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2018 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Vettel and Ferrari score opportunistic win in Round 1, Hamilton a disappointed P2 for Mercedes; Raikkonen P3

For the second year in a row Ferrari and their ace driver Sebastian Vettel used clever strategy — plus  a little luck this time — to score an upset over favored Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Despite qualifying third fastest behind pole-sitter Hamilton and Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel ran a longer stint on his opening set of Super Soft Pirelli tires than his nearest competitors. Thus while Raikkonen pitted on Lap 19 and Hamilton on Lap 20, Vettel gambled and stayed out until Lap 26, where he was able to take advantage of a well-timed Safety Car for Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen’s disabled Haas cars, which inexplicably left the pits with unsecured wheels. Whether by calculation, blind luck or a combination of the two that meant that Vettel could dive to the pits while the field had to slow and close up behind the Safety Car, erasing the impact of the lost to the dreaded pit lane delta and, in fact, emerge just ahead of Hamilton upon reentry to the circuit. Also, due to a quirk in the rules, Vettel was able to gun his Ferrari out of the short pit lane blend line while Hamilton had to run the slower set pace, thereby giving the German 4-time world champion a crucial advantage. It was one Vettel and Ferrari would not relinquish as, despite his best efforts, Hamilton could never get his car to work well enough or keep his engine cool enough in Vettel’s aero wake to make an overtaking move.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

After Vettel’s somewhat fluky strategic victory F1 may need to look at their pit stop/Safety Car rules anew because there seems to be a net gain for a car that dives for the pits under full course yellow as opposed to most other forms of motorsport, where the pits generally stay closed after a safety car is deployed for at least a set number of laps. That negates the advantage of a car entering the pits directly after yellow, though of course it’s fair play if the team is lucky enough to call their driver in just before the full course yellow is thrown.

Nevertheless, Ferrari takes the season opening victory just as they did last year when their strikingly similar long-run tire strategy with Vettel also paid off with a win. Hamilton was left to console himself with a somewhat hard luck P2 and the knowledge that his Mercedes did have superior pace to the Ferraris in both qualifying and when running out front. Once again things look to be shaping up as a contest between Vettel and Hamilton to see who can secure the Championship, what would be the fifth for either very accomplished ace. Mighty Mercedes must surely be hoping that once again they prevail in the long run, as they have the previous four seasons. However they will need more from their second driver, Valtteri Bottas, who binned his car in qualifying, started from 15th and could only manage to claw his way back to P8 at the checkered flag.

Raikkonen also got burned by the Safety Car but was able to hold off the hard charging Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo for the last spot on the podium at P3, making it a very good day for Ferrari as a team. The Aussie native Ricciardo raced very well after starting from a penalty-hampered eighth spot on the grid to come home a competitive P4 in front of his adoring home fans, a very hopeful sign of improvement for the team’s upgraded engine. However, Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, had a scrappy race, overcooking his tires in pursuit of the Haas of Kevin Magnusson, who had passed him with a fine move at the start, and even losing a passel of positions by spinning out at one point. Young Max was able to recover and take advantage of a host of retirements to finish in P6 but the 20-year-old Dutch wunderkind had better begin showing more maturity and poise in this his fifth year in Formula 1 if he is ever going to start realizing his undoubted potential as a threat for consistent podiums.

McLaren made a solid statement that this year will be different than their desultory last three campaigns. Flashing their new Renault power plant in anger for the first time, Fernando Alonso drove like the two-time champion he is for a P5 finish, while Stoffel Vandoorne added to the valuable points haul with a solid P9. The Renault factory team also had an excellent day, with veteran Nico Hulkenberg taking a solid P6 and Spaniard Carlos Sainz fighting off an upset stomach to grab that last point in P10.

Missing out on any glory were Force India, which looks to have taken a step backwards against their closest mid-field rivals, and Williams, which simply looks lost and could potentially be in for an awful season. Sauber was again nowhere despite their Ferrari engines and Toro Rosso looked awful after their switch to Honda (under)-power, both slow and unreliable. Most depressing of all here in Round 1 was the double DNF for Haas. Despite showing pace that should have found Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in the points, the team was undone done by twin catastrophic pit stops that saw both cars released with one improperly attached wheel each. Ironically it was Ferrari-powered Haas’s fatal blunder that enabled Vettel and the factory team to win the opening round of the 2018 season.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian Grand Prix.

