Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton scored his 34th career victory in Formula 1 with a commanding drive in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
This was the perfect result for the reigning world champions. Hamilton dominated this race from pole, while Nico Rosberg gave chase but had to settle for second, resulting in a one-two finish for Mercedes.
Hamilton led away from P1 in Melbourne and only momentarily lost the lead to his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg during the pitstop sequence before securing the first win of the new season.
Rosberg crossed the line second, 1.3 seconds adrift, and yet the advantage from Mercedes was impressive. Over 30 seconds clear of the field.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished in third on his debut with the Scuderia. The German benefitted from a mid-race pitstop to jump ahead of Felipe Massa’s Williams.
Just 15 cars started the Australian Grand Prix, with McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat stopping on their way to the grid with mechanical issues.
Valtteri Bottas had already been ruled out on medical grounds because of a back injury sustained in qualifying, while neither Manor ran all weekend as it continues its efforts to get back into the sport.
The field was further depleted after just a few corners, when Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was clipped by Carlos Sainz Jr’s Toro Rosso at Turn 1.
That nudged the Ferrari into Felipe Nasr’s Sauber, which then hit into Pastor Maldonado, spinning the Lotus driver into the barriers and out of the race.
That brought out the safety car and yet, it was further misery for Lotus after just one lap when Romain Grosjean was forced to retire due to a power issue on the formation lap.
Rookie Felipe Nasr provided Sauber with a sensational end to what has been a difficult weekend, which saw the team involved in a legal battle with Giedo van der Garde, as he finished a brilliant fifth.
It was an impressive debut for the Sauber racer, who was 12 seconds clear of home crowd favourite Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull.
Nasr’s team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who started P16, pulled off a late move on Sainz at Turn 13 to finish eighth, which failed to score a single championship point last season.
Nico Hulkenberg scored points for a Force India team that managed just two-and-a-half days of pre-season testing because of delays with the production of the 2015 chassis as ‘The Hulk’ finished seventh.
Sainz crossed the line ninth to score points on his debut, having lost a lot of time with a slow pitstop, while Force India’s Sergio Perez, who had a messy race, round out the top ten.
The Mexican spun, dropping to the back of the field, and then found himself facing the wrong way when he clumsily hit McLaren’s Jenson Button when attempting an opportunistic pass at Turn 3.
Button narrowly missed out on giving McLaren-Honda a remarkable points finish as he crossed the line P11 – and last.
And yet, it was the first time McLaren had managed to complete a race distance with its new car, following a troubled pre-season testing.
Raikkonen was on course to finish fourth, but during his second pit-stop his Ferrari team failed to fit the left-rear tyre properly.
The Iceman rejoined, but pulled off the track a few corners later and retired with his engineer saying “Sorry, Kimi” on team radio.
Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, who became Formula 1’s youngest driver by taking the start, retired when running ninth with smoke pluming from the rear of the car.
It was a disappointing end for the Verstappen after an impressive 32 lap stint. He was on target to finish the race in the points, but his car let him down.
So a fantastic result for the world champions. Win number 30 for the Brackley-based team and 34 for the reigning world champion. The W06 Hybrid is one seriously fast car. Can anyone stop the Silver Arrows? We shall find out over the course of the season.
Australian Grand Prix, race results after 58 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h31m54.067s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1.640
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 25.523s
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 29.196s
5 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.149s
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1 Lap
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
8 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1 Lap
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 1 Lap
10 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
11 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 2 Laps
Retirements:
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Retirement
Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault
Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Honda Not started
Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes Withdrawn
Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault Not started
Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes Retirement
Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes Collision
Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari Withdrawn
Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari Withdrawn
Drivers’ championship:
1 Lewis Hamilton 25
2 Nico Rosberg 18
3 Sebastian Vettel 15
4 Felipe Massa 12
5 Felipe Nasr 10
6 Daniel Ricciardo 8
7 Nico Hulkenberg 6
8 Marcus Ericsson 4
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. 2
10 Sergio Perez 1
11 Jenson Button 0
Constructors’ championship:
1 Mercedes 43
2 Ferrari 15
3 Sauber-Ferrari 14
4 Williams-Mercedes 12
5 Red Bull-Renault 8
6 Force India-Mercedes 7
7 Toro Rosso-Renault 2
8 McLaren-Honda 0
Next race: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang. March 27-29.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg hopes Ferrari can catch the Silver Arrows in Formula 1 after a dominant display at the Australian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the news story.
