Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel won the opening race of the season in Melbourne after qualifying on pole position by eight-tenths of a second. Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, and Russian driver Vitaly Petrov attained his maiden podium in third, with Renault hailing his dramatic off-season turn-around after a difficult debut season in 2010. At the opposite end of the grid, the Hispania F111 cars driven by Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi both failed to qualify as their qualifying times were both outside 107% of Vettel's fastest time in the first qualifying session. The Saubers of Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi were disqualified for a technical infringement when their cars failed a post-race scrutineering inspection.