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 58 1:29:33.283 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 +5.036s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 58 +6.309s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +7.069s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 58 +27.886s 10
6 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +28.945s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 58 +32.671s 6
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 58 +34.339s 4
9 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN RENAULT 58 +34.921s 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 58 +45.722s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time and half way around the world in Bahrain. Hope to see you the to find out if Vettel and Ferrari’s good luck continues or Hamilton and Mercedes can get back on the top step!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

The long winter break is finally over and Formula 1 is back for its new season and starting once again from the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne, Australia. There is good news and bad news for the new cars this year. The good news is that the 2018 spec s the fastest yet of the new V6 turbo era. The bad news is that the addition of the driver-protecting halo device has made the cars not only ugly but also ruining the on-car camera perspective. Still I suppose if the Halo prevents another driver head injury like the one that lead to the death of Jules Bianchi at Suzuka in 2016 then it will be worth the rather awful aesthetics. On the other hand I’m not quite sure I see how the Halo will stop small debris from striking a driver’s helmet through the open spaces, as happened to Felipe Massa when a spring hit him at 200mph at the Hungaroring in 2009. But caveats aside let’s find out what happened on the first day of real racing in anger as the 2018 F1 field competed for the pole in Saturday Qualifying in Melbourne!

Hamilton & Mercedes still the ones beat after blistering season debut  pole; Raikkonen outguns favored Ferrari teammate Vettel, P2 to P3; Bottas crashes out of Q3

In Formula 1 the more things change the more they stay the same apparently. On the first qualifying of the 2018 season Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the reigning World Champion, thrashed his Silver Arrow around Albert Park in Melbourne setting a time that no others could match. The result was Hamilton fifth consecutive and seventh career pole in Australia. After all the hype in testing about Ferrari’s potential for dominance when it came down to a mano-a-mano between manufactures Mercedes retained the edge that has propelled them to the last 4 consecutive Constructors’ Titles. Ferrari does appear to have the pace over the rest of the field and Kimi Raikkonen utilized his SF71H chassis the best on Saturday, setting a quick time about 7 tenths in arrears of Hamilton but good enough for P2 and .01 faster than his more heralded teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who slots in at P3 on the grid.

All was not completely rosy for mighty Mercedes, however, as their second driver, Valtteri Bottas, continued to have bad luck Down Under. Hamilton’s Finnish wingman had a lurid, spinning crash when he dropped his tires off track and onto the slippery grass shortly after starting his first hot lap in Q3. His Silver Arrow appeared badly damaged and no doubt Bottas will be starting from the pit come Sunday.

Red Bull once again did not have the sheer pace of the top two teams, which has to be a disappointment for anyone hoping they had made an engine breakthrough over the winter and were ready to seriously threaten Mercedes or Ferrari. Wunderkind Max Verstappen qualified P4 and Aussie Daniel Ricciardo earned P5 but will be penalized 3 positions on the grid at his home Grand Prix for a dubious speeding-under-red-flag penalty in Friday practice. On the flip side American team Haas showed definite improvement to their Ferrari powered chassis and threw down an early claim to be “best of the rest” with Kevin Magnusson qualifying in P6 and Romain Grosjean in P7. That meant, somewhat surprisingly, that both Renault factory drivers will start behind the upstart Haas cars, with Nico Hulkenberg in P8 and Carlos Sainz in P9. The steadily improving Haas and Renault performance could bode ill for last year’s 4th place team, perennial overachiever Force India. On this first qualifying day, at least, they were nowhere on pace, with both their talented drivers out in Q2. Sergio Perez could do no better than P13 while young Esteban Ocon was way back in P15. Newly Renault-powered McLaren did better than Force India as well, if not quite good enough to dent the Top 10 starting grid — international superstar Fernando Alonso was P11 and his Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was right behind in P12.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:22.824 1:22.051 1:21.164 20
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:23.096 1:22.507 1:21.828 17
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:23.348 1:21.944 1:21.838 20
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.483 1:22.416 1:21.879 18
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.494 1:22.897 1:22.152 17
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:23.909 1:23.300 1:23.187 17
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:23.671 1:23.468 1:23.339 17
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:23.782 1:23.544 1:23.532 16
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:23.529 1:23.061 1:23.577 17
10 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:23.686 1:22.089 DNF 16

