F1 Drivers' World Championship - Week 1

Vettel after Australian Grand Prix victory

1	Ger	S Vettel	25
2	GB	L Hamilton	18
3	Rus	V Petrov	15
4	Spa	F Alonso	12
5	Aus	M Webber	10
6	GB	J Button	8
7	Brz	F Massa	6
8	Swi	S Buemi	4
9	Ger	A Sutil	2
10	GB	P Di Resta	1

Formula 1 - Drivers and Teams

Red Bull - Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber

McLaren - Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button

Ferrari - Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa

Mercedes - Michael Schumacher & Nico Rosberg

Renault - Nick Heidfeld & Vitaly Petrov

Williams - Ruben Barrichello & Pastor Maldonado

Force India - Adrian Sutil & Paul di Resta

Sauber - Kamui Kobayashi & Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso - Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari

Team Lotus - Jarno Trulli & Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania Racing Team - Narain Karthikeyan & Vitantonio Liuzzi

Virgin Racing - Timo Glock & Jerome d'Ambrosio

Australian Grand Prix

Satellite view of Albert Park, Melbourne

With the 2011 F1 Grand Prix season about to begin tomorrow, and qualifying taking place today, I believe it is time I post a quick fact file about the Australian Grand Prix. I will be doing this for each race as soon as possible (not necessarily on the day of the race).

Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne
Race Date: Sunday 27 March
Lap length: 3.295 miles
Race laps: 58
2010 winner: Jenson Button (McLaren)
First grand prix: 1996
Fascinating fact: The race returned to Melbourne in 1996 when Martin Brundle was involved in a terrifying crash on the first lap, which split his Jordan car in two. Amazingly, the British driver was able to run back to the pits to collect the spare car for the restart - only to spin off at the same corner on the first lap.

F1: Valsecchi Replaces Trulli or Kovalainen

Formula One racers, Trulli (left) and Glock (right) at a briefing

It was announced today that Italian GP2 driver, and F1 driver, Davide Valsecchi, will replace either teammate Jarno Trulli or teammate Heikki Kovalainen for Team Lotus. He is expected to fill in for the Friday morning practice ahead of both the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. I have taken the liberty of comparing his and Trulli's statistics.

Valsecchi:
Starts - 54
Wins - 2
Poles - 1
Fastest Laps - 0

Trulli:
Starts - 234
Championships - 0
Wins - 1
Poles - 4
Fastest Laps - 1