Podium for Vettel in Australia

Sebastian Vettel once again proved that he is a champion by winning the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday 27 March 2011. In 2010 he became F1 world champion, and together with Mark Webber, his team mate, he assisted in securing the Constructors Championships for the Red Bull team. Born in Germany on 3 July 1987, he was the youngest runner up in 2009 when Jenson Button won the title. Now it seems that his flawless driving and natural talent is putting him back into contention for winning the 2011 Formula One season.

Coming into the new Formula One season to defend his title, Sebastian Vettel pulled away in pole position at the Australian Grand Prix and finished his race virtually unchallenged. Lewis Hamilton held onto his second place finish, just over twenty-two seconds behind Vettel. Vitaly Petrov, driving for Lotus Renault, was beaming with pride as he stepped onto the podium for the first time in his Formula One driving career to celebrate his third place finish.

Christian Horner, principal for the Red Bull team, was overjoyed by Vettel’s victory, stating: “Sebastian’s been dominant all weekend and to turn up and win the first race with a faultless drive was fantastic. To have book-ended the two championships by winning the last race in Abu Dhabi and the first race here is a fantastic achievement.”

Vettel spoke to the media after the race and is keeping an open mind in regard to the coming season, saying “I try to keep saying to the team that we have to keep our feet on the floor. It was a very good race. A lot of points and I think we enjoyed ourselves, which is even more important. But it is a long year, a lot of things can happen.”

Ferrari had to be happy with a fourth place finish by Alonso, and Mark Webber crossed the finish line shortly thereafter to take fifth position. They were followed by Jenson Button in sixth position, Sergio Perez in seventh and Kamui Kobayashi in eighth. Button suffered a setback after an illegal passing move was penalized, and twent- two drivers, including the legendary Michael Schumacher, were forced to retire due to problems with their vehicles.