Australia: The Grand Prix from the Pits

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – Winner

Lewis Hamilton – Retirement (cylinder problem)

Toto Wolff, Executive Director of the team: « It was a day of light and shadow for us. Nico did a perfect job this afternoon: a good start and really controlled driving until the last lap. He managed the car’s performance as he should, when he needed to, and took a well-deserved victory. On the other hand, we were disappointed to lose Lewis so early after a cylinder issue forced him to retire. He had done everything right this weekend up to that point and it was a situation beyond his control.

We know that reliability will be crucial for this long season and we will work hard to improve the situation for the race in Malaysia. Finally, this victory has a very special meaning for us too. I would like to dedicate it to Michael, who has been in all our thoughts this weekend. He continues to fight, as only he knows how, and we send him all our strength today.

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From the 2nd position, all classified drivers benefited from the not yet definitive disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo, who initially finished second.

McLaren

Kevin Magnussen – 2nd

Jenson Button – 3rd

Eric Boullier, Race Director: Being at the top of the constructors’ standings is very satisfying, but let’s not forget that today’s race was only the first of 19. I will be very happy if we are still in the same position after the 19th race! We still have a lot of work to do to close the gap with the fastest car. Kevin delivered one of the best performances for a rookie in Formula 1. Despite his youth and lack of experience, he drives as if he already has 100 races under his belt.

Jenson has completely digested his disappointment after the qualifications by driving with determination. I want to salute the people, not just those in Melbourne but also those in Woking and Brixworth who have done an admirable job in providing such a solid and reliable car for Kevin and Jenson. The next step in Malaysia will be difficult and under the heat, but we are ready for this challenge.

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 4th

Kimi Räikkönen – 7th

Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari Director: « The first race of the championship provided a clear picture of the hierarchy at the start of the season. It also indicated which teams seem to have done the best work with these new changes. Today, we achieved our goal in terms of reliability, but the gap we need to close, especially on Mercedes, was clear to see. The information we gathered this weekend clearly indicates the direction we need to take and which areas require the most work. It will be important to catch up as quickly as possible and to react as this team has always been able to do. Our engineers know what the priorities are and which areas demand the most immediate attention. »

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Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 5th

Felipe Massa – Retirement (collision)

Rob Nelson, Chief Engineer: « Valtteri had a fabulous race and the team worked really well together, handling tricky situations that came our way. Valtteri managed his race well, and got off to a great start to climb up to sixth place, but unfortunately, a mistake forced him to stop for a tire change, and he had to overtake the same cars a second time, showing great race management.

It’s really unfortunate that Felipe was out of the race at the start, and we can only wonder where he could have finished if that hadn’t happened. In summary, we leave Australia on a positive note. The car was performing well and the team worked well during what was a busy race for our pit wall, so we are now looking towards the next race.

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Force India

Nico Hülkenberg – 6th

Sergio Pérez – 10th

Vijay Mallya, Owner of Force India: Our goal was to start the season in the points, so we are happy with this result. Nico had an excellent race fighting close to the front, ultimately bringing in 6 points [8 after Ricciardo’s disqualification, ed. note]. Sergio’s race was much more complicated, with a puncture right on the first lap making it difficult to exploit the car’s pace. The safety car allowed him to catch up, but he just missed the top 10.

Overall, we are satisfied to see both cars reach the finish in this new era of Formula 1 and we have learned a lot. I congratulate all team members for the hard work done over the winter and I look forward to Malaysia in two weeks where our goal will be to capitalize on what we learned this weekend.

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Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 8th

Daniil Kvyat – 9th

James Key, Technical Director: « Melbourne loves us. We had a good qualifying session finishing 6th and 8th, and the team managed to finish the race with both cars in the points. It’s really a great performance, especially considering it was the first time we covered a full race distance. It’s clearly a reward for the very good work done by the team and Renault.

I am really happy for Daniil [Kvyat], who just became the youngest driver to score a point in his very first Formula 1 race. It’s really promising, and I’m convinced that it’s the first of many. Now we have to focus on the next race in Malaysia, where we hope to continue working in the right direction and bring back even more points.

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Sauber

Adrian Sutil – 11th

Esteban Gutiérrez – 12th

**Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Chief Engineer:** « Esteban started the race on hard tires, but due to the incident on the first lap, he had to stop immediately. We took the opportunity to switch him to soft tires with only one additional stop to make. He had leeway in terms of fuel consumption which allowed him to push, but in the end, we weren’t fast enough.

Adrian, on his side, encountered an issue with one of the electric motors which resulted in a lack of power during the first stint. Eventually, we managed to reactivate the system. After the safety car, we switched him to a one-stop strategy, but it didn’t make much difference. Today, our main problem was a lack of pace, and we know that’s what we need to work on.

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Marussia

Max Chilton – 13th

Jules Bianchi – Not classified (14th, 8 laps behind)

John Booth, Director of the Marussia team: « Our race start was extremely stressful, but we overcame our difficulties in a very positive way and achieved our initial goal of finishing the race with both of our cars (…). This race does not reflect our potential; we are motivated by the very positive feedback from our drivers who mention interesting areas of development for our car. We have a reliable car for the race. We leave Melbourne with a mountain of data for our engineers to study in order to begin optimization work (…). We can be proud and positive for the rest of the season. »

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Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo – Disqualified (fuel flow too high)

Sebastian Vettel – Retirement (engine)

(the statements from the Red Bull team are not yet available)

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – Retirement (MGU-K problem)

Pastor Maldonado – Retirement (MGU-K issue)

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Director: « Even if the results don’t show it, the team did a fantastic job under difficult conditions. Both of our cars retired due to a problem related to the MGU-K (energy recovery system under braking of the hybrid power unit). With our partner Renault F1, we know what to focus on to improve before the next Grand Prix in Malaysia. Of course, we have other areas of improvement to work on, but the morale and mindset of our team are not diminished. We know what we have to do, and we are going to do it. »

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Caterham

Marcus Ericsson – Retirement (oil pressure)

Kamui Kobayashi – Retirement (collision)

Cedrik Staudohar, Track Support Manager: It’s a shame that Kamui had to retire so early, especially since we had a good start, but his accident was due to a rear brake problem during the formation lap. After that, we focused all our attention on Marcus, and he was doing well, staying in the top 12 for a large part of his first stint. Then, the engine oil level started to drop dramatically, and we had to stop the car to preserve it for the next races.

We learned a lot of things this weekend. We know that the car is fundamentally OK, and once we have examined everything, we are confident that we will come back stronger in Malaysia and make it to the finish.

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