AUSTRALIAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
The Ferrari driver had been running third for most of the first half of the race, but inherited the lead when team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres. Vettel stayed out as Ferrari split its strategy but pitted a handful of laps later when the virtual safety car was deployed.
Hamiilton was left stunned and frustrated as the Ferrari emerged from the pits just ahead of him. The virtual safety car soon turned to a real safety car, bunching up the field. Hamilton remained close to Vettel on the restart but couldn’t find a way past the Ferrari. He fell away in the closing stages of the race as he tried to preserve his engine and finished five seconds behind Vettel.
Raikkonen, who had challenged Hamilton early in the race, came home third.
The safety car had been called out to remove the striken Haas of Romain Grosjean, who had retired only one lap after team-mate Kevin Magnussen had come to a stop with the same problem.
Magnussen, who had jumped Max Verstappen for fourth at the start of the race, came into the pits on lap 22 of 58. The Dane managed to make it to turn three before coming to a stop with a loose wheel nut on the left-rear wheel. Grosjean suffered the safe fate, pulling to a stop at turn 1 and triggering the caution period.
Daniel Ricciardo, who had also benefitted from the virtual safety car, was promoted to fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Verstappen.
Verstappen had a difficult race. Having lost out to Magnussen at the start of the race, the Dutchman followed close behind Haas but ran wide at the turn 11/12 complex on lap six. The incident left him with damage that led to an intermitted loss of downforce. He struggled with the imbalance for the rest of the race, spinning a handful of laps later, but managed to recover to take sixth.
Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who had been awarded a five place grid penalty having changed gearbox after his qualifying crash.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10.
The Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon narrowly missed out on points, finished 11th and 12th, ahead of rookie Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, and Brendon Hartley.
Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin retired just 10 minutes into the race with a brakes problem caused by a loose sandwich bag that had found its way on track, just before Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson retired with a loss of power steering.
Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was the only other retirement, suffering a power unit failure on lap 13.
RESULTS:
1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / +12 Points
5. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain / + 10 Points
6. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 8 Points
7. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 6 Points
8. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 4 Points
9. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / +2 Points
10. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / + 1 Point
11. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
12. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France
13. Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
14. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
15. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Wheel Nut
RETIRED - Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / Wheel Nut
RETIRED - Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France / Power Unit
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Hydraulics
RETIRED – Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia / Brakes
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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