that was fantastic great race great job
00:43:35welcome 2009 oh fantastic what a great way to start the year guys um seriously fantastic you know shows
00:43:46what a winter does doesn't it the car is beautiful and she's quick thanks guys kimmy raikkonen finishes
00:43:52seventh we've got a mercedes-benz just passed uh stopped on the side of the road so whether they ran
00:43:57out of fuel whether perez ran out of fuel at the end he still finished in eighth place so that gave
00:44:02ricardo two world championship points in ninth and diresta from 13 going into the last lap stole the
00:44:11final point absolutely we'll go back to that in a moment as we just watch what happened to pastor
00:44:16maldonado again i have to say martin he has taken a really heavy whack against the concrete here
00:44:22i mean that's not pleasant at all he's got the hands device on his neck and uh his front crash
00:44:28structure has done its job there i've never seen a car go in that wall and he just he just
00:44:36here's nico rosberg
00:44:37has he run out of fuel gears are working
00:44:53so he then took to the escape road on the inside we're seeing slow-mo replays i'm not entirely oh so
00:44:59there's been contact then that's what's been going on there so nico's got damaged steering and he's run
00:45:04into the back of perez i think into 13 and that's why the rest of them are all over him jensen button
00:45:10still celebrate but there was so much action on that last lap they're trying to play in all the
00:45:15incidents incredible well what we did see there john barton's smiling there's a heart
00:45:23yeah you might need a new one next week john but don't worry your boy's done very well
00:45:27and what ricardo did superbly well was to take advantage and get past his teammate john eric
00:45:33fern to take that final point that's a great scrap at sororoso i i think uh that rosberg tagged perez
00:45:40yeah damage his steering perez then struggled to the end rosberg had to slow rye down and that's
00:45:47where raikkonen got the lot of them and came into seventh place kobayashi up in sixth 36 seconds off
00:45:53the lead so alonso out by himself in the end 4.5 seconds covered the top four i mean there's so much to
00:46:01analyze there good job we're on air on sky sports f1 hd for quite some time uh between now and the end
00:46:07of our program here but it is jensen button who has that familiar winning feeling in australia
00:46:13a hat-trick of victories down under and the winning margin not much over 22 seconds the winning margin
00:46:20last year vettel over hamilton just two seconds here today for button over vettel and we lost
00:46:26massa and petrov kovalainen schumacher grosjean and hulkenberg but also timo glock 14th for marusha
00:46:3315th for sharp pick as well they they were a long way off the pace five laps down sharp pick but
00:46:39reliability is sometimes everything and they did at least get to the end as
00:46:42the red bull of sebastian fettel is parked for once behind a mclaren it's lewis hamilton who
00:46:51gets out first hamilton will wonder if that's a win that maybe got away from him today after just
00:46:57losing it a bit at the start and jensen button coming back at him but for the time being let's
00:47:02all focus our eyes on our winner well as he waits to come back with the help of the safety car and the
00:47:09fact that mclaren had just pitted so at racing speed when vettel could then uh pit under safety
00:47:17car conditions but yeah well lewis won't be chuffed at all will he he's been beaten in a straight fight
00:47:23by jensen and worse than that he didn't even finish second and it's a you know he got beaten by him last
00:47:29year i mean there seems to be a fairly lukewarm uh sort of hug from lewis no no big back slapping moments
00:47:37celebrations all jensen's but was it the wrong call for mclaren to bring both drivers in
00:47:44on the same lap at the same time had they had they have left lewis out he would have probably been okay
00:47:49they might have been doing that to try to cover off the safety car funnily enough and
00:47:56and make sure that they they covered off the red bull team as well it was clearly absolutely
00:48:01intentional because they're both sets of tires out there and there were no surprises when the second
00:48:07mclaren trundled down the pit lane at 40 miles an hour but it's still a one three for mclaren a
00:48:12two four for red bull and alonso as ever pulls the rabbit out of the hat for fifth in a car that
00:48:18felipe masa couldn't drive basically and then two saubers then sixth and eight good good race for them
00:48:25again let's hope they don't get disqualified this year well absolutely um perez on the one stopper
00:48:30didn't quite work for him though thank you
00:48:33who went uh
00:48:46did you see tell this to charlie because i might forget
00:48:52yeah yeah on the outside of the circuit
00:48:57he just stood there wasn't he yeah no he was running
00:48:59okay standing when you were there there we go
00:49:03they're just talking about uh one of the marshals and a flag that wasn't uh doing the job that they
00:49:09would have expected
00:49:13i've caught a red flag before thinking uh on a dull day or a misty day and it turns out to be a ferrari fan
00:49:22well there's a few of them here today and they might go home slightly happier
00:49:25yeah yeah is that is that the finger from jensen button for this year is that the fettle finger
