(Melbourne, AUS) - 0752 GMT: AFP IS NOW CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT, after the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. The second race of the new campaign is in Malaysia in a week's time.
0748 GMT: Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, who started from pole, says the race "didn't quite go as we would have liked." He says: "Sometimes you have to admit other people are faster." The German does though admit that the Red Bulls had some problems with the tyres.
0746 GMT: Raikkonen continues: "I had a feeling it was going to be a good race. It was a pretty nice race, not too difficult."
0743 GMT: The Finn Raikkonen takes a mouthful of champagne and then gets it flush in the face from Vettel. The pair share a joke. "I have had a good car all weekend," says Raikkonen.
0740 GMT: Raikkonen, second-placed Alonso and Vettel take to the podium and Finland's national anthem belts out across the overcast Albert Park circuit. Raikkonen shifts momentarily from foot to foot, two hands aloft.
0738 GMT: Hugely impressive stuff from Kimi Raikkonen as he wins at Albert Park. The famously terse Finn bashfully takes the applause of the crowd as he clambers gingerly out of his black-tinged Lotus.
0735 GMT: Webber was sixth and Sutil seventh. But Raikkonen's peerless victory gives Lotus their first victory in an opening grand prix since the 1970s.
0734 GMT: Raikkonen takes the chequered flag. "Absolutely superb, Kimi, well done mate," Lotus tell the Finn. Alonso was second, Vettel third. Massa was fourth and Hamilton fifth.
KIMI RAIKKONEN WINS THE AUSTRALIAN GP
LAP 58/58: FINAL LAP. Raikkonen is nearly there. He leads.
LAP 57/58: Two laps left and leader Raikkonen has just clocked the fastest time of the race.
LAP 56/58: Three laps to go and the Finn Raikkonen just needs to avoid trouble. The gap to Alonso up to 8.3 secs.
LAP 55/58: Kimi Raikkonen scents victory here. He leads with four laps to go and second-placed Fernando Alonso is failing to close significantly. Vettel is third.
LAP 53/58: Sutil, twice the race leader, is falling away. He is seventh and fading fast. At the front, Raikkonen is keeping Alonso at bay. The gap is 6.7 secs.
LAP 51/58: This is the order: Raikkonen, Alonso, Vettel, Massa, Sutil and Hamilton. Sutil and Hamilton go toe-to-toe, but Sutil holds off Hamilton the first time, but not the second.
LAP 49/58: Here we go then. Less than 10 laps to go and it is Kimi Raikkonen, of Lotus, who leads at overcast Melbourne. The Lotus has a 7.9-secs lead on Alonso.
LAP 48/58: Raikkonen is pulling away from the Ferrari. That gap is now 7.8 secs and growing slowly. Vettel, who has appeared not to have the blistering pace we anticipated, is third.
LAP 47/58: Surprise-package Sutil makes his final stop and it looks like a straight fight to the flag now between Raikkonen and Alonso. The gap is 7.4 secs between them. Raikkonen at the front.
LAP 45/58: Sutil and Alonso are having an almighty scrap over second place... and Alonso makes his move on the inside to grab that second place. He now has the race leader Raikkonen in his sights. Applause in the Ferrari garage for Alonso.
LAP 44/58: Fourteen laps to go and it is Kimi Raikkonen who now leads. He is 2.6 secs ahead of Sutil in second. It is then Alonso and Vettel.
LAP 42/58: Alonso is all over the back of Raikkonen. And the Ferrari man has just clocked the fastest lap of the race.
LAP 41/58: The Force India of Adrian Sutil leads the Australian Grand Prix, chased by Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Massa is fifth, Hamilton sixth. There have been seven different leaders this afternoon in Melbourne.
LAP 39/58: Adrian Sutil surges into the lead after Fernando Alonso pits for fresh tyres. Sutil though will need to pit himself.
LAP 38/58: McLaren's disappointing start to the season continues. Former world champion Jenson Button is down in 11th, a place behind new team-mate Sergio Perez. The Red Bull of Mark Webber is seventh.
LAP 37/58: Alonso is 5.5 secs ahead of Vettel, followed by Sutil, Raikkonen and Massa. Vettel then pits for what ought to be a third and final stop.
LAP 35/58: The Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen, the race leader, goes into the pits for a change of tryes. He comes out in fifth place, just behind Felipe Massa. That ought to be Raikkonen's last stop for this race. Alonso now leads.
LAP 33/58: More on that rain. It is only light and does not appear to have developed into anything more than that. Fingers crossed.
LAP 32/58: Hamilton immediately goes to the pits for a third and final time, after a terrific duel with his old team-mate Fernando Alonso, who is now second.
LAP 31/58: So Raikkonen leads, 12.5 secs from Hamilton. Next up is Alonso, then Vettel. Alonso though is all over Hamilton, but the Briton is just about holding the Ferrari off.
LAP 30/58: Halfway through and the rain has started to fall. Now then, what will this do to the race? Raikkonen leads.
LAP 28/58: A fourth retirement for Rosberg in seven races. Looks like might be an engine failure for the German, who was in real contention. Great pity for him.
LAP 27/58: ROSBERG OUT. The Mercedes, who was running in the top three, grinds to a halt. Race over.
