Kimi Raikkonen marched to his second victory since making his Formula One comeback with a commanding drive at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Lotus driver, who returned to F1 at the start of 2012, won a chaotic Abu Dhabi late last season but his victory in Melbourne as much smoother affair, made possible by his ability to work a two-stop strategy while his chief rivals opted for three visits to pit lane.

Starting from seventh, Raikkonen’s first pit stop came on lap nine when he discarded the supersoft tyres he had started with for the medium compound Pirelli.

Sebastian Vettel started his title defence with an immaculate pole position, with team-mate Mark Webber alongside him on the front row. When the weather-affected qualifying session resumed on Sunday morning, conditions in Albert Park had improved from yesterday evening – but only to the extent the track had changed from full-wet to intermediate conditions.