Formula One: Australian Grand Prix, Raceday Part 5
Nico Rosberg was still left bearing the aftershocks from the collision with Rubens Barrichello. The damage to the Mercedes seemed to have manifested itself in the form of a radiator leak on the right side-pod. The German had little option but to park his
car at the side of the track and climb out to make a slow, long walk back to pit lane; both Mercedes were effectively out of the running on the opening race of the season - Disappointing.
However, there appeared to be a survivor from the Mercedes – Williams collision. A limping Rubens Barrichello managed to make his way back to the pits for a new front wing. Jenson Button on the other hand managed to finally a get a grip on proceedings after
the drive through penalty and looked to size up Kamui Kobayashi for a potential overtaking opportunity.
The race entered lap 26 and shortly after, Button was able to pass Kobayashi on the front stretch. It was a well thought out move as the McLaren took the inside line at turn 1 and raced ahead, ‘cleanly’ – Rubens Barrichello, did you watch that?
The next lap saw Mark Webber enter the pits – A surprise; seeing as the Australian was running on a set of hard compound tyres, he should’ve ideally stayed on track longer than his soft Pirelli counterparts. The Red Bull understandably slapped on a set of
soft compound tyres this time round and headed back on track.
Elsewhere in the arena, the stewards were looking into the incident between Barrichello and Rosberg – was there ‘even’ more punishment for the Williams?
The Ferrari crew were up and ready next. Interestingly, they outfitted Fernando Alonso’s car with a set of soft tyres yet again; meaning that he had to pit once again before the finish to do his time on the mandatory hard compounds.
Moments later, Race Control announced a drive through penalty for Barrichello for his collision with Rosberg. Alonso set the fastest lap of the race in P-6 with a 1 minute 30.097. While the Williams served its punishment, Alonso further mounted up the pressure
by being the fastest man on track for the next lap as well.
With nearly half the race concluded, are we in store for a dramatic finish?
Continued in part 6...
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