00:49:30that is transferred well two of them anyway yeah so uh obviously a new improved version
00:49:38and the drivers making their way up towards the uh podium
00:49:43yeah last year jensen bun had such a good year against lewis hamilton hamilton returned back to
00:49:48australia and said he was feeling great and he was in a really good place button got close to him
00:49:52in qualifying but where it counts where the points are handed out he's just carried on where he left
00:49:57off last season two australians in the points for the australian grand prix weber and ricardo
00:50:02fourth and ten for ninth rather however it is not advanced australia fair that we are going to be
00:50:09keep hearing now let's go save the queen
00:50:28so
00:50:30a 13th victory for jensen button in formula one
00:50:46a 13th victory for jensen button in formula one applauded by his girlfriend jessica his dad john and
00:51:04a very happy mclaren crew as the premiere of victoria hands over a very good looking trophy
00:51:11indeed that will sit right in the cabinets back in woking where all the mclaren trophies are housed
00:51:21the chairman of the sponsors of the grand prix
00:51:25presenting the constructors trophy to mclaren who play catch-up so often during the course of the
00:51:31season but this year in 2012 have actually started off the year as the hunted not the hunter the man in
00:51:37charge of this grand prix ron walker presents the second place prize to sebastian vettel sort of story
00:51:44in the paper this morning saying that they might share this grand prix with with sydney and and perth
00:51:49and well i hope not it's a great place to come to melbourne they love their sport here lewis hamilton
00:51:54loves this place but he does look a little bit miffed with that third place today i wonder as the
00:52:00dignatures make their way off for the champagne taste is sweet for him probably not much much sweeter
00:52:06for sebastian vettel who made places from the start and for jensen button who made all the running
00:52:12and wins in australia what a race for button let's back down go back down to simon and damon in the
00:52:19paddock it missed us first grand prix we didn't get any champagne because it was a stiff wind blow
00:52:26how's that for a start to an olympic yeah that's fantastic grand prix and i mean jensen was so smooth
00:52:31all weekend i was amazed at the way he just made it look easy pulling away from the pack
00:52:36yeah i mean you've got to say i mean right from the start lewis hamilton bit of wheel spin at the
00:52:41first at the start there just didn't help him did it no um i mean he must be wondering uh how that
00:52:47happened i think getting pole position made him feel very positive about this weekend so you know
00:52:52there's rivalry there they are very very good drivers the pair of them yeah i was going to say
00:52:56how much do you think he's learned as a driver he's matured as a driver jensen when he went away
00:53:01you were saying look it's gonna be tougher and he want to catch him if he stays out of trouble
00:53:04yes i think that they're both they're both coming on i mean i think uh lewis is he shouldn't get
00:53:10despondent about this you know it's it's not a result you hope for um but but jensen was just supreme
00:53:15today and supreme really throughout the weekend what does it say to you about this car i mean they're
00:53:19the guys that have gone down the different direction haven't they they've gone for the low slung mclaren as
00:53:24opposed to these these ugly noses what does it say about the development well i think uh it shows
00:53:29that the t you cannot beat easily beat a team like mclaren you know they can they've been down they
00:53:34get back up again they've got such an incredible depth of technical expertise and professionalism
00:53:39the way they put everything together they did the strategies right as well um they know what they're
00:53:43doing mclaren yeah as for red bull as for sebastian vettel everyone when he you know qualified six
00:53:48there said well this is a guy that he doesn't mess around does he you know that's not going to phase him
00:53:52and it showed he was a little bit lucky with a safety car would you say um yes i mean i think
00:53:57the safety car uh threw a little bit of a spanner in the works for for jensen but i mean you know again
00:54:03it didn't phase him and i think that sebastian has shown that he's still a world champion in you know
00:54:08he's still got his eyes uh a little bit of a grip on or he's got one finger on a world championship
00:54:14right john buttons joined us jensen's father john you must be a very very happy man covered in
00:54:21champagne as you are yeah that was an emotional one especially when the safety car came out but
00:54:29yeah he seemed really cool and controlled it and pushed when he had to push but then we're sat in
00:54:35there we don't know we don't know whether the tires are going off but uh to win the first race in a
00:54:40a place that he loves in australia then this is just incredible start to the season well all about
00:54:45the start for him as well i mean lewis was on pole he just seemed to stay really calm well as i said
00:54:52earlier on over breakfast he was uh he was saying he was nervous but he said well not like a normal
00:54:58nervous excited nervous so he could feel that it was there and the car was good and he'd be good on
