2010 Australian Grand Prix
Button wins from fourth as Alonso spins on lap one.
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The 2010 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 28 March 2010 at the Albert Park Circuit. McLaren driver Jenson Button won the 58-lap race from fourth on the grid, marking his first victory of the season.
Background
The 2010 Australian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula One World Championship, took place on 28 March at Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit. Twelve teams entered two cars each. Bridgestone supplied four tyre compounds, with drivers limited to eleven sets of dry tyres.
New kerbing was installed at turn nine, and artificial grass and extended kerbs were added at turns two and twelve. Fernando Alonso led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, ahead of Felipe Massa (18) and Lewis Hamilton (15). McLaren's Jenson Button won the 58-lap race from fourth, with Robert Kubica second and Felipe Massa third.
Practice
Three practice sessions were held: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The pit lane speed limit was reduced from 100 km/h to 60 km/h on safety grounds. In the first session, Robert Kubica set the fastest time (1:26.927) in dry conditions, followed by Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. Kamui Kobayashi caused two suspensions: first after running over a cone at turn eleven, then when his front wing broke off at turn three.
The second session saw intermittent rain; Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap (1:25.801), with Button second and Mark Webber third. Sebastian Vettel beached his car in the turn six gravel trap late in the session. In the final session, Webber set the weekend's fastest lap (1:24.719) in heavy traffic. Fernando Alonso was second, Michael Schumacher third, and Vettel fourth.
Qualifying
Qualifying was held in overcast conditions with air and track temperatures of 23 °C. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in all three sessions and took pole position with a 1:23.919, despite running wide on his pole lap. Mark Webber qualified second, 0.116 seconds behind, having lost time in the middle sector. Fernando Alonso took third with a 1:24.111. Jenson Button qualified fourth, struggling with grip and oversteer.
Felipe Massa was fifth, unable to get his tyres to optimum temperature. Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher took sixth and seventh for Mercedes. Rubens Barrichello qualified eighth, Robert Kubica ninth, and Adrian Sutil tenth. Sutil believed he could have done better as he struggled to warm his soft tyres.
Race
The race started at 17:00 DST in wet conditions; all cars began on intermediate tyres. Virgin Racing started Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi from pit lane after fuel collector changes. Jarno Trulli did not start due to a hydraulic pump failure. Vettel led into turn one, while Felipe Massa moved to second.
Robert Kubica rose from ninth to fourth. At turn one, Jenson Button's front left wheel contacted Fernando Alonso's right rear, spinning Alonso to 22nd. Michael Schumacher was collected and broke his front wing. Kamui Kobayashi damaged his front wing from contact, which detached and hit Nico Hülkenberg and Sébastien Buemi, prompting a safety car.
More in Motorsport at Albert Park
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: 2010 Australian Grand Prix (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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