KIMI RAIKKONEN UPSTAGED upstaged the established order to claim a resounding victory for Lotus in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this morning.
The Finn roared off from seventh on the starting grid to take a forward position, and employed a strategy of only two stops to take the race from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull world champion Sebastian Vettel.
For Raikkonen, 33, who won the 2007 world championship with Ferrari before taking two years out to drive in rallying, it was his 20th GP triumph.
Raikkonen had the luxury of an easy run in the closing laps to the finish line and beat Alonso by 12.4secs, with Vettel a further 9.8secs away in third.
Alonso’s Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil was fourth, with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes fifth and Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull sixth.
The second race will be at Sepang in Malaysia next weekend.