Nico Rosberg hopes Ferrari can join Mercedes’ battle at the front of the Formula 1 field after Sebastian Vettel followed him and Lewis Hamilton home in the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Rosberg finished half a minute clear of the pack in Melbourne, but Ferrari newcomer Vettel defeated Felipe Massa’s Williams to secure the remaining podium spot.
“For the next couple of races, we will be leading the way and we will try and keep it that way,” said Rosberg.
“But it would be good if they can come a bit closer, so long as they don’t come too close,” said Rosberg of Ferrari.
Asked by Vettel if he was “being serious?” Rosberg said it would be better for F1 if Ferrari was able to pressure Mercedes.
“I hope you can give us a challenge because it’s important for the sport and the fans,” he replied to Vettel.
“A part of me thinks about the show because I want to give people a great time at home.
“If you do come a bit closer, that would be awesome.”
Hamilton also expects Ferrari to be a bigger factor as 2015 goes on.
“Sebastian must have done a good job to get to where he is today,” said the race winner.
“I have not seen the times but I think the Ferraris have taken a huge step forward.
“Clearly they have made one of the biggest steps, so we cannot back off.
“I anticipate we might have a good fight with them at some stage this year.”
Hamilton led throughout the race, and although the gap fluctuated between one and four seconds as Rosberg saved fuel at times and pushed at others, the champion said it was always in hand.
“Nico was very quick throughout the race,” he said. “Once you get a two-second gap you try to manage that.
“There’s no need to eke out more, but when Nico turned up the heat, I was able to react, which is good.”
Rosberg admitted that Hamilton had matched every tactic he tried.
“The attack was most definitely there,” he said. “But Lewis made no mistakes, it was not possible to get closer than that, let alone try to overtake.
“It was a matter of saving a little bit of fuel in the middle of the race to be able to go full-on at the end.
“But Lewis did a similar thing, so in the end he could also push, so it didn’t really help me unfortunately.”
As for Sebastian Vettel, the new Ferrari driver was thrilled thanks to a podium finished that felt like ‘victory’ on his debut driving for the Scuderia. Reuters has the story.
A yawning 34 seconds might have separated third-placed Sebastian Vettel from Australian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton on Sunday but the podium spot felt like a victory for the four-times world champion on his Ferrari debut.
German Vettel endured a horror final season with Red Bull last year, outshone by new team mate Daniel Ricciardo and plagued by reliability problems throughout a winless campaign.
Jumping ship to a shaken-up Ferrari was a leap of faith for Vettel after the Maranello team laboured to fourth in the championship, their first winless season in over 20 years.
Though buoyed by a positive winter testing, Vettel was apprehensive about what to expect on the first race weekend but was relieved when his car behaved during qualifying at Albert Park on Saturday.
Starting fourth on the grid, Vettel survived a chaotic start that saw him nearly hit team mate Kimi Raikkonen and after holding off Williams driver Felipe Massa for a well-earned podium spot, spoke of truly ‘living the dream’.
“It’s really an honour to sit in the red car,” the 27-year-old told reporters. “Certainly when the chequered flag came out it was a great feeling.
“Of course, it’s not a victory, but for us it feels like a victory. It’s a great relief after a horrible season last year.”
Vettel was under no illusion about Ferrari’s distance from reigning champions Mercedes but said it would not be “impossible” to catch the Silver Arrows.
“Well, you have to be realistic. For sure, as I said, they have a great package at the moment,” he said. “It will be difficult to beat. Thirty four seconds down the road is a lot for everyone else.”
Vettel’s fellow championship-winning team mate Raikkonen had a far less memorable day, his race seemingly cursed from the start.
Fifth off the grid, the Finn lost ground when hit from behind during the chaotic early exchanges and again on the side at a traffic jam at the second corner.
He would then suffer two botched tyre changes, the second one forcing him to retire after his rear left wheel was not attached properly.
“Kimi was pretty decent as well in pace terms although we are very fed up with what happened in the pitstop,” Ferrari technical director James Allison said. “But the race was OK.
