Published on: http://www.ontherecord-unisa.com.au/?p=1859

The atmosphere was growing for the start of the season, with 22 drivers starting on the grid for the first official race for the 2012 season.

For the first time ever, the Australian Grand Prix had two Australian drivers on the grid; Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.

It was Webber’s tenth time since debuting at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002.

As for Ricciardo it was his debut for the Australian Grand Prix, after competing throughout the second half of the 2011 Formula 1™ Championship.

The race was action packed, starting from the first corner.

Jenson Button gained first position from McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton, as carnage further back in the pack caused Australian Mark Webber to fall from fifth to ninth, Daniel Ricciardo tenth to nineteenth and damage to Romain Grosjean’s car, later taking Grosjean out of contention for the race.

After the first lap, the top five positions were McLaren’s Jensen Button in first, Lewis Hamilton second, Michael Schumacher third, Sebastian Vettel in fourth and Nico Rosberg in fifth.

On lap 14, Michael Schumacher’s race came to an end after a gearbox failure heading into turn one, which caused Schumacher to drive off the circuit.

This incident enabled Sebastian Vettel slide into third position.

Later on during the race on lap 37, Vitali Petrov’s car came to a stop on the main straight of the circuit, leaving the marshals to incur a safety car.

While the safety car was deployed, Vettel took the advantage and went in for his compulsory pit stop, with Vettel leaving the pits in second position and overtaking Hamilton.

Jensen Button then led the rest of the race, securing first position at the Australian Grand Prix to reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Button’s team mate Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three, with Australian’s Mark Webber finishing in fourth and Daniel Ricciardo in ninth position.

This was the first Formula One™ in history where two Australian drivers have finished inside the top ten of a grand prix, both gaining championship points.

Final Race Positions:
1 – Jenson Button (McLaren)
2 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
3 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
4 – Mark Webber (Red Bull)
5 – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
6 – Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
7 – Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
8 – Sergio Perez (Sauber)
9 – Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
10 – Paul Di Resta (Force India)
11 – Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
12 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
13 – Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
14 – Timo Glock (Marussia)

DNF (Did Not Finish)
Charles Pic (Marussia)
Bruno Senna (Williams)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham)
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham)
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)