The event took place at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park. It was the 78th Australian Grand Prix since the race's inception in 1928 and the 18th time the event was hosted at the Melbourne venue.
The 2013 season began with a reduced grid of 22 entries following the collapse of HRT F1 in December 2012. This necessitated a change to the knockout qualifying format, reducing the number of cars eliminated in the first and second periods from seven to six.
New regulations restricted the use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) to designated zones during practice and qualifying. However, a technical glitch in the telemetry system during Friday practice left the stewards unable to control the system's availability. This forced officials to rely on drivers to use DRS honestly, with the threat of penalties for misuse. The same telemetry error meant marshals and teams had to manually communicate warning flags to drivers. Pirelli supplied the super-soft and medium tyre compounds for the weekend, a softer selection than the previous year.
Qualifying began on Saturday afternoon following a record heatwave in Melbourne, but the session was interrupted by heavy rain. During Q1, several drivers struggled with the wet conditions; Lewis Hamilton damaged his rear wing against a wall at Turn 2, and Felipe Massa broke his front wing after a spin at Turn 14. Esteban Gutiérrez also spun and stalled, ending his session. Six drivers were eliminated, including Pastor Maldonado and Jules Bianchi. Charles Pic failed to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap but was later granted dispensation to start the race.
Increasing rain and fading light forced the postponement of Q2 and Q3 until Sunday morning. When qualifying resumed, the track remained damp and cool. Drivers eliminated in Q2 included Nico Hülkenberg, Adrian Sutil, and Sergio Pérez. In the final Q3 session, Red Bull locked out the front row, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole position ahead of Mark Webber.
The race commenced at 17:00 local time on Sunday. Nico Hülkenberg was unable to start due to a fuel feed issue in his Sauber C32. While Sebastian Vettel maintained the lead from pole, Mark Webber suffered an ECU problem that disabled his KERS, causing him to drop to seventh. The Ferrari drivers capitalized on this, with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso moving into second and third. Kimi Räikkönen improved to fourth by the second lap after overtaking Lewis Hamilton.
Strategy became the defining factor as teams managed high tyre degradation. Jenson Button triggered the first round of pit stops on lap 4. Vettel pitted on lap 7, while the Ferraris and Räikkönen stayed out longer. Adrian Sutil, who started on the medium tyres, briefly led the race and held off Vettel, allowing Alonso and Räikkönen to close the gap.
Alonso executed an early second pit stop on lap 20, successfully jumping both Sutil and Vettel. While most frontrunners committed to a three-stop strategy, Räikkönen and the Mercedes drivers attempted a two-stop approach. Nico Rosberg's race ended on lap 26 due to an electrical failure, and Hamilton eventually reverted to a three-stop strategy after his tyres faded and he was overtaken by Alonso on lap 32.
Räikkönen took the lead for the final time after Sutil made his last pit stop on lap 46. Despite having older tyres, Räikkönen maintained a consistent pace, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 56—his 23rd lap on that set of tyres. Alonso, in second place, was unable to close the seven-second gap and backed off in the closing stages after a near-collision while lapping Charles Pic.
Kimi Räikkönen's victory tied him with Mika Häkkinen for the most wins by a Finnish driver (20). The result placed Räikkönen in the lead of the Drivers' Championship, a position he would not hold again before his retirement in 2021. It was the final win for the Lotus team and the last victory for a Finnish driver until Valtteri Bottas, who debuted in this race, won the 2017 Russian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso finished second, followed by Sebastian Vettel in third. Felipe Massa took fourth, while Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber completed the top six. Adrian Sutil finished seventh ahead of Paul di Resta, Jenson Button, and Romain Grosjean. Following the race, Ferrari led the Constructors' Championship, followed by Lotus-Renault in second and Red Bull-Renault in third.
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