“It’s the first race and we’ve just got a podium… On any level, that’s got to make you happy.”
This was a disappointing race for McLaren-Honda and the team are already looking to the bright side following a dismal start to the new Formula 1 season. Article provided by Reuters.
Jenson Button found a glimmer of hope in McLaren’s dismal start to the Formula One season when he at least finished Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
The Englishman was last of the 11 cars that completed the race, and was twice lapped by race winner Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, but the 2009 world champion saw some positives.
“Today has been a good day,” he said. “We’re still a long way off, but this is a good starting point — and I enjoyed the race. I even had a good little battle with Checo (Sergio Perez).
“Today also really helps in terms of development. If we’d done three laps, we’d have learned nothing, so we’ve learned a massive amount by completing a race distance.”
Button missed out on a championship point but he said that was almost irrelevant after a weekend when everything went wrong for the sport’s second most successful team, who have not won a race since 2012.
“It was also a good opportunity for me to get used to the car and to play around with it, making adjustments in the cockpit,” said the Briton, whose longest stint before Melbourne had been 12 laps.
“There’s a lot of work still needed — on power, driveability, downforce and set-up — but we can make big strides. And, by improving one area, it tends to snowball.”
McLaren had low expectations after Button and Kevin Magnussen were the slowest qualifiers. Things only got worse on Sunday when the Dane failed to make the grid after his Honda power unit blew.
“Even though I couldn’t make the start, the team can learn something from my car’s problem,” said Magnussen, who was recalled after Fernando Alonso was ruled out on medical advice following a crash in testing.
“We can take positives from Jenson finishing the race, too – we came here to learn, and that’s what we did. Finishing is a small victory for the team – I don’t think we expected to be able to do that.
“Now we can get a car to the finish line, we can start to accelerate our learning.”
Racing director Eric Boullier also found a silver lining from a dark weekend.
“It’s not easy to find positives, but in fact there are some,” he said. “We can take positives from Jenson finishing the race, too — we came here to learn, and that’s what we did.”
Felipe Nasr shrugged off the legal distractions that have plagued his Sauber team with an impressive debut at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Brazilian, who was unsure until Saturday whether he would be competing, showed he had a cool head as well as a fast car as he finished fifth in his first Formula One race.
He finished a long way behind Mercedes’ race winner Lewis Hamilton but did well to stay in front of home hero Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull after a long battle at Albert Park.
“I have to say I was surprised with everything but I think the preparation was done really well over the winter,” he said.
“Coming into a new team and getting comfortable in the car, I couldn’t ask for more.”
Nasr was only assured of his place after Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde dropped his legal action against the Swiss-based team on Saturday morning.
A test driver for Sauber last year, Van der Garde has accused them of reneging on a deal to let him race this season.
He won the initial case and a subsequent appeal but dropped a contempt of court action, allowing Nasr and Swede Marcus Ericsson to drive in Australia even though the issue remains unresolved.
“We had a difficult beginning. I would say the most difficult in my career,” Nasr said.
“To just keep everything together is such a big relief for myself and the team.”
Despite his impressive showing, Nasr still does not know whether he will start in the next race in Malaysia with Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn refusing to comment on the case.
“That’s a bad topic, I’m not going to say anything about that,” she said.
Kaltenborn instead spoke glowingly about the improved performance of the Sauber team, who failed to score a single point last year in their worst ever season, after both drivers finished in the top eight.
“We could see in winter testing that the car was far more competitive than last year,” she said. “It’s the chassis and of course the powertrain. Ferrari has done a great job with their powertrain.
“We could see it coming up but to have this kind of result is like a dream come true for the first race.”
Source: Reuters
After an impressive opening stint in the Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen had to retire from the Australian Grand Prix when his car developed a technical issue. Reuters provides the news story.
Max Verstappen’s dream of scoring points on his debut as Formula One’s youngest ever driver went up in smoke on Sunday.
The 17-year-old son of former F1 regular Jos ‘the Boss’ held his own for more than half of the 58 laps of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix before his Toro Rosso team ordered him to stop as smoke wafted into the cockpit.
Verstappen had deserved better after moving up the order in a depleted field with only 11 finishers.
