2017 AUSTRALIAN GP: VETTEL MANAGE TO BEAT BOTH MERCEDES AMG CARS

Sebastian Vettel took his and Ferrari’s first win the Singapore Grand Prix of 2015 beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to Australian Grand Prix victory after a strategic slip by the champions allowed Vettel to inherit the lead midway through the race at Albert Park.

Pole sitter Hamilton was in control of proceedings ahead of Vettel until his first pit stop on lap 17. After taking on soft tyres, the three-time champion emerged behind the slower Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as Vettel took the lead. Hamilton could find no way past the Dutchman and when Vettel made his sole pit stop he emerge ahead of both, in the lead. The German then build a solid gap and controlled the pace until the end, finishing 9.9s ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton was offering no threat to Vettel and the order remained stable, with Bottas third ahead of Raikkonen and Verstappen now settled in fifth place.

Vettel took the flag for his and Ferrari’s first win since Singapore in 2015, followed by Hamilton and Bottas. Raikkonen took fourth ahead of Verstappen. Massa was sixth for Williams with Perez scoring solid points for Force India with an impressive seventh place. It was a good day too for Toro Rosso, with Carlos Sainz eighth ahead of team-mate Daniil Kvyat. The final points position was taken by Ocon.

Fernando Alonso was heading for a P10 finish and McLaren’s first points of the season. However with just a handful of laps remaining the Spaniard was in trouble. First with Ocon and Hulkenberg swarming all over the back of his McLaren and then with a mechanical issue that was making his car pull to the right.

Just three other drivers finished the race, with Nico Hulkenberg 11th for Renault and Italian Antonio Giovinazzi 12th for Sauber on his Formula One debut. Thirteenth place went to McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne. The weekend’s other rookie, Lance Stroll retired from the race at two-thirds distance.

2017 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX, ALBERT PARK, MELBOURNE.
57 laps, 307.574km., Weather: Sunny.

CLASSIFIED:
 P.    DRIVER            TEAM          TIME/GAP 
 1. Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1h24:11.672
 2. Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes AMG   +    9.975
 3. Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes AMG   +   11.250
 4. Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari        +   22.393
 5. Max Verstappen     Red Bull       +   28.827
 6. Felipe Massa       Williams       + 1:23.386
 7. Sergio Perez       Force India    +    1 lap
 8. Carlos Sainz jr.   Toro Rosso     +    1 lap
 9. Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso     +    1 lap
10. Esteban Ocon       Force India    +    1 lap
11. Nico Hulkenberg    Renault        +    1 lap
12. Antonio Giovinazzi Sauber         +   2 laps
13. Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren        +   2 laps

Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen - 1:26.538          

Not Classified:
 Driver             Team                        
Romain Grosjean    Haas
Jolyon Palmer      Renault
Marcus Ericsson    Sauber
Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull
Lance Stroll       Williams
Kevin Magnussen    Haas
Fernando Alonso    McLaren

After one race:
 Drivers:                  Constructors:        
 1. Себастијан Ветел  25   Ferrari       37
 2. MLewis Hamilton   18   Mercedes AMG  33
 3. Valtteri Bottas   15   Red Bull      10
 4. Kimi Raikkonen    12   Williams       8
 5. Max Verstappen    10   Force India    7
 6. Felipe Massa       8   Toro Rosso     6
 7. Sergio Perez       6
 8. Carlos Sainz jr.   4
 9. Daniil Kvyat       2
10. Esteban Ocon       1

Seb winner...

Best move of day...

Joy of Vettel...