| 15.00 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix. The opening race of the season gets underway in half an hour. |
| 15.02 | Qualifying yesterday proved to be a fairly dramatic affair with Lewis Hamilton pushing hard to claim the pole position in his McLaren Mercedes from the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica. Hamilton took the number one position by just a tenth of a second, but it could have been very different. |
| 15.04 | Robert Kubica was on a strong final lap when he ran wide and onto the grass. Still his time was still good enough to move him second on the grid as the BMW Sauber team have really found form in qualifying trim. |
| 15.06 | Heikki Kovalainen is enjoying his first Grand Prix with the McLaren Mercedes team and starts the race from third on the grid. The Finn remains a dark horse for the race win should something happen to Hamilton and Kubica. |
| 15.07 | The cars are now arriving on the dummy grid. |
| 15.08 | Qualifying was a disaster for Ferrari with Felipe Massa aborting his final run as he was not going to improve anyway and Kimi Raikkonen not being able to take part in Q2 due to a fuel pump issue on his Ferrari. It seems the F2008 is not going to run and hide like some pundits had predicted as Massa starts fourth and Raikkonen 15th. |
| 15.10 | Nick Heidfeld starts fifth in the second BMW Sauber and could be a threat in the race should things fall his way. Jarno Trulli starts sixth in the Toyota and the TF108 actually looks one of the best handling cars in terms of stability in the field. Timo Glock did a good job to qualify his Toyota ninth but incurred not one, but two penalties which drops him down to 19th on the grid. |
| 15.12 | A mixed weekend so far from the Williams Toyota team. The lost time with gearbox issues on Friday morning has resulted in them playing catch-up all weekend. Nico Rosberg starts seventh while Kazuki Nakajima lines up 13th for his second Grand Prix start. |
| 15.14 | The Red Bull Renault seems a pretty nippy car around the Albert Park circuit. Unfortunately a brake failure sent Mark Webber tumbling out of his qualifying session while David Coulthard was able to salvage eighth position for the team. Webber starts his home event from 14th position. |
| 15.16 | Sebastien Vettel is starting his first full season of Formula One and seems to be completely at home at the Toro Rosso team. A stunning performance yesterday saw him easily make it into Q3 only for a technical problem to force him to pretty much sit out the final shootout. Vettel lines up ninth while team-mate Bourdais gets to grips with F1 back in 17th. |
| 15.18 | Honda too has made gains in recent weeks. The team claim they found a second with new aero parts for the RA108 tested for the first time at a private test in Spain a few weeks ago. A solid lap from Rubens Barrichello saw him qualify tenth while Jenson Button admitted he messed up his lap but still starts 12th. |
| 15.20 | Renault struggled mightily in qualifying with Fernando Alonso complaining of a lack of front end grip and subsequent understeer. The former champion starts his first race on his Renault return from 11th position. Nelson Piquet has looked all at sea all weekend long and starts his first Grand Prix from a disappointing 21st. |
| 15.21 | It is incredibly hot today at Melbourne, a real factor in terms of tyre wear. |
| 15.22 | The new Force India team line-up with Giancarlo Fisichella 16th and Adrian Sutil 18th. It was an incident filled session for Sutil who ran through the gravel trap on his first run and then spun and stalled right at the end of the session. This, the team claim, ruined not only Sutil’s chances of a gain, but Fisichella’s too as he was forced to slow for the yellow flags. |
| 15.24 | A finish for Super Aguri Honda would be a good result with Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson lining up 20th and 22nd. |
| 15.26 | With driver aids such as engine braking and traction control removed this year, the 58-lap Grand prix is going to be a real test for a number of drivers. The run to turn one will be especially crucial as it is hard to pass at Melbourne and getting off the line is a whole lot harder in Formula One 2008 style. |