“There’s smoke in the car,” the teenager reported over the team radio shortly before his race ended on lap 34.
After stopping, it was a trudge back to the garage accompanied by a warm applause from fans behind the safety fences for a driver who has time on his side.
The previous youngest driver was Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari in 2009 at 19 years and 125 days.
Verstappen was left a spectator as world champion and winner Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two.
“Bit unlucky,” Verstappen said of his day. ‘I think the first stint I had on the mediums (tyres) was quite good.
“I could reasonably stay with the pack in front of me on softs. And behind me I didn’t really have big pressure.
“Until the pitstop everything was going very well. Unfortunately I saw some smoke coming out of the car and reported it to the pitwall and they said to stop the car.”
Despite the retirement it was a positive day for Toro Rosso, with Spanish rookie Carlos Sainz holding on for ninth position to grab points on his debut after bumping into the back of Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen during a chaotic start.
Sainz might have had a better run but for a very messy tyre-change that saw precious seconds eaten as mechanics struggled to secure an uncooperative wheel.
“It was a great race, I was enjoying it a lot and with the front wing damage that we had to be fighting with a Red Bull in my first race was amazing,” he said.
“From that (pit-stop) problem onwards it was just about bringing it home and being safe.
“We had a lot of problems with fuel consumption and all that so to finish ninth in my first race, I would have signed for it before. I know there is a lot more potential than P9 but we need to keep positive and look forward.”
Red Bull Racing was left feeling frustrated with engine problems that affected their form during the Australian Grand Prix. Article provided by Reuters.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has laid the blame for his team’s terrible start to the Formula One season with their Renault engine, describing it as “undriveable”.
Once the most powerful team in the sport, Red Bull won the constructors’ championship four years in a row before finishing second to Mercedes last year.
And while Mercedes continued their dominance with world champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finishing first and second in Sunday’s Australian opener, Red Bull fell even further behind.
Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth in his home race while his new Russian team mate Daniil Kvyat withdrew before the start with a gearbox failure.
“It’s been a very tough weekend for Renault,” Horner told reporters.
“The engine is just quite undriveable. You can see and hear that from the comments the drivers are making…you’re not able to drive the car properly.”
Horner has become increasingly critical of the French engine maker after they experienced problems adapting to the new V6 turbo hybrid era last year.
He first raised his concerns with Renault in 2012 and is frustrated that things seem to be getting worse rather than better.
“It’s frustrating that we’re effectively even further back than we were in Abu Dhabi (last November) in both power and driveability,” he said.
“Ferrari have made a good step. Renault, at this stage, appear to have made a retrograde step.”
Horner estimated that Renault’s power unit was 100 horsepower down on Mercedes and he said it was paramount that the gap was closed.
“It’s important after this weekend that we re-group with Renault and try and offer our support where we can, because they’re obviously in a bit of a mess at the moment,” he said.
To compound Red Bull’s problems, Ricciardo used up one of his four power units during practice, leaving him with three for the rest of the season.
“The positives are that we finished,” Ricciardo said. “The reliability was there for one car at least.
“I feel for Dani (Kyvat) but we’ll turn it around and try and learn from the laps I did today and move on.
“We know where a lot of (the problems) lie but there’s some more as well which was unexpected. Definitely behind but it is what it is and we’ve got to try and make the best of it.
“I’m sure we’ll get there but it could be a little while.”
Manor Marussia have escaped sanction after being probed by Formula One’s governing body for failing to put their cars on the track at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
Recently re-born after coming out of administration, the British-based team transported their vehicles to Albert Park but were unable to get them to run in practice or qualifying, ruling them out of Sunday’s race won by Lewis Hamilton.
Blaming software problems and other glitches, team principal John Booth said it was important they had made the trip and tried to get their cars in action.
The FIA said it was satisfied the team had “used all reasonable endeavours” to ready their cars.
“Therefore the stewards take no further action during the event,” an FIA statement said.
The Ferrari-powered team missed the final three races of last year after going into administration and took a revised 2014 car, tweaked to meet 2015 safety regulations, to Melbourne.
They only finalised their driving lineup days before the race, naming Spanish rookie Roberto Merhi to partner Britain’s Will Stevens.
