Circuit | Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia |
Date | 25.03.2018 |
Laps | 58 |
Distance | 307,574 km / 191,158 miles |
No | Driver | Ferrari | S/N | Team | Result |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | SF71H | – | Scuderia Ferrari | 1. |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | SF71-H | – | Scuderia Ferrari | 3. |
Maurizio Arrivabene: ”A nice win and a great job from the team, both back in Maranello and here at the track, which led to a fine Sunday for all of us, our drivers and our fans. We have picked up a significant number of points in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. There is still a long way to go this season, but today we can be happy, knowing that each and everyone of us has done their very best, according to his role, to achieve this result. Now we will start to prepare for the next race, aware there is plenty to do; work which we will tackle with humility and determination.”
Sebastian Vettel: ”Today has been our day. The Safety Car helped of course, but apart from that, I think we did everything we could do as a team. So when something happened, we were ready to react. We did our job before the race, evaluating different scenarios, and then in the race we had the pace as well. Lewis was under pressure, he was fast, but not as much as he needed. As for me, I need a little bit more of confidence with the car, which is not where we want it to be yet. There is a lot of work to do, but it is great to have both cars on the podium today. Yesterday in qualifying the car came alive, but it was still a little bit tricky, so we have some homework to do. I still need to drive around the issues more than I want to. I know exactly what I want, and we need to work on it. I believe the car has the potential we need.
Kimi Raikkonen: “A win with two cars on the podium is a very good start of the season for the team. Maybe I have been a bit unlucky today, but at least the luck came to our team. Third place it’s not exactly the result we wanted, but it’s only the first race and the big picture is not too bad. So I happily take the third place. Overall I was pretty happy with my car today, the speed was there all day. It’s nice to have a good feeling. For sure there are things to improve, but if the feeling stays like this we’ll have all the tools to fight. And this is the most important thing. This is a quite special track in many ways, so let’s see what happens in the next race. Bahrain it’s not very straightforward either; from year to year we have seen that the hot conditions don’t give a 100 percent true picture. We need to be patient and do our best wherever we go.”
Great teamwork in Australia, with Kimi also on the podium
Melbourne – A trip to the Antipodes has delivered Ferrari’s 230th win, a ninth for Sebastian Vettel with the Scuderia (the 48th of his career) at the end of a race that was unforgettable in terms of the excitement it delivered and a perfect job from the team. Starting from third on the grid, Seb made the most of the Safety Car period to pop out of pit lane ahead of Hamilton, while Kimi Raikkonen, from second, rounded off the Australian podium in third place, doing a great job of fighting off an attacking Ricciardo in the closing stages. The Scuderia thus finds itself leading both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships on 25 and 40 points respectively.
Sunshine and wind were on the agenda for the start at 16h10 local time. The track surface on the grid provided little grip, but our guys got away well and from second, Kimi even got alongside Hamilton, with Seb third. This is Melbourne, which means it was no surprise that the positions didn’t change much, despite the three DRS zones, seen here for the first time in F1. Even the split times were similar and on lap 9, the two SF71Hs were pushing hard with Kimi and then Seb setting a race fastest lap. Raikkonen closed the gap to the leader, but he also had to manage his race, while waiting for the tyre changes.
And the first of those stops came at the end of lap 18: Kimi pitted as planned, with the mechanics staying put until the very last moment, switching him from the Ultras to the Soft compound, so that the Finn was able to rejoin ahead of the two impressive Haas cars. The opposition reacted immediately, bringing in Hamilton, who went for the same tyre choice. This meant Sebastian found himself leading the GP and he upped the pace slightly. His turn to pit came at the end of lap 26, at the same time as the Virtual Safety Car was engaged, after Grosjean stopped out on the track.
This tactic paid off: Seb made the most of the zone before the Safety Car line and emerged ahead of Hamilton! A short and spontaneous applause rippled through the garage. “Well done team,” said Maurizio over the radio. But it was not even the mid point of the race yet. Immediately after that, the real Safety Car was required and it stayed out up to and including lap 31. All the drivers at the front of the field fitted the Soft tyres – Seb’s had six laps less – and after the restart there were no overtaking moves.
There were fights, thanks to the DRS, but Seb held firm and set the fastest lap on lap 34. As for Kimi he had to fend off Ricciardo for third, as the Australian had closed right up under the Safety Car. Out in front, the battle swung with the moveable wing: whoever was behind could use it, but ran the risk of overheating in the slipstream. Hamilton was not about to give up and Sebastian responded with another fastest time on lap 45. His rival was pushing hard, even losing the front end under braking and that saw the gap go out to almost two seconds. Seb? “The tyres are working very well,” he said over the radio.
