Australian GP Results – March 26, 2017 – F1

Australian GP Results – March 26, 2017 – Formula One Debut

View full Australian GP results below. This is a spoiler free race report, you wont know the winner until the end. If you missed the race, this is the report to read.

New rules, new cars and new F1 drivers. It’s the debut race for the 2017 Formula One World Championship. World record cars, the fastest F1 cars in the history of the sport will be wrangled by these drivers for 57 laps around Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Daniel Ricciardo, in his home country, had drama right from the start. In fact, before the start. He rolled out on track to the grid. However, he never made it to the grid, the Red Bull stalled. He was forced to start from the pitlane, if at all.

Lewis Hamilton will start from pole, picking up where he left off. Sebastian Vettel starts 2nd, thrilling the Italian press and the Ferrari fans around the world. Anxiety is high, an aborted start later, they line up again.

Australian GP Results - 2017 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Car
Lewis Hamilton (Photo: F1)

The Lights are out. Lewis Hamilton leads the field into turn 1. Sebastian Vettel pinches the new Mercedes driver. He beats Valtteri Bottas to turn 1. Ferrari has split the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.

As Sebastian Vettel sets his sights on Lewis Hamilton. Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen tangle on lap 1. They slide through the sand trap, no full course yellow, they both continue. The incident is under investigation. The Haas driver jumped the curb in turn 3, sliding into Ericsson.

Daniel Ricciardo, re-joins the race, laps down. Lap 3, Sebastian Vettel is catching Lewis Hamilton. That’s not something we’ve heard in years. What a fantastic year this will be. Lap 4, fastest lap goes to Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel.

Lap 15, the two leaders continue to trade fastest laps. The fuel is burning off, the cars continue to get faster. It looks like Vettel is controlling the gap, not Lewis. Meanwhile, one of the Haas F1 cars is up in smoke. Romain Grosjean pulls the car into the pitlane, he jumps from the machine. He’s out.

Lap 17, Renault has issues. Jolyon Palmer has spun. The team is quickly on the radio, “Let’s keep going please.” Hamilton is in the pits. In and out in 3.3 seconds. Vettel assumes the lead. Palmer heads to the garage.

Lap 20, the Ferrari continues to lead. He’s yet to pit. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is worried about his car. He radios to the crew, “I still got a lot of understeer. Is the floor ok?” Unsure if he hit something on track.

Messages sent to Lewis Hamilton from the Mercedes garage, “Lewis, this is race critical. We need to get passed Verstappen.” Lewis is quick to reply, “Repeat. Repeat. Be quiet.” Vettel continues to set quick laps.

Lap 23, Lewis is back on the radio, “There’s no where to get passed this guy.” Meanwhile, Vettel is heading to the pits.

2017 Australian GP Results - March 26, 2017 - F1
Sebastian Vettel takes the lead (Photo: F1)

Lap 24, Vettel exits the pits just ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, by just a few feet! The Ferrari will soon take the lead of the Australian Grand Prix. This could be the pass that wins the race! Marcus Ericsson pulls off track.

Lap 25, Lewis is still struggling to get passed the Red Bull. Max is on older tires. Max Verstappen pulls into the pits. Lewis Hamilton is now in 3rd, 3 full seconds behind Vettel. Kimi has yet to pit, he’s the leader, Ferrari 1-2.

Lap 26, Kimi Raikkonen hits pitlane. One Ferrari to another, Sebastian Vettel is now the leader.

Lap 29, Daniel Ricciardo has parked it in the run-off area of sector 1. The Australian will be forced to retire the Red Bull car in his home race. The crowd salutes him as he climbs from the car and over the track retaining wall.

Lap 35, Lewis Hamilton continues to lose ground to leader, Sebastian Vettel. But things are beginning to look a lot worse. Mercedes newcommer, Valtteri Bottas is catching the primary Mercedes driver. Bottas has tires that are 8 laps fresher.

Lap 44, Lance Stroll has retired. He was forced to retire from 13th. He’s the replacement driver for Bottas at the Williams F1 Team. Brake failure.

Lap 47, 10 laps to go. Lewis Hamilton isn’t happy with something on his car. Ferrari radios to Kimi, “A podium is possible. Keep pushing.” Ferrari thinks Lewis Hamilton might be forced to pit again.

Lap 50, Kevin Magnussen is done. Double retirement for Haas F1. The American team won’t cross the finish line, with either car.

Lap 52, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg are all battling for the 10th. Alonso and Ocon connect, carbon flys, they all continue. Fernando Alonso is in 10th, he could bring home championship points for the McLaren-Honda. Maybe not, they are now 3 wide down the front straight.

Lap 54, Alonso retires the McLaren Honda.

Sebastian Vettel wins Australian GP (Photo: FIA)
Sebastian Vettel (Photo: Scuderia Ferrari)

Ferrari fans around the world will be very thrilled with the start to the 2017 F1 season… Sebastian Vettel wins!

Radio from the Scuderia Ferrari box, “P1 Sebastian. Awesome drive, that’s the way to do it.” The driver replies, “Thank You. Fantastic machine!”

Lewis Hamilton comes home in 2nd. A frustrating runner-up finish. Valtteri Bottas takes the final step on the podium in his debut race with Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen brings the sister Ferrari across the line in 4th. Max Verstappen completes the top 5.

Meanwhile, the fans are overly excited. The crowd floods the racing surface. The problem… the cars are still on their cool down laps. It’s a very scary scene. It’s going to levy huge fines to the circuit from the FIA.

Author: Shane Walters

 

Australian GP Results
March 26, 2017
Albert Park

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
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

 

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