Complete qualifying realist available via Formual1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live early this Sunday at 1AM on ESPN2. ABC and the ESPN family of network are F1’s new broadcast partner in the States in partnership with Sky Sports and ESPN will simply utilize the Sky feed complete with their lead British announcing team of David Croft and former racer Martin Brundle. After so many years of David Hobbs and Steve Matchett bringing us F1 this will undoubtedly take some getting used to, though what I heard on Saturday was quite good in its own way.

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

GAME ON: Ferrari & Vettel surge to stunning season opening win in Oz, Hamilton & Bottas 2nd & 3rd for Mercedes

After suffering three years of Mercedes’ dominance to start this new turbo era of F1, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari fired a warning shot on Sunday that 2017 could well be different. At the season’s opening round in Melbourne, Australia, Vettel showed that the redesigned Prancing Horse’s blistering pace during the pre-season Spanish tests was no fluke. Vettel charged his blood red mount to a dominant win at the Albert Park circuit, coming home nearly 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton’s previously nonpariel Silver Arrow. Despite a good getaway by Lewis from pole, Vettel had a dominant race once he overtook Hamilton on tire strategy and was barely challenged thereafter. With Hamilton’s super soft Pirelli’s going off after Lap 17, the Englishman was forced to pit for fresh rubber. But Vettel’s sleek new SF70H chassis was able to continue to run effectively until Lap 23 on its fat super softs. Hamilton was further hampered by getting stuck behind the competetive Red Bull of Max Verstappen so that by the time Vettel emerged from a well-executed Ferrari service Hamilton was two places behind the German former 4-time World Champ. While Hamilton would eventually overtake Verstappen the damage was done & Vettel sailed away to the surprisingly easy victory. Obviously it’s only one race but the prospect of a real season-long fight between a newly ascendant Ferrari and the previously imperious Mercedes has got to whet the appetite of every true F1 fan.

(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Hamilton’s new teammate Valtteri Bottas made up for a poor start on the super softs by charging hard on his soft tires after his pit stop, where his F1 WO8 seemed to instantly perform better on the relatively harder rubber. Bottas, who has looked nearly a match for Hamilton despite his brand new equipment, even harrased his senior teammate as the laps ran down. In the end Bottas was able to join Lewis on the podium in P3, salvaging a very good points haul for the somewhat stunned Mercedes team. It’s possible that the Merc braintrust will have to re-evaluate both their race strategy in light of Sunday’s dissapointment, as well as just how much downforce they can afford to put on the car in order to get their tires to last longer and perform better.

Vettel’s Ferrari stablemate, Kimi Raikkonen, also had issues with his tires and had nothing to really challenge the top 3. The veteran Finn finished P4. After losing out on his dice with Hamilton, Red Bull’s Verstappen slipped back with brake issues and finished P5. Still the result was much better than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian hero had a disastrous weekend at his home Grand Prix, first wiping out in Q3 on Saturday and then suffering an sensor issue where his car was stuck in 6th gear on the formation lap. This required Ricciardo to start from the pits after his team had frantically repaired the issue and by the time he came out he was already 2 laps down. As if to emphasize the futility of the entire weekend’s effort, his RB13  gave up the ghost on Lap 26. The talented and charismatic Aussie will be hoping for better things when the competition moves to China in a fortnight.

Felipe Massa fared much better in his return to F1 racing after an incredibly quick retirement at the end of the 2016 season. The savvy old Brazilian proved he still has what it takes, shepharding his Williams home to a P6 finish. Force India had a nice recovery after poor qulaifying saw both cars staring outside the top 10 on the grid. The ever improving Sergio Perez nabbed a solid P7 and his young wingman Estaban Ocon grabbed a valuable point by coming home P10. The Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10, finishing P8 and P9 respectively.

McLaren nearly looked competetive with Fernando Alonso driving superbly and dicing with Ocon and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg for the ever-important 10th spot before suspension damage forced his retirement. Alonso’s new teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, taking over from longtime McLaren stalwart Jenson Button, struggled mightily and finished back in P13. Another notable disappointment was Romain Grosjean who qualified his Haas an impressive P7 and looked strong in the early going only to see engine failure end his day prematurely on Lap 13.

