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The 2007 Australian Grand Prix, alternately known as the 2007 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix, was the opening round of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 March 2007.[1] The race would be notable as the debut for future World Champion Lewis Hamilton, as Kimi Räikkönen swept to victory on his debut for Ferrari.[1]

The winter of 2006 had been dominated by big name moves at the head of the field, which had been sparked by the retirement of Michael Schumacher at the end of the previous season.[2] Räikkönen hence moved to the Scuderia to take the German's seat, opening the door for defending Champion Fernando Alonso to move to McLaren-Mercedes to partner GP2 Series Champion Hamilton.[2] Alonso's seat at Renault was taken by another GP2 graduate in Heikki Kovalainen, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking over as their lead driver.[2]

Away from the driver front and there had been some significant changes to the cars, with Michelin having pulled out of the series to leave Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier.[2] Furthermore, teams would have to use both a "hard" (prime) and a "soft" (option) tyre during the race, while there would also be severe testing limitations implemented for the season.[2]

Into the opening weekend itself and it was Ferrari's new signing who streaked to pole position in qualifying, Räikkönen beating Alonso by 0.421s.[1] Nick Heidfeld was third for BMW Sauber ahead of debutante Hamilton, while Takuma Sato caused a stir by getting into Q3 with Super Aguri-Honda, beating the factory Honda squad in the process.[1]

Räikkönen made a clean getaway to claim an early lead at the start of the race, while Alonso was immediately passed by Heidfeld, only to try and rally back and hence allow teammate Hamilton to sweep past for third.[1] At the back, meanwhile, Anthony Davidson stalled but managed to fire his car back up, only to be clipped by Adrian Sutil in the Spyker-Ferrari.[1]

The race would quickly settle into a sedate rhythm, with Räikkönen easing away from Heidfeld, while Hamilton and Alonso tried in vain to find a way past the BMW Sauber.[1] Elsewhere, Christijan Albers had become the first retirement of the season by getting stuck in the gravel at the Sports Centre, Felipe Massa was struggling to climb up the order, while Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were having a poor day in strikingly liveried Hondas.[1]

McLaren's race would, however, come alive as the first round of stops began, with Heidfeld diving in on lap fifteen to release the two silver cars.[1] Räikkönen was the next driver to pit, four laps after the German racer, with Alonso stopping a lap later.[1] Hamilton hence led on his debut for two laps before making his stop, with both himself and Alonso jumping Heidfeld.[1]

Yet, there would be no catching Räikkönen at the head of the field, the #6 Ferrari continuing to build a lead over the two McLarens.[1] Attention hence focused on the midfield, with Kovalainen enduring a miserable debut by spinning at the Jones chicane, Nico Rosberg fighting with the two factory Toyotas, and David Coulthard making a spectacular exit by crashing over the top of Alexander Wurz.[1]

Back with the leaders and the second round of stops were sparked by Räikkönen, who duly rejoined in third behind the two McLarens.[1] Hamilton was next to venture into the pitlane and rejoined behind the Finn, only for Alonso to charge in a lap later and claim second from the Brit.[1]

With that the fight for victory was over, with Räikkönen nursing his car through the final laps to secure victory, becoming the first Ferrari debutante to do so since Nigel Mansell won the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix.[1] Alonso and Hamilton completed the podium, the latter becoming the first rookie to do so since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996, while it was also the first podium in which all drivers had been making their debuts for their teams.[1]

Heidfeld was best of the rest in fourth, twenty seconds behind Hamilton, with Fisichella and Massa the last of those on the lead lap.[1] Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher completed the points scorers, with seventeen drivers completing the opening round.[1]

Background[]

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 Australian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 1080T 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 1080T 2.4 V8 B
3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P806/7 2.4 V8 B
10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P806/7 2.4 V8 B
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
19 United States Scott Speed Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
35 Germany Sebastian Vettel Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P806/7 2.4 V8 B
38 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2007 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 1 1:26.644 4 1:25.644 1 1:26.072 1
2 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:26.697 1 1:25.326 2 1:26.493 2
3 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 6 1:26.895 2 1:25.358 3 1:26.556 3
4 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 2 1:26.674 3 1:25.577 4 1:26.755 4
5 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 3 1:26.696 5 1:25.882 5 1:27.347 5
6 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 10 1:27.270 6 1:25.944 6 1:27.634 6
7 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 7 1:26.978 7 1:26.623 7 1:27.934 7
8 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 9 1:27.014 8 1:26.688 8 1:28.404 8
9 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 11 1:27.328 9 1:26.739 9 1:28.692 9
10 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 12 1:27.365 10 1:26.758 10 1:28.871 10
11 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 8 1:26.986 11 1:26.909 11
12 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 16 1:27.596 12 1:26.914 12
13 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 14 1:27.529 13 1:26.964 13
14 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 15 1:27.540 14 1:27.264 14
15 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 13 1:27.479 15 1:27.393 15
16* 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 5 1:26.712 NC 22
17 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 17 1:27.679 16
18 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 1:28.305 17
19 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 19 1:28.579 18
20 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20 1:29.267 19
21 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 21 1:29.339 20
22 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:31.932 21
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
  • * Massa was handed a ten place grid penalty for changing his engine.[5]

