The 2017 Formula One season, with monstrous new cars with even higher levels of down force, had kicked off today with the opening race at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. It was quite the opening race with exceptional racing, nail biting battles and some retirements. Here’s the full insight.
For three years Mercedes have enjoyed a stranglehold over this sport, but Ferrari wrenched it away with a display of exceptional pace and cunning. The Prancing Horse has discovered a kick in its legs once more. Even more tantalisingly, the long-awaited battle between Vettel and Hamilton, two drivers who have won six of the last seven world titles between them, has at last begun to be drawn.
It is a duel conducted, for now, in an atmosphere of intense mutual respect. One can count the drivers for whom Hamilton has genuine regard on one hand, but in Vettel, who has amassed four championships to his three, he seems to have found a kindred spirit. Both made stunning early statements in their careers – Vettel when he won at Monza in a Toro Rosso, Hamilton when he audaciously passed Fernando Alonso at the first corner of his first race in 2007 – and both share a mischievous streak of humour. Belatedly, on this evidence, the pair looked likely to be locked in combat for the next 19 races.
Vettel, who had not won for 18 months, could barely keep the smile from his face. A quadruple champion at Red Bull, he moved from Milton Keynes to Maranello to join the realm of legends. On Sunday, at last, after an Australian Grand Prix that he controlled exquisitely, he is on the path to doing so. He dare not think about it yet, but a fifth title has only ever been accomplished by two men: Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Vettel is still just 29.
His preference, he made clear, would be to enjoy the toughest confrontation with Hamilton first. “I would love to have a close battle with Lewis,” Vettel said. “It looks like we have equal machinery, and I hope it stays that way. I have great respect for him – I still remember his move on Alonso here 10 years ago. He made other people look very silly.”
Hamilton never quite pulled off the same dazzling effect this time. While he started strongly from pole position, Ferrari’s superior performance on the ultra-soft tyres meant the odds were always stacked against him to retain the lead. He felt under pressure from Vettel’s pace to dive into the pits early, and immediately regretted the decision as he ended up caught in traffic behind Max Verstappen.
An irritable exchange ensued. “It’s race-critical that we get past Verstappen,” Pete Bonnington, his chief engineer, said over the radio. “How do you expect me to do that right now?” Hamilton shot back, irritably. “There’s no way I can overtake this guy.” So it proved, and when Vettel returned after his own pit-stop with a comfortable lead, the contest was effectively over.
It is clear beyond doubt that Ferrari’s restoration is real. Wolff, having seen the Scuderia’s startling pace in winter testing, had warned that Mercedes faced “one hell of a fight” to retain their supremacy and this was a day that did nothing to contradict his logic. It is a decade since Ferrari were last able to call themselves champions, but after several faltering campaigns, Vettel’s Melbourne masterclass has revived confidence in F1’s most fabled marque. There was a reason why actress Nicole Kidman had gravitated to their corner of the paddock during the race. There is simply no team to match them for glamour.
They look unsurpassed for speed, too, although Mercedes will work feverishly to close their fractional deficit before the next grand prix in Shanghai. “The fact we are very similar, pace-wise, will make it a long, hard slog this season,” Hamilton said. “It has been a privilege to race in the same era as Sebastian, and finally we can have a real race. It will be physically and mentally demanding, but racing the best is what F1 should be about.”
Chase Carey, glad-handed by all and sundry on his grid-walk as the sport’s newly-appointed chief executive, clearly liked what he saw. It is not healthy for business to have one team as remorselessly dominant at Mercedes and it is refreshing that Ferrari have shown the calibre to reel them in.
A measure of how much they are adored is that even here, 10,000 miles from their home in northern Italy, hundreds of fans – the Antipodean tifosi – flocked on to the track after the chequered flag to share in Vettel’s triumph.
It is rare these days that F1 lends itself to such spontaneous outpourings of joy. But the sparking of a head-to-head battle between two iconic teams, not to mention the two most celebrated drivers of their generation, seemed worthy cause for a party.
Some observations about the race by me:
1. For me the driver of the day has to be Sahara Force India’s Esteban Ocon who scored his first championship point of his career but by displaying one great overtake on McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and also covering off an ensuing Nico Hulkenburg in his Renault.
2. I noticed that the crowds were being let on to the track immediately after all the cars had finished their last lap of the race during the drive back to the pit lane. I really liked it since it gave a feel of what Formula One used to be like back in the days.
3. The race itself did not turn out to be boring because my mind was clouded with the thoughts of less overtakes. But there were a lot of quality overtakes being made.
4. The grid did feel a bit empty without Manor.
Race classification:
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 57 | 1:24:11.672 | 25 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 57 | +9.975s | 18 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 57 | +11.250s | 15 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FERRARI | 57 | +22.393s | 12 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER | 57 | +28.827s | 10 |
| 6 | 19 | Felipe Massa | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 57 | +83.386s | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | FORCE INDIA MERCEDES | 56 | +1 lap | 6 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | TORO ROSSO | 56 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | TORO ROSSO | 56 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FORCE INDIA MERCEDES | 56 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | RENAULT | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | SAUBER FERRARI | 55 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 13 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | MCLAREN HONDA | 55 | +2 laps | 0 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | MCLAREN HONDA | 50 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 46 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 18 | Lance Stroll | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 40 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER | 25 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | SAUBER FERRARI | 21 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | RENAULT | 15 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 8 | Romain Grosjean | HAAS FERRARI | 13 | DNF | 0 |
So this sums up what the first race of the season produced. Now its onto the next race in China in two weeks time. I personally expect that Mercedes and Red Bull will bring in some new interesting parts and take the fight to Ferrari. We’ll be back with a review of the Grand Prix of China in two weeks!
Article adapted from http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Just a 23-year old who likes to write, and maybe drive my heart out on Forza too.