On Saturday, Booth said he was hopeful the team would race at either the next round in Malaysia on March 29 or the subsequent one in China (April 12).
Source: Reuters
Hey Leaf!
Got your email last night, thanks for that!!! “Honda Accord!?!?! More like HONDA ACCORDING TO ARNOLD!!!” I hope Toto Recall has watched that video, pretty awesome, the Terminator really WOULD make a good F1 driver on personality alone! 😛
Back to the race, Christian’s words are pretty shocking. I knew Renault were crap but holy flapcakes, one hundred horsepower DOWN!?!?! WTF!?!?!
That’s like, Vanilla Ice to MC Hammer, Justin Beiber to Sting!!!! Michael Bay to Christopher Nolan!!!! That’s like, Brussels Sprouts to Toffee Fudge Biscuits!!! There’s literally no comparison too harsh for that man, 100 horsepower = 100 slaps to the FACE every time you try to compete, ouch. >_<
Still, Christian knows his stuff, so with him and the rest of the team on the case, maybe they'll be able to slap Renault back into shape, but for now, it looks like Vettel's move was as shrewd as Hamilton's (when he left McLaren a few years back). Smart dudes both of 'em.
All that aside though, the highlight of this race for me will always be Arnold asking Rosberg what it feels like to come second, best/worst question EVER!!! Only the Terminator could pull that off! Oh, and about 'that' film, this is basically all you ever need to see of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkTHtWX7CCY
Stay frosty!!! ^_^
Thanks for the comment A.C. and really appreciate the YouTube link to the awful, AWFUL puns from Batman and Robin. Still cannot believe I paid an actual ticket to see this Joel Schumacher-directed film at the cinema. Two hours wasted and will never get back…
As for the Australian Grand Prix, it wasn’t a classic due to so many cars dropping out before even began! Poor Kevin Magnussen aka K-Mag. I was aware of McLaren-Honda’s trouble pre-season testing with a lack of mileage and a poorly-designed Power Unit (the official name of the hybrid engine) but wow, the only opportunity to race for the team as a substitute for Fernando Alonso (who was injured during testing but will be back in the following Malaysian Grand Prix) went up in a cloud of smoke…
At least his team-mate Jenson Button was able to compete, but the under-powered Honda meant the 2009 world champion spent most of the race running at the back of the field. He finished just one position behind the championship point scoring top ten – P11.
I believe McLaren-Honda will struggle this season due to limited testing opportunities and a restriction on engine upgrades thanks to the sport’s obsession on cutting costs. Perhaps Alonso has made the bad mistake of leaving Ferrari and joining McLaren, hoping he can win his third Formula 1 title. Well, it’s going to be hard year and I reckon he will have to wait until 2016 at the earliest…
Speaking of Ferrari, what a turnaround in terms of performance! Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen seem really happy with the new red car and it has pace compared to the Williams and Mercedes. Fantastic to see Vettel finishing on the podium in his debut driving for the Scuderia. As for The Iceman, a bad mistake in the pit-stop meant Kimi had to pullover no thanks to a loose wheel.
This was an easy race for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Quickest car during pre-season testing with the most laps, mileage and data knowledge. For sure, the Silver Arrows and the reigning world champion was the favourites and we saw this on race day. Nico Rosberg gave chase throughout the Australian Grand Prix, but had to settle with P2. Like you said, to rub salt into his injuries The Terminator asked how does it feel?! Yeah, I like finishing second to my ‘team-mate’. 😉
The Formula 1 rookies made a good impression I have to say. Both Felipe Nasr (not Massa!) and Carlos Sainz Jr (the son of the legendary rally champion) finished in the points. While Max Verstappen was on target too, but his Toro Rosso broke down. Still, not bad for a 17-year-old.
As for Christian Horner moaning, come on man. Get a grip! It was only the first race and sure, your Red Bull Racing was the class of field during 2011-13. But Mercedes has come along and kicked your arse!
I like how Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff aka the Totonator accused his rival of soar grapes and stop being a bitch. This sport is about competition and if you cannot compete, then step up your performance to become winners again.
More on this news story can be seen from BBC Sport:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31895040
Anyway, check out the highlights and race report from the new and improved official F1 website:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2015/3/hamilton-wins-australian-race-of-attrition.html