Over the final five laps, Seb pulled out a bit of an advantage, while Kimi had a gap of just under two seconds to manage, but then closed on Hamilton who had lost his rhythm. The last lap was a heart-stopper but it finished with a first and a third place. Excuse us, but this time, we are the ones with the smile on our faces.
There could have been no better start for Ferrari in this Championship. Listening to Italy’s national anthem echo around Melbourne was an emotional moment for us all, and for every fan of the Scuderia. It’s the best possible reward for the team, which built a competitive car and used a perfect strategy to take advantage of the way the race evolved. Congratulations to Sebastian and Kimi, both drove a great race. Of course there’s still a long way to go in the series, with 20 more Grands Prix. So it would be wrong to celebrate too much. We know that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the first step has been taken in the right direction.
Kimi and Seb felt handling improved during Qualifying
Melbourne, March 24 – A solid team effort for the first qualifying of the season resulted in Kimi and Seb taking second and third slots on the grid for tomorrow’s race, just one hundredth of a second apart. The weather stayed dry throughout the three sessions, allowing the two SF71Hs to put the softest Pirelli compounds to good use. Rain is not expected for the race either, although Melbourne is notoriously unpredictable when it comes to weather conditions…
“Today” said Kimi “we did not really know what to expect from this first qualifying, it was a bit of an unknown. But then I was pretty happy with the car, the feeling was ok. The gap to our rivals is probably bigger than we wanted, but it was not a very straightforward day either. This is a very special circuit in many ways, if compared to “normal” tracks, and these are the early stages of the season. I think we have to wait for the next few races to have a clear picture and understand where the teams are exactly. For sure there are things to improve to go faster; I know there are areas where I could improve on my lap times. This is what we have got today, a decent result in quite tricky conditions. Tomorrow we’ll put our maximum effort into the race”.
After tackling less than ideal conditions on Friday, Seb found a great deal of improvement in the car’s handling during Saturday afternoon: “Yesterday it didn’t feel like everything was perfect, so today I am pretty happy that we could put both cars right at the front, very close to pole. I guess it’s a good shot. The gap to Lewis is significant of course, and we don’t want to be so far behind. But the car today was getting better and better: I could feel it was coming alive during qualifying; on my last run I made a small mistake at Turn 13, but it’s ok as second and third position are good for the race and, as we have seen in all the past years, we tend to be closer on Sunday than we are in qualifying”.
Kimi ahead of Seb in Albert Park
Melbourne –Today’s Australian Grand Prix qualifying session saw the Scuderia Ferrari drivers finish up in second and third places. Kimi Raikkonen’s best lap was a 1’21”828, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel is right behind, having posted a 1’21”838. The final part of qualifying had to be red flagged for a while, after Valtteri Bottas crashed at the start of his flying lap. Tomorrow’s race starts at 07h10 CET.
Seb and Kimi first and second on slicks
Melbourne – The final free practice session got the F1 action underway in Melbourne this Saturday and Sebastian Vettel was fastest with a 1’26”067 ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who posted a 1’28”499. Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers ran Intermediate wet weather tyres for almost the entire hour, fitting the Ultrasofts only in the closing minutes when the track had dried. They also did practice starts. Qualifying gets underway at 07h00 CET.
Kimi, Seb believe there’s much potential to be explored
Melbourne, March 23 – The first day of practice at Albert Park saw both Scuderia Ferrari drivers go through an extensive job of data collecting and car set-up work. At the end of the day, Kimi and Seb had covered 62 and 60 laps respectively using all three available tyre compounds (Soft, Supersoft and Ultrasoft,) running various fuel loads.
“It was a pretty normal first day here in Australia”, said Kimi. “Everything felt a bit different from testing, but it’s normal when you are in a different place. The track itself felt much better than last year, in terms of grip. It looks like there are a lot of leaves, but this doesn’t really affect the driving. It’s not easy to find a good set up, but the start today was not too bad. We tried a few things and did our best to improve here and there. We are considering which way we should go and trying to figure out the best way to do that. It’s a normal story, especially at the beginning of the year. Let’s see what the weather brings tomorrow. Tonight we’ll go through all the work we have done today, we’ll pick all the positive things and see what we can do”.
Sebastian commented on his daily routine: “It’s been a rather dull day of work, like every Friday. We tried to chase the balance because I didn’t feel completely comfortable at first, but I’m not worried about that because I know that if we do everything right, the car should be in better shape. It looks like we are close, which is good news, so we should be able to do something tomorrow. This track is particularly tricky, in that if you don’t nail it at first, then there is quite of bit of lap time to be found, and I think we still have much potential to extract. The car is fine; it’s not where we want it to be yet, but if we keep on working, it should be ok. I really hope to make a bigger step than the others”.