| 15.27 | Adrian Sutil is starting from the pit lane in his Force India. He was expected to line up 18th. |
| 15.28 | Tyre wear will be an important factor in this race, especially when the soft option is being used. Expect most to start the race on the harder tyre and use the soft at the end of the race. |
| 15.29 | The grid is now being cleared and the engines are being fired up for the formation lap. |
| 15.30 | The formation lap is now underway. Ferrari on the soft tyres. most on the hard. |
| 15.33 | The cars line up on the grid... |
| Lap 1 | The Australian Grand Prix is GO! All eyes on turn one... |
| Lap 1 | Contact at the back |
| Lap 1 | Clean at the front as Hamilton leads. |
| Lap 1 | The safety car is out. |
| Lap 1 | Raikkonen P15 to P8 |
| Lap 1 | Front right damage for Davidson. Webber left rear damage. Button also in trouble. Button and Fisichella out. |
| Lap 2 | Massa is pitting for a new front wing |
| Lap 2 | Nakajima also in the pits as Fisichella's Force India is craned away. |
| Lap 2 | Seems Fisichella went doen the inside of Glock and Glock reacted and moved left. Massa spun by himslef and nosed into the wall. |
| Lap 2 | Webber is in the pits and seems to be out of the race. |
| Lap 3 | Restart. Hamilton leads Kubica. |
| Lap 2 | Massa back in the pits. Takes fuel. |
| Lap 3 | Button is out of the race. His Honda is being wheeled away. |
| Lap 3 | Piquet is up to P12 in the Renault. |
| Lap 4 | Raikkonen is right on Barrichello for P7. |
| Lap 5 | Hamilton leads Kubica, Kovalainen, Rosberg, Heidfeld, Trulli, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Coulthard and Alonso. |
| Lap 6 | Hamilton is pulling away from Kubica. |
| Lap 7 | After making up ground, Piquet is now sliding back. He has lost three places in a couple of laps and is now 15th. |
| Lap 8 | Hamilton leads Kubica by four seconds. |
| Lap 9 | Kovalainen (3rd) is closing now on Kubica. |
| Lap 9 | The closest battle is Raikkonen chasing Barrichello for seventh. |
| Lap 10 | Hamilton is pulling away from Kubica at a second a lap as Kovalainen is now closing in on the BMW. |
| Lap 11 | Sutil has pitted and retired the second Force India. A poor race for the team. |
| Lap 11 | Raikkonen runs wide and drops back from Barrichello. |
| Lap 12 | Hamilton leads Kubica by 8s. Kovalainen is still third ahead of Rosberg, Heidfeld, Trulli, Barrichello and Raikkonen. |
| Lap 12 | Massa passes Piquet. Piquet is now last in 16th. |
| Lap 14 | Sato runs 11th with Glock and Bourdais right behind. |
| Lap 16 | Hamilton gets the gap to Kubica out to ten seconds. A real walk in the Albert Park. |
| Lap 16 | Glocks passes Sato for 11th. |
| Lap 17 | Kubica is the first man to pit. He pits from second position. |
| Lap 17 | Kubica exits behind Raikkonen. |
| Lap 18 | Hamilton pits with a 14s lead. |
| Lap 19 | Hamilton exits behind Heidfeld. |
| Lap 19 | Raikkonen has now passed Barrichello with an easy pass. |
| Lap 20 | Raikkonen's next target is Trulli six seconds up the road. |
| Lap 21 | Trulli pits from fifth. He is retiring. A shame as he was having a good race. |
| Lap 21 | Massa passes Sato. |
| Lap 22 | Rosberg and Heidfeld pit. |
| Lap 22 | Heidfeld gets the jump on Rosberg in the pit. |
| Lap 22 | Kovalainen pits from the lead. |
| Lap 23 | Kovalainen exits just ahead of Raikkonen who is on a real charge. |
| Lap 24 | Barrichello pits the Honda. |
| Lap 24 | Raikkonen all over the back of Kovalainen but he has yet to pit. |
| Lap 26 | Massa dives down the inside of Coulthard doe tenth and makes contact. Coulthard has a lot of damage to his rear, Massa continues. |
| Lap 27 | Safety car. |
| Lap 27 | A racing incident really as two into turn one does not go. |
| Lap 27 | Good news for Kovalainen as the gap will now close up. Hamilton has a 12s lead. |
| Lap 28 | The field is now closed up behind the safety car. |
| Lap 29 | Bourdais pits the STR. |
| Lap 29 | Raikkonen, Alonso and Glock yet to pit. |
| Lap 30 | Kubica, Alonso, Glock and Nakajima pit. |
| Lap 30 | The race is back underway. |
