Australia – Race: Vettel, an opportunistic first winner!

Drivers, team leaders, spectators: the excitement was at its peak on the Melbourne grid. As a backdrop, the weather was finally favorable, with the sun having chased away the clouds and especially the rain: with 24 degrees in the air, 39 on the track. However, the wind bothered the drivers during their installation lap, an additional challenge on this semi-urban Albert Park circuit, which is treacherous at any moment.

At the head of the grid, Lewis Hamilton led the field in the formation lap, following a supersonic pole position acquired this Saturday. Beside him, a rival Ferrari, but not the one necessarily expected, with Kimi Räikkönen at the wheel. Sebastian Vettel was a step behind with Max Verstappen alongside him. On the third row, there were two surprises: the Haas cars of Magnussen and Grosjean. A bit further back, two strong contenders were penalized: in eighth, Daniel Ricciardo was demoted three places for speeding under a red flag during free practice. Involved in an accident in Q3 on Saturday, Valtteri Bottas started from fifteenth place after changing his gearbox.

Concerning tire choices, it was worth noting the start of the two Red Bull drivers on super-soft tires, a different combination from the leading drivers.

A Wise Departure

Ten minutes after the traditional schedule, the real start of the 2018 season was given! The 20 drivers crossed the obstacle of the first lap without trouble. Lewis Hamilton resisted an attack from Kimi Räikkönen in the third corner to maintain control of the race. Further back, the best move was made by Gasly, who moved from 20th to 17th place. Magnussen climbed to fourth, ahead of Verstappen.

#AusGP 🇦🇺 | L 1/58

It’s on 🏎️

1 HAM
2 RAI
3 VET
4 MAG
5 VER
6 GRO#F1 pic.twitter.com/pJBkH6yC64

— Sector F1 🏎️ (@Secteur_F1) March 25, 2018

It took until the sixth lap to see the first on-track overtake of the season: Ricciardo on Hülkenberg for seventh place, before the curve of the fourteenth turn. The first two retirements followed shortly after, due to technical KOs: brake failure for rookie Sergey Sirotkin, power steering issue for Marcus Ericsson.

The tenth lap saw Max Verstappen’s mistake in the first corner. A late braking by the Dutchman and a complete 360, costing only a loss of four places in the standings. Romain Grosjean then climbed into the top 5, with Daniel Ricciardo on his tail. The very illustration of a balance issue, according to the driver’s own admission.

The lead trio of Hamilton-Räikkönen-Vettel was currently exchanging fastest laps. After fifteen laps, #44 was still dominating the race, 2.9 seconds ahead of Räikkönen, who was 2.7 seconds ahead of his teammate. In the pack, Bottas was showing the pace of the W09 in traffic. Concerning? The Finn had only overtaken one car on track, Esteban Ocon’s Force India. The race was heading towards the first pit stops, leaving one of the three French drivers on the sidelines: Pierre Gasly, let down by the Honda engine of his Toro Rosso.

Disaster for Haas, complete change of complexion at the front of the race!

The first pit stop among the leaders was made by Kimi Räikkönen on lap 20. The 2007 world champion opted for the soft tires, prompting a reaction from Lewis Hamilton, who did the same on the following lap. Scuderia Ferrari kept Vettel on track for a few more laps. This strategy paid off. It required total success: the back-to-back retirements of the two Haas cars!

Kevin Magnussen stopped on lap 24, a few hundred meters after his own pit stop. Three minutes later, it was Romain Grosjean’s turn to suffer the same fate! The cause was the American team’s mechanics and an error in fastening the front left tire in both cases. Engaged in the best weekend of its young history, the Haas team nonetheless disrupted the race with the entry of the virtual Safety Car, followed by the Safety Car, to clear car No. 8 belonging to the Frenchman.

Sebastian Vettel hit the jackpot by pitting on lap 27… and emerging in front of Lewis Hamilton! The turnaround was incredible since the German was ten seconds behind the Englishman before his tire change…

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR (LAP 26/58)

Vettel pits under the VSC – and emerges in front of Hamilton!

GAME. ON. 👊#Aus #F1 pic.twitter.com/X3DbNfGW2f

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 25, 2018

Unsuccessful attacks at the end of the race, standings unchanged

The race resumed after several interminable laps under the safety car regime. On the 32nd lap, the standings at the restart gave the advantage to Vettel… but also to Alonso, who came back to fifth place. Valtteri Bottas, for his part, reached the points zone, in 8th position.

The major battles towards the end of the race concentrated at the front: Lewis Hamilton didn’t give up on his quest for victory, setting a lap record of 1:26.843 (42nd lap), a performance he repeated five laps later. Just behind the Englishman, Räikkönen defended his third position against Daniel Ricciardo. Still in fifth, Fernando Alonso showcased the effectiveness of the McLaren chassis ahead of a threatening trio comprising Verstappen, Hülkenberg, and Bottas.

Despite aggressive engine strategies, the drivers could not find a breakthrough. The end of the race presented a similar scenario. After pushing hard, Lewis Hamilton conceded after a missed braking at Turn 9.

Sebastian Vettel could finish this Australian Grand Prix and savor his victory, the 48th of his career, the third on Australian soil.

Behind Räikkönen and Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso secured fifth place, matching the best result of his career as a McLaren driver. Further down the rankings, an honorable mention goes to Charles Leclerc, who finished his first race ahead of Stroll’s Williams and Hartley’s Toro Rosso.

BRILLIANT Win from #ScuderiaFerrari @ausgrandprix, #Seb5 P1 👆🏼and #Kimi7 P3, GREAT performance from the whole Team! #ForzaFerrari pic.twitter.com/5CSpe6YP6H

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 25 mars 2018

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION – LAP 58/58

Sebastian Vettel takes his third win in Australia

And with it takes his 💯th career podium!#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/OekaE51XBO

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 mars 2018