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Kimi Raikkonen claimed victory in Formula One’s
season-opener in Melbourne, upstaging the favourites to take victory.
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The Lotus driver came from seventh on the starting
grid to take the race from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull world
champion Sebastian Vettel.
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The win marks the 20th GP triumph for the
Finn, who won the 2007 world championship with Ferrari before taking two years
out to compete in rallying.
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Raikkonen stopped for two tyre changes compared
to three by his rivals: "We knew that if the front tyres were lasting we
would be fine. I was confident, but you have to get through the start and the
first lap and it's the first race so you never know what's going to happen."
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Meanwhile, 2012 champion Sebastian Vettel, who
had the fastest car from qualifying and started off the pole, said tyre
degradation cost him his chance of victory.
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Ferrari’s Alonso was pleased to get on the
podium after difficult starts in the previous two seasons: "This year it
feels very different and we feel much more optimistic and the car is responding well, we are competitive, so we have a very interesting season
ahead of us."
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And it wasn’t a bad start for 2008 world
champion Lewis Hamilton, racing for the first time with Mercedes after leaving
McLaren. He finished in fifth and said the result was better than expected.