Vettel returns to winning ways at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix

The 2011 Formula One season finally got underway in Melbourne, Australia, after a two week delay following the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix due to social unrest in the Middle Eastern country. The new season also brought new rule changes, the most notable of which being the switch of tyre suppliers from Bridgestone to Pirelli, the introduction of the new adjustable rear wing to reduce drag, and the return of the KERS energy recovery system.

Four new drivers also make their debut for 2011, namely Pastor Maldonado for Williams, Sergio Perez for Sauber, Paul di Resta for Force India, and Jerome D'Ambrosio for the newly-renamed Marussia Virgin Racing team. A couple of drivers were also making their return to F1, including Nick Heidfeld, who stands in for the injured Robert Kubica at Lotus-Renault GP, and Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan, who secured a drive with the Hispania Racing team.

It was the 2010 World Champion dominated proceedings throughout the weekend though, being the fastest man in qualifying and grabbing pole with ease. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton snatched second place on the grid from home hero Mark Webber, who could only settle for third. Down the grid, there were a few surprises. Renault's Russian Vitaly Petrov grabbed an impressive 6^th, while his teammate Heidfeld didn't make it out of Q1 and qualified in 18^th. Michael Schumacher could only come in 11^th in his Mercedes GP car, missing out on the top 10.

The start of the race saw little drama, with Vettel emerging from the first corner unscathed. Webber briefly took second from Hamilton but the Brit got his position back by the first corner, thanks to him using the McLaren's KERS system.

Vitaly Petrov managed to squeeze past Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso to go up to fourth, but it was Felipe Massa who had the best start, making his way up from eighth to fifth, overtaking Button, Alonso and Nico Rosberg in the process.

Massa's teammate Alonso had a terrible start, dropping down from fifth on the grid to ninth. But most of the drama happened further back. Williams' Rubens Barrichello went off at Turn 3, while Michael Schumacher was tagged from the rear from Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, resulting in a puncture for the Mercedes GP driver.

And so, the order at the end of lap 1 was: Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Petrov, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Kobayashi, Alonso, Di Resta, Sebastian Buemi and Adrian Sutil.

By lap 2, Alonso had managed to grab 8^th place from Kobayashi, but his teammate Massa was trying to fend off the advances of Button. The Brazilian managed to hold out, despite Button utilising the new adjustable rear wing, or Drag Reduction System (DRS), as the FIA termed it. Out in front, the front-runners Vettel, Hamilton, Webber and Petrov were all pulling away from the pack.

On lap 8, Button finally got close enough to make his move on Massa, and tried to pass at Turn 12. But Massa closed the door and Button cut the slip road corner, pushing him ahead of the Ferrari.

Under normal circumstances, Button would be obliged to give the position back. But as Alonso had now also caught up behind Massa, Button did not want to lose the advantage to yet another Ferrari, and so he held his position.

The Ferraris pitted shortly after, thereby negating any chance of Button giving up the position. As a result, the McLaren driver was awarded a drive-through penalty for cutting the corner.

Button served his penalty on lap 15, around the time the first round of pit stops happened. Webber was the first to pit, on lap 11, followed by the two Ferraris, Vettel, and Hamilton, as did most of the rest of the pack.

Button was among the last to pit on lap 20, and thereafter, the race order was: Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Petrov, Alonso, Massa, Sergio Perez, Rosberg, Kobayashi, Barrichello, Buemi and Button.

Barrichello had done well from his first lap off to make his way up into the points, and he managed to pass Kobayashi for ninth on lap 22. His attempt to overtake Rosberg one lap later, however, didn't go as well. The veteran Brazilian punted his Williams into the side of Rosberg's Mercedes, damaging both cars. Barrichello pitted to get a new nose cone, but the unfortunate Rosberg had to retire as a result. It was to be a bad day for the Mercedes GP team, as Michael Schumacher also retired from the race due to mechanical problems.

Button, having dropped to 12^th because of his drive-through penalty and pit stop, started to make his way up, and he made good use of the DRS to overtake Kobayashi on lap 25.

Out in front, Vettel and Hamilton were pulling away from everyone else. Webber and Alonso decided to pit again around laps 26 and 27, and they were clearly going for a three stop strategy, compared to two stops for most of the others.

And so, on lap 34, the order was: Vettel, Hamilton, Petrov, Webber, Alonso, Button, Massa, Sutil Di Resta, Perez, Kobayashi and Buemi.

Webber and Alonso were now battling for fourth place, and the Ferrari tried to use his DRS to pass the Red Bull, but in vain. Webber did have to pit again on lap 42, and so ceded his position to Alonso. The Australian slid wide at Turn 3 as he emerged from his stop, which didn't help matters, as Alonso managed to pit himself later and emerge ahead of Webber.

At the back, Button and Massa found themselves fighting again, and once more the Brit managed to push the Brazilian aside on lap 49 to gain sixth. Massa then pitted on lap 50 and therefore dropped down to 10^th, capping a disappointing race for the Ferrari driver.

And that was how the order set till the finish line, with Vettel barely disturbed as he clinched victory at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton came home in a comfortable second, while Lotus-Renault's Vitaly Petrov scored a sensational third place, despite having to fight off a late challenge from Alonso, with the Ferrari driver having to settle for fourth.

Mark Webber finished a slightly disappointing fifth in his home Grand Prix, followed by Jenson Button in sixth. Sauber's rookie Sergio Perez scored an impressive seventh in his debut race, ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi, while Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi rounded off the point scorers.

With his victory, Sebastian Vettel leads the Championship with 25 points, ahead of second-placed Lewis Hamilton on 18 points. Vitaly Petrov's third place means he scored a solid 15 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull takes an early lead with 35 points, followed by McLaren-Mercedes on 26, and Lotus-Renault has 15 thanks to Petrov's podium.