Top 10 finishers in Australia:

POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME POINTS
1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI 1:24:11.672 25
2 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES +9.975s 18
3 VALTTERI BOTTAS MERCEDES +11.250s 15
4 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI +22.393s 12
5 MAX VERSTAPPEN RED BULL RACING +28.827s 10
6 FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS +83.386s 8
7 SERGIO PEREZ FORCE INDIA +1 lap 6
8 CARLOS SAINZ TORO ROSSO +1 lap 4
9 DANIIL KVYAT TORO ROSSO +1 lap 2
10 ESTEBAN OCON FORCE INDIA

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next round of the World Championship will be contested from Shanghai, China in two weeks time. Will Ferrari’s first strike prove to be a harbinger of great things to come or an early season fluke? Only one way to find out — hope to see you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

It’s the start of another Formula 1 season and it kicks off in earnest with Saturday Qualifying from Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. After last season’s shocking end, where Nico Rosberg won his hard fought, long sought after first World Championship over his arch-nemesis Lewis Hamilton and then promptly retired, the driver dominos have all fallen and new chassis & tires specs are unveiled in their first action in anger. Will Ferrari’s test pace in Spain really be enough to take on mighty Mercedes and a hungry Hamilton for the Prancing Horse’s first title since 2008? Or will the Silver Arrows reign supreme again as they have done since the start of this new turbo era? There’s only one way to find out when the teams & drivers put it all on the line to start 2017 Down Under!

Hamilton grabs firs pole of the year for Mercedes, new stablemate Bottas P3; Ferrari’s Vettel splits the Silver Arrows with P3; hometown hero Ricciardo crashes in Q3

After finishing runner up to his now-retired teammate Nico Rosberg to end the tumultuous and ultra-competetive 2016 season, Lewis Hamilton looked determined to lay down a marker in Melbourne in his redesigned Mercedes, grabbing pole position late in Q3 to cap off the first race qualifying of the 2017 campaign. Desperate to nab another Driver’s Championship and no longer dogged by his nemesis Rosberg, Hamilton set a fast lap of 1:22.18, besting his new teammate, former Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, by .3 seconds after they had been neck and neck throughout Q3. Ferrari’s Sebatian Vettel was able to split the Silver Arrows on his final quali lap, showing the strides that the Scuderia has made in the offseason with the much more aerodynamic body work of the new chassis forumla, as well as the signifcantly fatter tires. Kimi Raikkonen was again the loyal wingman to Vettel, setting a time good enough for P4. With Mercedes and Ferrari mixing it up in the first two rows, as well as yet another tricky new clutch system, Sunday’s start should be exciting and nerve racking. Also look for possible issues with these new extra-wide front wings possibly taking early race damage and complicating matters for the contenders.

Rounding out the top 10, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could do no better than P5, while his teammate and Aussie hero Daniel Ricciardo crashed out when he lost the back end midway through Q3. Ricciardo will have to fight his way back from P10 if he’s to make a good showing at his home Grand Prix in front of his countrymen. Romain Grosjean was a very impressive P6 for second year American team Haas, while Felipe Massa, who might have set a record for world’s quickest retirement when Bottas jumped ship and he was pressed back into action for team Williams, took P7. Toro Rosso looked solid, with their two retunring drivers Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat fast enough for P8 and P9 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES 1:22.188
2 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI 1:22.456
3 VALTTERI BOTTAS MERCEDES 1:22.481
4 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI 1:23.033
5 MAX VERSTAPPEN RED BULL RACING 1:23.485
6 ROMAIN GROSJEAN HAAS 1:24.074
7 FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS 1:24.443
8 CARLOS SAINZ TORO ROSSO 1:24.487
9 DANIIL KVYAT TORO ROSSO 1:24.512
10 DANIEL RICCIARDO RED BULL RACING DNF

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix airs live at 1 AM on NBC Sports Network  here in the States. With a classic Mercedes-Ferrari duel shaping up as the first story line of the new season you don’t want to miss a thing when the lights go out and the four frontrunners head into Turn 1. Hope to see you then!