Yesterday's qualifying was the first sign, that the Finnish Mercedes ace Valtteri Bottas had reborn during the winter break. At today's start the Finn continued where he left off yesterday. At the lights out Bottas took a magnificent start and stormed to the lead, going into Turn 1. Teammate Hamilton suffered from light wheel spin but managed to keep the second place. Ferrari debutant Leclerc seemed hungry to challenge his teammate for P3. The contact was close, and the Monegasque ended up on the grass, losing a position to Red Bull's Verstappen. Magnussen took an upper hand on his Haas teammate Grosjean at the start, claiming P6. Kimi at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo Racing maintained his 9th place. Home hero Ricciardo had a very unfortunate start; going for a gap he put a wheel on the grass, which caused the whole front wing to fly off. The Australian's race was ruined as he had to pit for a new nose.
By lap 10 Bottas had built up a 3.7-second gap to his teammate. It seemed that the race was perfectly under the flying Finn's control. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz's McLaren was hit with a power unit issue, and the Spaniard had to stop the car near the pit entry. There were flames coming out from the rear end of his McLaren. The iconic team still seems to suffer from power unit issues, even though they have partnered up with Renault for this season.
Kimi started the pit stop roulette on lap 13; not because he wanted to try an undercut but because he had an issue with the cooling of his brakes. Sebastian pitted two laps later from P3; the German opted for the medium compound, similar to Kimi. Mercedes were forced to react to Sebastian's pit stop. The world champion team called Hamilton in. The Briton opted for a similar tyre choice to his main rival Sebastian. Meanwhile, race leader Bottas stayed out, as he was still setting excellent lap times. He didn't pit until on lap 24, also for the mediums, although Hamilton's pace on those tyres hadn't proved competitive at all. After Verstappen's pit stop Bottas was back in the lead.
On lap 28 Bottas had already opened a massive 15-second gap to Hamilton, who seemed completely unable to match the storming Finn's pace. A lap later Leclerc pitted for a different tyre strategy compared to the other top drivers, as he switched to the hard rubber, and re-joined the track in P5.
Verstappen was absolutely flying on his fresh set of medium Pirellis. The flying Dutchman had smelled Sebastian's blood, and was determined to make it on the podium. To be honest, my heart was bleeding, as I saw Max making a successful overtaking move on the German on lap 31. Although I do secretly admire Max and keep my thumbs up for him, I wouldn't have wanted to see that overtake. In terms of overtaking, Max is really one of a kind, as Albert Park is usually a very challenging circuit to overtake. The pass meant bye-bye for podium for Sebastian...
Last year in Australia Haas were driving an excellent race, until the race of both drivers was ruined after having an issue with the wheel nuts during the pit stops. Unfortunately history repeated itself. Grosjean had a delayed pit stop, and his front-left tyre hadn't been properly attached, which led to the Frenchman's retirement a few laps later. It was a shame, as Grosjean was on his way to score valuable points (P7 most likely).
With 10 laps to go, Bottas' lead to his teammate was unbelievable 25 seconds! Valtteri was driving a race of his life! Red Bull's Verstappen was at Hamilton's tail, lurking for a chance to overtake the Briton. Season 2019 saw a reform of an extra point given to the driver setting the fastest lap time in the race. In my opinion this is an excellent reform, as it makes the closing laps of the race extra interesting.
There was tight battle for positions from P7 to P11 in the midfield. Kimi in P8 was right at Hulkenberg's tail, even making it into DRS distance from time to time, but overtaking proved impossible. Leclerc in P5 was much faster than teammate Sebastian due to his much fresher tyres. The Monegasque rapidly closed the gap to his teammate, but the team didn't give the newcomer a permission to overtake Sebastian.
On lap 55 Verstappen had the fastest lap time in his grasp. However, race leader Bottas was absolutely determined to get the extra point. He said on the team radio: "I want those 26 points." It's amazing, how Bottas has managed to turn last year's difficulties and disappointments into self-confidence and success. Very well done for Valtteri! I hope he shares his secret with Sebastian, as Sebastian, too had a setback-filled last season. And the Finn really snatched the fastest lap time from Max at the end of the race! At the end of the day, Valtteri's winning margin was staggering 20.8 seconds! What a sweeping victory for the Finn, and the perfect way to open the new season! This time Hamilton had to settle for playing the second fiddle. Verstappen completed the podium, as the red-suited drivers had to settle for P4 and P5. After the winter tests there was a huge hype about Ferrari's strong performance and how the Red Team were considered the favorites this year. So I have to admit, that today's result was a big disappointment. Magnussen finished 6th for Haas and Hulkenberg 7th for Renault, whilst teammate Ricciardo had to retire his maiden race at the wheel of Renault. Kimi drove a consistent race and earned four points by finishing 8th. Racing Point's Stroll and Toro Rosso's Kvyat rounded out the top ten.
Ferrari have much homework to do. More than anyone expected before the start of the season. Red Bull's race pace is absolutely convincing, although they are struggling with their one-lap pace. Verstappen is extremely fast, but will teammate Gasly be able to match his teammate's pace? His first GP weekend at Red Bull wasn't convincing at all. After seeing the reborn Valtteri today, this could definitely be his year. Although I was keeping my thumbs up for Sebastian, I have to say it was great to hear the Finnish national anthem today!
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti