Five things we learned from the Australian Grand Prix

1. The Iceman has cometh.

Kimi has always been a star, that much we all know. Give him a good team and he’ll give you podiums. Give him a good car, he’ll give you race wins. Give him both, he’ll give you championships––and some priceless quotes that can sell a hell of a lot of T-shirts.

Lotus may not be up there with Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of resources, but what they do have is the environment for Kimi to shine. It’s a well-known fact that given a choice, Kimi would turn up for an hour on Saturday, two hours on Sunday, and then party his way through the days in between. And while previous teams forced him to dilute himself by putting in the painful hours with the engineers tackling the boring stuff, Lotus, it seems, have given him the freedom to just do what he does best, and they’ll take care of the rest. 

If they could just continue the development of their car until the end of the year, this could be the beginning of another Ice Age.

2. Hamilton made the right decision.

There was a lot of head scratching going on in the paddock after Hamilton’s announcement to replace Michael Schumacher in an under-performing Benz. But give the guy some credit. He clearly saw something we couldn’t, and if his top three position in qualifying and 5th place finish in the race is not clear enough indication of that, Mclaren’s 9th and 11th place finishes most definitely are.

3. Schumacher really was really past his use by date.

I hate to say this, but although it was pretty plain for most of us to see, for the faithful, there was always a slim chance that Michael was thrashed by another boy wonder in Nico Rosberg. But by sticking his car behind the triple world champions, and more importantly, 3 spots ahead of his team mate in his very first outing, Hamilton has not only shown that he is one of the all time greats in the sport, but that Michael made the right decision by hanging up his helmet. Hopefully for good this time.

4. Sutil was a good choice, and Force India is a force to reckon with.

Despite qualifying in a lowly 12th, Adrian Sutil led the grand prix twice in Albert Park, validating a very controversial decision to bring back the most feared driver in the paddock. At one point, it looked like Vettel was too damn scared to pass the guy, lest he get stabbed with a broken glass when they get back to the garage. Had it not been for a slightly misjudged strategy, we could have seen Sutil on the podium on his first race back, which would have been a fairy tale come back from the bad boy of F1.

It was a move that took balls big enough to mount a set of Pirellis on, but the decision to re-hire Adrian Sutil, who was charged with grievous bodily harm after assaulting Renault executive Eric Lux with a Champagne glass in a night club in Shanghai last 2011, has certainly paid off. But they should hold the champagne for now (especially the glasses) because while he was given an 18 month suspension and a 170,000 Euro fine, the fact that he was charged criminally could pose some  serious visa issues––particularly in China.

5. Alonso is still the biggest threat to Redbull.

Yes, he got out qualified by his team mate. It didn’t matter that it was by three thousandths of a second, it was still a spot ahead of him, and that is all that will reflect in the history books and our beloved stats that we define our heroes with.

At several points it looked like Alonso had the measure of Massa in the opening laps, but the Brazilian held his ground and should be commended for soaking up the pressure. But what separates the champions from the contenders is not just deft driving, but that unique ability to not be a one dimensional racer.

Unless Ferrari were willing to risk another PR disaster by ordering Massa to move over and then put on his wang wangs to cover the ass of his illustrious team mate, Alonso knew he would only be punishing his tires and losing time, not to mention risking contact, so he took a gamble on an earlier pit stop in lap 20 that was timed to absolute perfection.  And if you look at where Ferrari were this time last year and consider that they fought all the way until Brazil, losing out by just 3 measly points to Vettel, this is one of the few times where it is a good idea bet on the horses.

The 2013 F1 season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. Judging by the surprising pace of some, and the intriguing lack from others, we’re in for a vintage year. Had we seen Vettel and Webber up on the top steps, the casual fans would have all assumed the outcome and most probably cancelled our cable subscriptions and airline tickets to the most exciting show on earth.

Welcome back, F1. We sure missed you.