Formula One 2013: Kimi Raikkonen triumph at Australian Grand Prix

Kim Raikkonen clinched season’s inaugural race at Australian GP to win 25 points. Lotus-Renault driver crossed chequered flag with more than 12 seconds lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who finished second with 18 points.  Current World Champion Sebastian Vettel finished 3^rd in his Red Bull racing car for 15 points.

Kimi started the race at 7^th position on the grid based on qualifying session which was dominated by stronger teams such as Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. However, fantastic and gutsy racing by Finn resulted into memorable and thrilling victory.

Vettel creates history by clinching Formula 1 title for third time in a row

In a closely fought battle for Drivers Championship title, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel from Germany beat arch rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari by just 3 points. At the end of 2012 season, Vettel scored 281 points compared with Alonso at 278.

The last race of the season at Sao Paulo in Brazil was filled with drama and excitement which was won by Mclaren driver Jenson Button. Fernando Alonso who was fighting for Drivers Championship finished second while his teammate local boy Felipe Massa took 3^rd position at podium.

Although Vettel could manage only sixth position, it was sufficient for him to stay ahead of Ferrari’s Alonso on points to clinch 2012 title. It was a double celebration time for Red Bull team which had already seized Constructors Title with 460 points ahead of Ferrari (400 points) with comfortable margin.

Incidentally, legendary driver Michael Schumacher drove his last race of Formula 1 career as he already announced retirement at the end of 2012 season.

The great Schumi to retire from Formula 1 by year end

Legendary Formula One racing car driver and seven times world champion, Michael Schumacher, announced his retirement from racing track by the end of current season. The 43 years old Schumi would be quitting the sport for the second time after coming back on the track from his earlier retirement announced in 2006. German driver is currently racing for Mercedes team where he will be replaced by British driver Lewis Hamilton for the next season.

Michael who holds almost all the records in Formula 1 racing participated in 302 races till date out of which 91 times won the race. Also, Schumi started at pole position for record 68 times during his career. Although he raced for teams such as Jordon, Renault and Mercedes during his two decades long career, his most successful was with Italian outfit Ferrari. Michael won 5 consecutive seasons during 2000-2004 for Ferrari.