Red Bull surprised many with their pace in Bahrain but can they keep it going in Melbourne? Many pundits and drivers believe that the Austrian team will continue to set the pace Down Under.

Sebastian Vettel was the class act in the field in the scorching heat of the Sakhir circuit and was racing away from the field until a faulty spark plug halted his charge and pushed him down into fourth place by the end. Mark Webber did not have such a successful race after being caught up in traffic for the majority of the 49 laps and eventually finished down in 8th place. Both drivers, in the different ways, will be hoping for better results at the Albert Park track.

In a startling interview this week, Lewis Hamilton admitted that the Red Bull car is “ridiculously faster” than any other car in the field. This is surely worrying for the rest of the teams as the McLaren was tipped to be one of the fastest cars so for Hamilton to admit this is quite something.

For some, the season starts this weekend as Australia has traditionally been the opening race on the calendar since the first race in Melbourne in 1996. Despite all the hype surrounding the first race, it was somewhat of a low-key affair in Bahrain and there wasn’t really a ‘first-race’ feel about it.

Having blitzed the entire field in Bahrain, Sebastian Vettel will be the favourite for the victory this weekend with Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes playing catch-up. However, do not discount Mark Webber at his home grand prix. Webber finished a stunning 5th in Melbourne on his debut with Minardi and has always performed well at his home event.

2009 saw a mixed bag for Red Bull, with both cars performing well until problems later on in the race. Vettel was battling BMW’s Robert Kubica for the final podium spot until the young German got a little over exuberant in his attempts to pass the Polish driver. Both Kubica and Vettel ended up in the wall and ultimately in retirement. Webber ended up a lap down on winner Jenson Button due to a problem towards the end of the race.

In my opinion, both Red Bull cars will be very hard to beat this weekend and I think the other top teams will be fighting over the last podium spot.

Prediction: Vettel – 1st, Webber – 2nd.

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