The opening race of the 2018 season was a spectacle, kicking things off on the right foot. Much like yesterday’s qualifying session, the race results took a familiar turn. Lewis Hamilton may have secured pole for today’s race but it was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel that took the victory, mirroring last year’s result.
For the fourth time in five years, Hamilton failed to secure a race victory in Melbourne from pole. Of the seven total, the Briton only has two wins from the position. As of today, Vettel secures his 48th career victory and 100th podium. The latter sees him joining Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Hamilton in that club.
As expected, Hamilton made a strong start off the line, keeping Raikkonen and Vettel at bay. He fended off an attack from the Finn at Turn 3 before settling into a comfortable three-second lead. While Ferrari had good pace with Raikkonen on the pursuit, the team decided to gamble on a pit-strategy.
The Finn pulled into the pits on Lap 19, swapped to ultrasofts and rejoined in third behind his teammate. Mercedes responded by bringing Hamilton in on Lap 20, mirroring Raikkonen’s tire strategy and rejoining in second. The shuffle advanced Vettel into the lead, a position he would hold for the rest of the race.
Ferrari’s good luck was balanced by the very unfortunate luck of Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. Both men, running fourth and fifth, retired within a lap of each other. Why? Magnussen’s race came to an end as a result of the left-rear wheel coming undone.
Grosjean fell foul to a similar fate with the front-left tire, forcing him to pull to the left side on the exit of Turn 1. Haas had an issue with its wheel gun, affecting both drivers and costing the team a sizable number of points. This triggered the virtual safety car, a blessing in disguise for the leading Italian team.
Vettel remained on-track for several more laps and was able to pull into the pits without worry. With luck on its side, the Ferrari pulled out ahead of Hamilton for the race lead. Adding to this, a real safety car replaced its virtual counterpart further cooling down the field. With the race resumed on lap 32, Hamilton went on the offensive with only 26 laps to spare.
Taken aback by the sudden change, the Brit asked his team if something had gone wrong or if he made a mistake. Ferrari and Mercedes traded fastest lap honors, with Hamilton able to keep himself within one second of Vettel for DRS activation.
He made a serious charge with only a handful of laps remaining, but locked up heading into Turn 9. It was a costly move forcing Hamilton onto the grass and dropping back almost three seconds.
With five laps remaining he was within DRS range once again but complained of tires issues and fell back once more. Much to the chagrin of the Mercedes pitwall, Lewis was unable to do anything and settled for second.
Kimi Raikkonen was was able to keep Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo behind to secure the final podium position, despite showing serious pace all weekend.
Ricciardo, who began eighth after a three-place grid penalty, finished in fourth. Threatening Raikkonen’s Ferrari several times throughout the race, he was unable to make anything stick. Unfortunately for Daniel, this continues the trend — a curse if you will — of an Australian finishing outside of the podium in their home race.
McLaren kicked its season off with a strong result, benefiting from the mid-race chaos. Fernando Alonso brought the car home in fifth, fending off pressure from the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen. After crossing the line and thanking the team, he quipped “now we can fight,” a very tongue-in-cheek response to the team’s less-than-impressive performance with Honda.
The Spaniard’s fifth place equals the team’s best result in three years with Honda power. Adding to that, the 12 points it picked up also matches its best result with the Japanese manufacturer over the same period. It was a fantastic way to christen the new Renault power unit.
Behind him in sixth is Verstappen, who had a very troubling first race in 2018. Magnussen’s Haas jumped ahead of the Red Bull heading into Turn 1, an unexpected move by all accounts. Not one to take the matter lightly, Verstappen charged behind the Haas to take back the position.
Complaining of rear tire issues, the RB14 demonstrated this in fantastic fashion with a full spin into Turn 1. While no worse for wear, the spin dropped him down to eighth. Had things gone smoother, Verstappen likely would have finished higher up the grid.
Nico Hulkenberg takes seventh behind the Red Bull for the factory Renault team. Valtteri Bottas brought the second Mercedes home in eighth, recovering from 15th. Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth in the second McLaren, losing eighth to the Mercedes at Turn 3.
Carlos Sainz rounds out the top ten with the final point on the grid in the sister Renault. Sainz held the position, fending off Force India’s Sergio Perez all while complaining of nausea. A well deserved result by all means.
Force India finished outside of the points, with Perez and Esteban Ocon taking 11th and 12th. The team failed to finish in the points at Melbourne for the first time since 2009. F1 rookie Charles Leclerc brought the Sauber home in 13th in his debut race. Williams’ Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley rounds out the race finishers.
Brake failure forced Stroll’s rookie teammate Sergey Sirotkin to retire early on. Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber fell victim to a power steering issue, removing him from the race. Finally, Pierre Gasly’s race came to an end with the Honda power unit giving up in the second Toro Rosso. Business as usual in the Honda camp then, giving weight to Alonso’s harsh words.
Next on the calendar is the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in two weeks time.
See more articles on Australian Grand Prix and F1 2018 Season.
