With Nico Rosberg qualifying in seventh and Kazuki Nakajima in fourteenth the AT&T Williams team would get ready for the start of the opening race of the 2008 Formula One season, the Australian Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil would start from the pit lane after having to take a penalty due to changing his chassis which was damaged in qualifying. Toyota's Timo Glock would suffer two penalties that
would see him start from nineteenth on the grid. This would see Kazuki move up to thirteenth. It was expected that most drivers would start the race on the harder tyre. One notable team to run the softer tyre was Ferrari.

With the race length fifty eight laps the cars would form up on the grid after the parade lap and as the lights went out would get away with Hamilton leading from Kubica and Kovalainen into Turn one. Raikkonen had moved from fifteenth to eighth. Massa had dropped to eleventh after making contact with another car.

Massa would pit for a new nose as the safety car was deployed. Kazuki was also in. Fisichella had retired out on the circuit. His car was craned away. Fisichella was hit from the rear. Massa appears to have spun all by himself as he went through Turn one. Webber would retire his car in the pit lane.

Nico was in fourth as the race restarted. Massa would pit again. Hamilton would set a fastest lap, 1m:29.257. Button was also out with his car having been damaged in the opening lap chaos. Replays showed that Kazuki had slowed causing an accident behind him involving Davidson.

After lap four the order was Hamilton, Kubica, Kovalainen, Nico, Heidfeld, Trulli, Barrichello, and Raikkonen in eighth. Vettel had also retired. Lap five and a new fastest lap, 1m:28.556. He was 2.6 seconds ahead of Kubica. Kazuki was in sixteenth. Massa was running last. Lap six and Hamilton was again faster, 1m:28.513. Another fastest lap on lap seven, 1m:28.442. Nico was 2.9 seconds behind third placed Kovalainen.

Heidfeld would run wide seeing him drop back from Nico. Hamilton's lead was now up to 5.3 seconds. Kovalainen was closing onto second placed Kubica. Lap nine and another fastest lap from Hamilton, 1m:28.111. Kazuki would pass Piquet for fourteenth. Sutil would retire in the pit. Raikkonen was attacking seventh placed Barrichello.

At the front the race had settled down with Hamilton's lead 8.5 seconds. On the team radio Nico said that the balance of his car was OK. Lap thirteen and another fastest lap for Hamilton, 1m:28.007. He would lower this the next lap, 1m:27.785. Nico was dropping back from third. Hamilton was really pushing with another fastest lap on lap fifteen, 1m:27.590.

Kubica would pit on lap seventeen. He would take on the harder compound tyres. He would exit behind Raikkonen. Another fastest lap for Hamilton, 1m:27.484, on lap seventeen. Massa would pass Kazuki for fourteenth. Hamilton would pit on lap eighteen, seeing Kovalainen take the lead. Another set of the harder tyres and he would return behind Heidfeld.

Kovalainen was pushing at the front. Raikkonen would pass Barrichello for sixth and start to pull away from the Honda. Nico was now in second but yet to stop. Bourdais would pit on lap twenty one. Trulli had also pitted. He would get out of his car in a hurry with a problem. Lap twenty two and Nico and Heidfeld would both pit. Both would stay on the harder tyre.

Heidfeld was able to pass Nico in the pit lane. Lap twenty three and Kovalainen would pit. Ninth placed Coulthard was also in. Hamilton was again leading with Kovalainen returning back to the track just in front of Raikkonen. Alonso had passed Nico for sixth. Lap twenty four and Barrichello would pit. Raikkonen and Alonso had yet to pit.

With Kazuki down in thirteenth Nico was now 3.2 seconds behind Alonso. Massa would take out Coulthard when he hit the side of the Red Bull as they went into Turn one. The Safety car was deployed. Replays showed that Massa was alongside the Red Bull and Coulthard appeared not to see him. The field would close up behind Hamilton as the debris from the Coulthard and Massa accident was cleared up. Several drivers would pit including Kubica, Alonso, Glock and Kazuki. Kubica was sent out on the softer tyre. Nico was now in fifth. The safety car would return to the pit lane as Raikkonen attacked Kovalainen. He would over do it and go off the track. Massa would retire his car out on the track as on lap thirty two
Raikkonen would pit.

Hamilton was leading from Kovalainen and Heidfeld. Nico was in fourth. Piquet would retire out on the circuit. Kazuki was down in ninth. In fifth was Barrichello from Bourdais, Kubica, and Alonso. Lap thirty seven and Hamilton was leading by 5.5 seconds from Kovalainen. Nico was 2.1 seconds behind third placed Heidfeld. Lap thirty eight and a new fastest lap from Hamilton, 1m:27.452. Nico would set his fastest sector one time. Lap forty one and he would set his fastest lap of the race so far, 1m:28.090.

Hamilton would pit on lap forty four. He was joined by Nico. Kovalainen would set a new fastest lap on lap forty three, 1m:27.418. Raikkonen had spun trying to pass Glock going into Turn three. Heidfeld would pit on lap forty five. The drivers would take on the softer tyre for their final run. Glock would have a big crash that would see the safety car deployed.

Glock had run wide and went over a bump off the track and the car flew with the car being destroyed as it crashed back down. He would spin across the car and hit the wall. After a short time he would get out of the car. We also had drama in the pit lane as Barrichello left the pit lane with his fuel hose still attached. Thankfully the hose detached itself as he left his pit box with no further problems.

With the safety car deployed Kovalainen was leading from Hamilton, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Nico, Bourdais, Kubica, and Alonso in eighth. Kazuki was in ninth. Lap forty eight and Kovalainen would pit. He was joined by Alonso. Barrichello was under investigation for entering the pit lane when it was closed. The safety car would come in as they started lap forty nine.

Kubica and Kazuki would pit. Barrichello would get a ten second penalty. Kazuki had not front wing. It looks like the Kubica and Kazuki had some form of a coming together. Kubica would retire in the pit lane. Kazuki would get back out. Barrichello would take his penalty seeing Nico in a fantastic third. Replays showed that Kazuki had hit Kubica.

Lap fifty and Hamilton lead from Heidfeld, Nico, Bourdais, Alonso, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, and in eighth Barrichello. Alonso was attacking Bourdais. Raikkonen was struggling with a car that had been given a hard time. His car engine note sounded very sick. Raikkonen would pit and retire his car. A double DNF for Ferrari. This would see Kazuki in eighth. A possible double points scoring finish for Williams

With two laps left Bourdais would suffer the disappointment of an engine failure while running in fourth. He would pull off the track as Alonso and Kovalainen battled it out. As the drivers started their final lap Hamilton was leading from Heidfeld and Nico in third. Alonso was fourth followed by Kovalainen, Barrichello, and Kazuki in seventh.

Hamilton would cross the line to win as Nico came home a fantastic
third. Just brilliant with Kazuki also bringing points to the team in seventh. Nico got his wish to score a podium finish in the season. To do it in the first race was a fantastic result for both him and the Williams team. He could be forgiven for forgetting to take off his hat while they played the national anthem for Hamilton on the podium.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1h34:50.616
 2.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     5.478
 3.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     8.163
 4.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    17.181
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    18.014
 6.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +    52.453
 7.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
 8.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    2 laps
 9.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Kovalainen, 1:27.418

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)    50
Glock         Toyota                (B)    44
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda     (B)    33
Piquet        Renault               (B)    31
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    30
Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)    26
Trulli        Toyota                (B)    20
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    9
Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)    1
Button        Honda                 (B)    1
Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda     (B)    1
Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    1
Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)    1