LAP 26/58: Pastor Maldonado in a Williams bows out the race as he ends up in the sand. Raikkonen though way out in front, 11.3 sec ahead of Hamilton. Third is Rosberg.
LAP 24/58: Intriguing. Massa pits for a second time and gives Kimi Raikkonen -- who has been in the pits only once -- the lead. But here comes the rain... Get the brolly out.
LAP 23/58: To recap. Felipe Massa leads in Melbourne, followed by Raikkonen, Hamilton, Rosberg and Alonso. Sutil is sixth, Vettel seventh.
LAP 21/58: Sutil is set to pit, brining an end to his dogged stint at the head of the race... And Sutil returns in sixth. Felipe Massa now out at the front. "Let's see what you can do," Ferrari tell Massa over the radio. Indeed, let's see...
LAP 19/58: Looks like most the teams are on a three-stop strategy. But it is the Force India of Adrian Sutil that leads after a third of an engaging race. Sutil is even managing to pull away from the chasing Vettel. Real pace from Sutil.
LAP 18/58: Intriguing stuff at an increasingly cloudy Albert Park. We have the unheralded Adrian Sutil leading the race, holding everyone up and squeezing the top places.
LAP 17/58: Sutil has Vettel, Massa and Alonso breathing down his neck, but he appears unfazed. It is a 1.1 sec interval between Sutil and Vettel.
LAP 15/58: This is the first time that Sutil has ever been in the lead of a GP. It may not last long -- he is going to need to change tyres sooner rather than later -- but credit to the German. Enjoy it while he can.
LAP 14/58: We have a new race leader in Adrian Sutil in his Force India. He is yet to pit, however.
LAP 13/58: Brave strategy from Mercedes and Hamilton. He leads, followed by his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Then Hamilton finally pits, rejoining the action down in eighth place.
LAP 11/58: So where does all that leave us? Kimi Raikkonen looks ominous. Vettel moves up to fourth. But Lewis Hamilton leads -- though he is yet to pit.
LAP 9/58: Race leader Felipe Massa is the next in the pits for fresh tyres. A great stop from Ferrari and the Brazilian is back in the thick of it, in 10th place. Expect Alonso to be next in.
LAP 8/58: Vettel pits and rejoins the action in 11th place. The Ferraris are yet to follow suit.
LAP 6/58: The front three of Vettel, Massa and Alonso are already out on their own at the top of the field. Massa is 0.8 secs off the leader Vettel. The Ferraris look quick.
LAP 5/58: And what of last year's Melbourne winner? Jenson Button is the first to pit for a change of tyres -- after just four laps -- and is down in last place. Early days, but McLaren already look like they are having problems this season.
LAP 4/58: Replays underline that horror start for the home hope Mark Webber. He just did not get going at all, in what was a pretty clean start overall in the first GP of the season.
LAP 3/58: So in the early stages, it's Vettel in the lead, followed by Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton.
LAP 2/58: Webber slipped all the way from second to seventh, while Hamilton is down to fifth at the expense of Kimi Raikkonen.
LAP 1/58: Vettel leads from pole and into the first corner, but Webber is the big loser, and the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso are up into second and third.
0604 GMT: It's GO! GO! GO!
0601 GMT: Vettel leads the cars on the formation lap. And pretty fast he is going too, as they weave down the home straight.
0559 GMT: A Qantas jet has just done a dramatic flyby down the straight, the safety car has done its sighting lap and the cars are on their warm-up. It's nearly time.
0556 GMT: More on that weather -- and they don't say that Melbourne has four seasons in one day for nothing. The clouds have started to roll in and the wind has picked up.
0550 GMT: A quick word on the Albert Park circuit. It is part a road-race, but the other part of
the track is unused for the rest of the year. That can make it tricky for the drivers at the outset, with debris such as dust and twigs on the circuit.
0547 GMT: The race has already lost a car -- and it has not even begun yet. Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg will not compete because of a fuel-system problem. Huge blow for the German.
0545 GMT: Will this be Webber's turn to finally win his home GP at the 12th attempt? The oldest driver in F1 -- he is 36 -- is starting off the front row of the grid with Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Fifteen minutes to go.
0540 GMT: Smith tells me that, as you'd expect, there is plenty of support for the Australian Mark
Webber. There is even a banner in the crowd proclaiming, "Mark for PM".
0535 GMT: AFP reporter Robert Smith, at Albert Park, has encouraging news -- he tells me that the sun is out and the track is dry. There were more showers in the morning, he says, but they have cleared nicely. Less than 30 minutes to the big off.
0533 GMT: The weather has played havoc this weekend in Melbourne. Qualifying had to be abandoned on Saturday because of heavy rain, and the session was finished off on Sunday morning.
WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT of the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, where reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel starts on pole position. Red Bull's Vettel is chasing a fourth drivers' title on the bounce.
He will start alongside team-mate Mark Webber on the front row of the grid at Albert Park. It was the young German's 37th career pole and sets up the world champion Red Bulls as favourites heading into the eagerly anticipated first race of the campaign.
Lewis Hamilton, making his debut for Mercedes, was third-fastest, with Felipe Massa fourth, ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso. German Nico Rosberg was sixth in his Mercedes.
Rounding out the top 10 were the Lotus duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, followed by Force India's Paul di Resta and the struggling McLaren of Jenson Button. He won in Melbourne last year but his McLaren appears well off the pace this time.