| Lap 30 | Raikkonen tries to pass Kovalainen into turn one |
| Lap 30 | Raikkonen tries again into turn three and he runs into the gravel trap after braking too late. |
| Lap 31 | Raikkonen continues but he has lost ground and still has not pitted. |
| Lap 31 | Massa (P7) stops on track with a problem as Raikkonen finally pits. |
| Lap 32 | Why Raikkonen did not pit under the safety car is a mystery. Piquet has stopped his Renault with a problem. A nightmare weekend for the rookie. |
| Lap 33 | Bourdais runs in sixth position. |
| Lap 34 | Bourdais has Kubica and Alonso right behind him. |
| Lap 34 | Raikkonen is 11th and Ferrari really blew it by not pitting him under the safety car. |
| Lap 35 | Takuma Sato is out. Not sure why but he is walking back to the pit. |
| Lap 35 | Kubica is off the pace and has Alonso all over the back of the BMW. |
| Lap 36 | Raikkonen is last in the sole surviving Ferrari and now begining to reel in Glock. |
| Lap 37 | Most of the field will need to make a second stop. Raikkonen may not however, so perhaps Ferrari can salvage something from this event. |
| Lap 39 | Bourdais, Kubica and Alonso run together on track. |
| Lap 40 | Kubica's BMW is putting out quite a lot of brake dust. |
| Lap 41 | Raikkonen has now caught Glock. |
| Lap 42 | Alonso really putting the pressure on Kubica who is struggling on the soft tyre at the moment. |
| Lap 43 | Heidfeld is running well in third and keeping Kovalainen within sight. |
| Lap 43 | Raikkonen spins as he tried to pass Glock into turn three. He put the left rear on the grass and around it went. |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton and Rosberg both pit. |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton is now on the soft tyre. A critical part of the race. Raikkonen back underway and chasing down Glock again. |
| Lap 45 | Heidfeld pits fom second. His battle is with Kovalainen. |
| Lap 45 | Big shunt for Glock. Safety Car |
| Lap 45 | Glock is okay but the Toyota is a mess. |
| Lap 45 | Glock lost it big time exiting 12. He ran wide and the car launched into the air breaking off three wheels. He is out of the car and okay. |
| Lap 46 | Barrichello pit and pulls out too early with the fuel hose still connected. Why is he in the pits anyway? The pits are shut. |
| Lap 46 | The teams and drivers all seem rusty. Mistakes everywhere. |
| Lap 46 | Barrichello is on track but the pits were not open. He will get a penalty for pitting. |
| Lap 46 | The third safety car is good news for Raikkonen. |
| Lap 47 | Pit lane now open. |
| Lap 47 | Kovalainen and Alonso pit. |
| Lap 48 | That stop will hurt Kovalainen. Hamilton got his stop in at the perfect time. |
| Lap 49 | The race is back underway. |
| Lap 49 | Barrichello is to get a stop go penalty. |
| Lap 49 | Kubica and Nakajima both pit. Both are having new font wings. |
| Lap 49 | Kubica is retiring. A disater of a race for the Pole. |
| Lap 50 | Barrichello pits. Raikkonen has dropped behind Kovalainen and Alonso. |
| Lap 50 | Nakajima ran into the back of Kubica and that is why Kubica is out. |
| Lap 51 | Bourdais now has Alonso all over the back of his STR. |
| Lap 51 | Raikkonen has dropped six seconds back on Kovalainen on that lap. A problem? |
| Lap 52 | Raikkonen has an engine problem. It sounds very rough. |
| Lap 53 | Rosberg runs third in the Williams and is closing a little on Heidfeld. |
| Lap 54 | Bourdais is doing a great job in holding off Alonso. |
| Lap 54 | Alonso is now under pressure from Kovalainen. |
| Lap 55 | Alonso is now dropping back from Bourdais. |
| Lap 55 | Raikkonen is stopping on pit lane entry. End of his scrappy race. |
| Lap 56 | Bourdais (4th) slows with a Ferrari engine failure. A real shame for the rookie and the team. He pulls off and out of the race. |
| Lap 57 | A great pass by Kovalainen on Alonso. |
| Lap 58 | Alonso retakes the position onto the main straight. A probem for Kovalainen? |
| Lap 58 | Hamilton takes the chequered flag and wins the Australian Grand Prix. |
| Lap 58 | Heidfeld is second ahead of Rosberg, Alonso, Kovalainen, Barrichello, Nakajima. Bourdais is classified eighth so at least gets a point. |
