AUSTRALIAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
Sebastian Vettel leads the championship after winning the first race of the 2017 season, after a poor strategy for Mercedes cost Lewis Hamilton the lead of the race.
Vettel had qualified second and there was hope for Ferrari fans that Hamilton’s notoriously (relatively) weak starts would give the German the lead going into the first corner, but Hamilton got a strong start and Vettel was forced to defend against Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes decided to pit Hamilton early, however, as the team was worried about tyre degradation. After the pit stop, Hamilton was running behind Max Verstappen whilst Vettel built up a strong lead at the front of the field. The Brit was told it was crucial to get past the Red Bull before the pit stops, but it was easier said than done, and Hamilton was only able to pass Verstappen when the teenager pitted.
By this time, Vettel had already been into the pits and emerged just ahead of Verstappen. Though Hamilton was right behind the German now, he wouldn’t be able to catch him, and actually seemed to be threatened towards the end of the race by Valtteri Bottas, but the Brit finished the Grand Prix second.
Whilst his teammate was making things difficult for Hamilton, the home hero Daniel Ricciardo was nowhere to be seen. The Australian had had a difficult weekend already with a crash in qualifying seeing him qualify tenth and a gearbox penalty putting him 15th on the grid. Ricciardo never even got that far, though, when he stopped on track on his way to the grid.
The car was taken to the grid and the Red Bull team were able to solve the problem, allowing Ricciardo to start the race, a handful of laps behind the rest of the field. That wasn’t the end of Ricciardo’s problems, though, as the RB13 stopped on track again, this time with an engine problem, and he was forced to retire from the race.
A number of other drivers were forced to retire from the race.
Romain Grosjean, the first retiree, pulled into the pits after a promising qualifying performance from the Haas, smoke coming from the rear of the car. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer wasn’t far behind him. The Brit had been complaining about a reoccurring problem with the brakes, which saw him lock up at the same corner every lap. Marcus Ericsson, who had taken a trip through the gravel trap early in the race after contact with Kevin Magnussen, managed to continue for almost 30 laps before stopping on track for an unknown problem. Magnussen didn’t last much longer. He also pulled off to the side of the circuit towards the end of the race due to a suspension problem.
Gravel also featured in Lance Stroll’s race. The rookie had made a promising start to the race, recovering from his P20 grid position. He had been slowly making up positions before he ran deep into turn 14 and into the gravel. The Williams driver continued for the rest of the lap, but pitted and retired soon after.
Fernando Alonso was the final retiree. After a difficult preseason test, most were surprised to find Alonso running in the points. The Spaniard had started the race from 12 but retirements ahead of him had aided his progress and he was running in tenth when Force India’s Esteban Ocon closed in on him. Alonso defended well, and Ocon spent multiple laps behind the orange McLaren as Nico Hulkenberg closed in on the pair.
As Hulkenberg became close enough for Ocon to have to worry about, the Frenchman made his move. Ocon tried to overtake around the outside of Alonso, pushing the McLaren onto the grass and letting Hulkenberg come up alongside the pair of them. The trio ran side by side but amazingly left room for one another and there was no contact.
Ocon emerged from the battle in tenth, with Hulkenberg behind him and Alonso demoted to 12th. Not long later, Alonso came into the pits to retire, though McLaren fans were rewarded asStoffel Vandoorne was able to finish the race.
Twelfth may not seem fantastic but, for Antonio Giovinazzi, it was far more than he had been expecting when he arrived at the circuit. The Ferrari third driver had been drafted in to replace Pascal Wehrlein, who felt he wasn’t fit enough due to limited training allowed by his Race of Champions accident. The Sauber driver started the race 16th, and immediately got stuck in to the race. The Italian defended well from a DRS-aided Lance Stroll early in the race, and eventually finished 12th.
Vettel now leads the drivers’ championship, with Ferrari leading the constructors’ championship by seven points.
RESULTS:
1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 12 Points
5. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Netherlands / + 10 Points
6. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 8 Points
7. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 6 Points
8. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 4 Points
9. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia / + 2 Points
10. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 1 Point
11. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany
12. Antonio Giovinazzi / Sauber-Ferrari / Italy
13. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
RETIRED - Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / Suspension Failure
RETIRED - Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / Suspension Failure
RETIRED – Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada / Brake Failure
RETIRED - Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia / Fuel Cell Issue
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Hydraulic Failure
RETIRED - Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain / Brake Failure
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Water Leak
----
Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
No copyright infringement intended
Follow us on Twitter @F1Insider78 & @Bethonie_Boost