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Kimi Räikkönen 2
______________ Fernando Alonso
Row 2 3 ______________
Nick Heidfeld 4
______________ Lewis Hamilton
Row 3 5 ______________
Robert Kubica 6
______________ Giancarlo Fisichella
Row 4 7 ______________
Mark Webber 8
______________ Jarno Trulli
Row 5 9 ______________
Ralf Schumacher 10
______________ Takuma Sato
Row 6 11 ______________
Anthony Davidson 12
______________ Nico Rosberg
Row 7 13 ______________
Heikki Kovalainen 14
______________ Jenson Button
Row 8 15 ______________
Alexander Wurz 16
______________ Rubens Barrichello
Row 9 17 ______________
Scott Speed 18
______________ David Coulthard
Row 10 19 ______________
Vitantonio Liuzzi 20
______________ Adrian Sutil
Row 11 21 ______________
Christijan Albers* 22
______________ Felipe Massa
  • * Albers would start the race from the pitlane.[5]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2007 Australian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 58 1:25:28.770 1 10
2 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 58 +7.242s 2 8
3 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 58 +18.595s 4 6
4 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 58 +38.763s 3 5
5 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 58 +1:06.469 6 4
6 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 58 +1:06.805 22 3
7 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 57 +1 Lap 12 2
8 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 57 +1 Lap 9 1
9 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 57 +1 Lap 8
10 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 57 +1 Lap 13
11 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 57 +1 Lap 16
12 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri 57 +1 Lap 10
13 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 57 +1 Lap 7
14 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 19
15 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 57 +1 Lap 14
16 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 56 +2 Laps 11
17 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 56 +2 Laps 20
Ret 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 48 Collision 15
Ret 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 48 Collision 18
Ret 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 36 Throttle 5
Ret 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 28 Tyre 17
Ret 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 10 Accident 21
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

It was Kimi Räikkönen who had opened the season with victory and the lead in the Championship, leaving Australia with ten points to his credit. Defending Champion Fernando Alonso began his title defence in second, with new teammate Lewis Hamilton and impressive third after his debut. Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella completed the opening day top five, with Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher also on the board.

In the Constructors Championship it was McLaren-Mercedes who led the way, a point ahead of Ferrari in second after the opening race. An eight point gap followed before BMW Sauber appeared in third, with Renault, Williams-Toyota and the factory Toyota completing the scorers.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 10
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 8
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 6
4 Germany Nick Heidfeld 5
5 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 4
6 Brazil Felipe Massa 3
7 Germany Nico Rosberg 2
8 Germany Ralf Schumacher 1
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 14
2 Italy Ferrari 13
3 Germany BMW Sauber 5
4 France Renault 4
5 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 2
6 Japan Toyota 1

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 'Australia 2007: Raikkonen sweeps the Park.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 18/03/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/58087/1/australia-2007-raikkonen-sweeps-the-park, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 'Australian GP, 2007', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2007), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr769.html, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  3. 'Australia 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  4. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/van-der-garde-waits-on-superlicence-4407028/4407028/
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 '2007 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/808/australia/qualifying.html, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  6. 'Australia 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 '1. Australia 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/australie.aspx, (Accessed 12/02/2020)
  8. 8.0 8.1 [Archived] '2007 Australian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190410024732/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2007&gp=Australian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 12/02/2020) - Original
V T E Australia Australian Grand Prix
Circuits Adelaide Street Circuit (1985–1995) • Albert Park Circuit (1996–present)
Albert Park
Races 198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
V T E 2007 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Renault • Ferrari • Honda • BMW Sauber • Toyota • Red Bull • Williams • Toro Rosso • Spyker • Super Aguri
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Alphabetically Albers • Alonso • Barrichello • Button • Coulthard • Davidson • Fisichella • Hamilton • Heidfeld • Kovalainen • Kubica • Liuzzi • Massa • Nakajima • Räikkönen • Rosberg • Sato • R. Schumacher • Speed • Sutil • Trulli • Vettel • Webber • Winkelhock • Wurz • Yamamoto
Drivers by Number Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica • 10 Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz • 17 Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed • 19 Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers • 21 Winkelhock • 21 Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Fauzy • Gené • Glock • Karthikeyan • Klien • Kobayashi • Loeb • Montagny • Paffett • Piquet • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • Van der Garde • Zonta
Cars Ferrari F2007 • BMW Sauber F1.07 • Renault R27 • Williams FW29 • Red Bull RB3 • Toyota TF107 • Toro Rosso STR2 • Honda RA107 • Super Aguri SA07 • Spyker F8-VII • McLaren MP4-22
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Monaco • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Europe • Hungary • Turkey • Italy • Belgium • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2006 Formula One Season • 2008 Formula One Season • Category
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