00:55:04the tires so and that's what happened now uh let's pack up get to malaysia as soon as we can you can
00:55:11you can have a little cry now john not on camera not on camera all right john thank you very much for
00:55:19the moment go and enjoy it go and enjoy it with your son and the rest of the entourage and it's a big
00:55:23entourage as well uh that comes with the button household uh let's just tell you about where we're
00:55:27going to be next time as well because as john was saying it's straight on from here to malaysia as far as
00:55:32we're concerned and it's a little bit more sociable for you as well actually just eight hours ahead of
00:55:40you in the uk uh we'll be in kuala lumpur in sapang uh for the second grand prix of 2012 and we've got
00:55:49six live shows for you over the course of the weekend on the friday from uh well i say social but
00:55:54you'll just have to bear with us on that well 145 in the morning uh for practice one at 5 45 for
00:55:59quarter to six for practice two the f1 show with georgie thompson and ted kravitz is from 10 in the
00:56:06morning and then on the saturday just a little bit earlier start before 45 for practice three but
00:56:11qualifying uh at seven o'clock in the morning and the race will have another hour and a half build up
00:56:17from seven from 7 30 the races but we'll be on air at six o'clock for that
00:56:22and not only that it's the start of the gp2 coverage here on sky sports f1 hd we've got practice
00:56:31on the friday from four uh qualifying at eight on saturday at the first of the two races and then on
00:56:38that sunday 6 15. so what a day here if you decided to get up early you will have been treated to a
00:56:49mclaren and a british victory we will have plenty of reaction when we come back got an hour over an
00:56:55hour until we go off air but they were loving it here
00:57:14we have decamped to a very happy mclaren garage we had uh martin wish whitmarsh with us a little bit
00:57:20earlier uh before the race and now a very happier one after the race uh you just must be delighted by
00:57:26the way things have gone this weekend yeah of course i mean to come to the first race and to
00:57:32you know have the front row and then and then get a great win like that i think jensen did a fantastic
00:57:36job you know i think lewis was a little bit unlucky one unlucky on the start bogged down just a little
00:57:41bit and that's you know a combination of him and our and our engineers uh but we thought we had the
00:57:46pace we were controlling the pace we were a little bit short of fuel frankly so we were having to
00:57:51monitor uh that very closely and measure our pace uh and then a little bit unlucky the safety car so
00:57:57that was a little bit frustrating but overall i think we can't be displeased with the weekend
00:58:01were you secretly very confident though going into this race there's been a sort of calm assurance
00:58:05around oh no you can't be because you know the first race anything can happen 58 laps you know
00:58:10it could have ended in tears at the first corner uh it can happen you know end in tears at any
00:58:14stage you can make a mistake at a pit stop in strategy car reliability so no you can't be you
00:58:20know you might you you've got to be calm and you've got to have some level of confidence but if you you
00:58:24know you've got to understand that anything can happen that's motor racing and uh you know i think
00:58:28both guys did a did a fantastic job jensen in particular i think stands out just the calmness with
00:58:33which he controlled his pace if sebastian got within three seconds he just stretched it again he ended the
00:58:39weekend with you know the fastest lap in the race and uh i think he just you know i think people
00:58:45underestimate him he's such a calm mature easy going fellow that you know people don't realize
00:58:50necessarily the hunger that's in him to compete and to win and i think he's just got stronger and
00:58:56stronger since he's been in our team and uh you know he must now fancy his chances for a real
00:59:00championship assault this year two rights great start i mean you you must be i mean you've got you've
00:59:05brought on jensen you just sort of alluded to that fact but uh you know you now got two really
00:59:11really strong drivers in a team a fantastic car um even so bringing both in on the same lap for a
00:59:17pit stop uh it's still cutting it slightly fine i mean you're saying you have plenty of time it was
00:59:2110 seconds it is it was i mean we nearly did it on the first stop there's a bit of a debate and i think
00:59:25we were at about six seconds there and uh we chickened out of that one but on the we're actually
00:59:31you know we practice what's called a double shuffle and 10 seconds should be very safe but yeah i
00:59:35accept it could go wrong you double with the risk even in that pit stop i mean uh the red bulls managed
00:59:40uh uh sebastian managed to slot his way in there i mean there's no way you could predict that in a
00:59:44in a uh a race strategy no no well we couldn't predict it at all i mean unfortunately at that
00:59:49second stop we came in that was the right thing for us to do immediately after we'd come in there
00:59:54was a safety car which we gifted time to sebastian and allowed him to come in and effectively allowed him
00:59:59to get in
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