2010 Australian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Fernando Alonso leads the championship with 25 points after Bahrain, ahead of teammate Felipe Massa on 18 and Lewis Hamilton on 15. Sebastian Vettel is fourth on 12 points and Nico Rosberg fifth on 10. Ferrari lead the Constructors’ Championship with 43 points, 22 ahead of McLaren.

Previous race

At Bahrain, Alonso won on his debut for Ferrari, joining Juan Manuel Fangio, Giancarlo Baghetti, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Kimi Räikkönen as the only drivers to win their first race in a Ferrari. Massa finished second on his return to full-time racing after his 2009 injury. Vettel led comfortably until a spark plug problem in the closing laps dropped him to fourth. Three of the six new-team cars retired with hydraulic failures in the opening seventeen laps; Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen was the only new-team car to be classified at the finish.

Between-race developments

McLaren has been asked by stewards to change the configuration of their front wing end-plates to a safer rounded shape for Melbourne. The team has also had to modify the opening of their diffusers following a rule clarification from the FIA.

Virgin Racing have been granted permission to change the size of their car’s fuel tanks, which were too small for their drivers to complete a race at full speed. The corrected chassis will not be ready until the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Entrants

Sauber becomes the first team to introduce a version of McLaren’s F-duct system, which stalls the rear wing to reduce drag on the straights. The air on Sauber’s version is directed onto the main section of the bodywork wing, with the device itself mounted on the sidepods.

Track changes

The circuit organisers have installed a new combination kerb on the turn nine apex, and extended artificial grass and kerbs at the exits of turns two and twelve. The pit lane speed limit has been lowered from 100 km/h to 60 km/h on safety grounds at the request of race director Charlie Whiting.

Practice

Three practice sessions were held — two 90-minute sessions on Friday and a 60-minute session on Saturday. In the first session in dry weather, Robert Kubica set the fastest time (1:26.927), just under two-tenths ahead of Rosberg, with Button third. Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi caused two red flag stoppages: first when he ran over a cone which tore off half his front wing, and again when a second replacement front wing broke off at turn three and scattered debris across the circuit.

In the second session, marked by intermittent rain showers, Hamilton recorded the day’s fastest lap of 1:25.801, with Button second. Webber was third as both Red Bull drivers benefited from a drying track. Vettel lost control of the rear of his car in the final three minutes and beached it in the turn six gravel trap.

In Saturday’s session, Webber set the weekend’s fastest lap of 1:24.719 in the closing minutes. Alonso was two-tenths behind in second, having made changes to his rear suspension and front ride height, while Schumacher was third. Massa and Rosberg completed a top five all within one second of Webber’s pace.

Milestones

Button is defending his 2009 victory at Albert Park, having won the race for the first time last year in his championship season. Webber is entering his ninth Australian Grand Prix at his home race.