My write-up on the race...
"
Australian Grand Prix:
It was here at last: A new era and a new challenge. Unfortunately, Max Chilton looked to be having troubles from the start. He was wheeled into the pit garage after failing to leave his grid slot on the warm-up lap. Hamilton was due to start on pole, followed by Ricciardo, Rosberg and Magnussen… But, the start was aborted. The second Marussia of Bianchi was the stranded car this time, and the rest of the field set off yet again. Romain Grosjean and Max Chilton were joined by Bianchi in the pits.
Sebastian Vettel feared a lack of power during the warm-up laps, while Charlie Whiting looked nervous. Start number two was a success, yet chaos arrived immediately. Magnussen got loose upon launch, while Massa got taken out by Kobayashi. Rosberg led from Ricciardo and Hamilton, and Vettel fell down the field with seemingly no turbo power. Esteban Guttierez lost it at turn three, and by the start of lap two Hamilton had been passed by Magnussen.
Vettel continued, being overtaken by Marussia and Caterham cars, while Hamilton was told to retire the car at the end of lap two. But, he continued… for just one more lap. On lap three, he threw in the towel; a disappointing end to the race for the man who posted the fastest lap in qualification.
Valtteri Bottas appeared to be on the charge, while it looked as if the World Champion would not be continuing his streak of Formula One dominance, as after just five laps he was finishing the first race of 2014 early. But while the World Champions faltered, Bottas continued his charge up to sixth from fifteenth with a well-timed late braking move at turn three on Raikkonen. Soon he was closing down on Hulkenburg (fourth) and Alonso (fifth). He gained on the pair rapidly, but he made a mistake halfway around the lap resulting in the loss of a wheel. It appeared that the car was undamaged, which could definitely be seen as a surprise.
Unfortunately, the car had shed pieces of wheel and tyre all over the circuit, which meant a safety car had to be deployed.
Most of the field took the opportunity to pit during the safety car period which provided a rest for everyone following a hectic introduction to the 2014 Formula One season. Toro Rosso were providing a strong showing, with Vergne seventh and Kyvat in tenth. Marcus Ericsson was in twelfth, while Bottas was far from out of the running in sixteenth.
And as the sixteenth lap starts the green flag waved once more. Bianchi overtook Chilton at turn three, which seemed pointless considering all it achieved was un-lapping himself; he’d only need to do it six times more to be on level terms with his teammate…
Bottas makes up two further positions in one lap, while Rosberg sets the fastest lap of the race. Kevin Magnussen looked good on his debut in third position, hounding fellow young gun Daniel Ricciardo, who was running second. Bottas moved up to twelfth after another lap, and looked to be doing anything but backing down from the challenge of fighting back through the field. Meanwhile, Ricciardo is told that he does not need to save fuel, as Rosberg continued to produce fast lap times.
Bottas moved up to ninth after a DRS assisted pass on Daniel Kyvat on the front straight. A queue of cars followed the Force India of Niko Hulkenburg in fourth, with Kimi Raikkonen between the queue and Bottas. It seemed to me that everyone time the cameras pointed at Raikkonen, he was struggling.
Unfortunately, the F1 debut of Marcus Ericsson was brought to a premature end by what looked to be a technical issue, making him retirement number five of the day. It seemed the war of attrition was really beginning to commence, with Pastor Maldonado withdrawing from the race. Bottas eventually had no problem passing his fellow Finn, as Raikkonen locks up and almost runs off-track. Hulkenburg lost his position to Alonso in the pit-stop window on lap 37, as the field started pitting once more.
By Lap 42, Ricciardo had company in the shape of Kevin Magnussen. Bottas appeared to be interested in seventh place for his own, but Vergne was not giving it up easily. Meanwhile, Lotus looked set to pack up for Malaysia before the other teams, as Grosjean was forced to retire. On Lap 47, Bottas moved up to seventh as Vergne clipped the grass on the entry to the final corner. Because he clipped the grass, his exit was compromised, allowing Bottas to secure an easy pass with the aid of DRS.
Hulkenburg was the next man to be challenged by the eager Williams driver, who was told to chase the German driver down. Soon enough, Hulkenburg was challenging and getting very close to the back of the Force India, and on Lap 52 he passed ‘Hulk’ for sixth at the first corner. Magnussen looked to be losing time to Ricciardo, while Raikkonen pounces upon Vergne, who makes a mistake towards the end of the lap.
With one lap left, Rosberg looked set to take the win, and indeed he did. Ricciardo took second to a roar of home support, and Magnussen became the first Danish podium finisher in F1 history on his first attempt. Button came fourth followed by Alonso, while Bottas finished sixth in an impressive performance. Hulkenburg came seventh from Raikkonen, Vergne and Kyvat.
Rosberg made a small blunder post-race, parking up in the second position slot. And, even a racing helmet couldn’t stop the world from seeing the smile on the face of Daniel Ricciardo.
Thoughts:
Well, I believe that was a good start to the 2014 Formula One season. Reliability was not perfect, as many anticipated, but not so bad that it caused a day of limping. The awakening of the future Formula One giants looks to be truly underway, with the introductions of Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen to the podium. Kevin can be extremely proud of his podium, and his father Jan can be equally elated watching amongst the aftermath of the Sebring 12 Hours. As for McLaren… Well, I think they’ll be smug about their choice of driver, won’t they? Williams, through Valtteri Bottas, managed to show that they certainly have potential this season. It will be interesting to see how Massa goes next time out if he manages to survive turn one.
Elsewhere, Scuderia Toro Rosso look good, and their seniors at Red Bull Racing showed themselves well through Ricciardo. But, it’s obvious that the ever-competitive Sebastian Vettel will not be a happy bunny; will he have reason to be even more frustrated in two weeks? Red Bull would be wise to make sure he doesn’t…
Overall, I feel more positive about this season than the one that came before it, which felt like it was nothing more than the forgotten season before regulation changes from the very start. I’m interested to see what happens next, and I’m looking forward to an exciting season of racing."
If you bothered to read that, I thank you.
👍