Scuderia Ferrari drivers 4th and 5th fastest
Melbourne, 23 March – During the second free practice session at Australia’s Albert Park circuit, Scuderia Ferrari ran the Supersoft and Ultrasoft compounds. Kimi Raikkonen (1’24”214) ended the session fourth on the time sheet, while Sebastian Vettel was fifth in 1’24”460. With half an hour of the session remaining, the red flag came out because of debris on the start line, but the interruption only lasted a few minutes. FP3 starts tomorrow at 14h00 (04h00 CET.)
Free Practice 1, Kimi 4th and Seb 5th using the Soft and Supersoft
Melbourne, 23 March –The wait is over and the Formula 1 season got underway at the Albert Park circuit, which hosts this weekend’s Australian GP. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers were fourth and fifth fastest in the first free practice session: Kimi Raikkonen (1’’24’875) only ran the Soft tyres, while Sebastian Vettel (1’’24’995,) used both the Softs and Supersofts. Scuderia Ferrari focused on tyre evaluation and set-up work. The second session gets underway at 16h00 (06h00 CET.)
Kimi and Seb ‘excited to kick off the season’ at Albert Park
Melbourne, March 22 – The first race of the season at Melbourne has always been a favorite with drivers, especially when, as has been the case so far, the sun has been on parade at the Albert Park circuit. Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, are looking forward to the weekend, and their SF71 cars will hit the track tomorrow for P1 practice at 12:00 local time.
“I’m excited to kick off the season, get into the car and race”, says Seb. “We have every reason to be confident as our car is great, we have a great team and we came here well prepared, even if, ideally, you would want to be able to test more during the winter – and there are many things to come. Of course, around this point you don’t know what the others have done so far. Australia has treated us well generally: we won here last year, nearly won the year before and got on the podium in 2015. The key to the championship will be to have a strong car at the beginning and at the end of the season and to try and be competitive at all races. Now obviously, the best satisfaction is to win with Ferrari, the greatest team with the greatest history in the paddock. To win with Ferrari, beating the best, is my target”.
Kimi’s thoughts echo those of his team-mate: “We are pretty happy with how winter testing went; we have clearly done our homework, even if obviously there are always things that you can improve. Our aim is always the same, to win races. We’ll try our best and hopefully we’ll achieve that. Overtaking is quite difficult at this track, but the DRS zones are different this year and hopefully it will help. This year’s cars are fitted with the Halo system: I don’t think that it makes any difference when driving as you get used to it very quickly. From this weekend and in the next few races we’ll start to understand where we are. We need to build up a solid weekend, score good points and then go from there. It’s going to be a long season and we need to be up there all the time to be able to challenge for the championships”.
The first team group set off for Australia last Friday and the last members will arrive mid-week. Such a long trip, 16,000 kilometres and a whole day travelling, takes a bit of planning, especially as it’s the first of the season. In fact, the team is actually “operational” at the track as from Wednesday. When F1 raced in Adelaide, also a street circuit, but a much shorter and slower one, the Australian Grand Prix usually marked the end of the season. Now, Melbourne is the curtain raiser to the year and in the modern era, the race has been held here since 1996. But the Albert Park circuit was used back in the Fifties. The atmosphere, the lawned areas, the smell of the eucalyptus trees and the charm of the city, meant that it was an immediate hit with the general public and those working in the sport. One could almost forget that, back in the 19th Century, before the artificial lake was created, the area was used as…a landfill site for waste.
On the technical front, the track has some unusual features, especially when it comes to its surface, given that it’s a semi-permanent circuit. It features a plentiful mix of braking, quick sections and some tighter parts, which mean that good traction is a must. Even on the other side of the world, Scuderia Ferrari feels at home, given that the Italian community is second only in size to the Anglo-Saxon one in this town and in fact, immigration has picked up again in recent years. It’s not unusual for us to find ourselves accosted in our own language, but Melbourne is also a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural city, with plenty to enjoy for those who have the time…
Vettel speaks ahead of the first race of the season
Sebastian, after two weeks of winter testing, it’s now time to pack up again, destination Melbourne. What kind of feedback can you provide from the Barcelona running?
“I think we’re starting from a good base with our SF71H car. Now we’ll have to work on development to further explore and improve its potential. I have a lot of confidence in our team, I know how skilled and committed the guys in Maranello are”.
Many teams, including our main competitors, piled up an impressive mileage this winter. What can you say about how it went from a Ferrari perspective?
“We, too, did a good job in terms of mileage, totaling some 4,323 Kilometers of running. I have a personal best of 188 laps in one day, which is 875 Km and a total of nearly three thousand! We did not experience any major issues with the car, and I had fun driving it”
A lot has been said and written about our competitors’ pace in race simulation. Could you express your point of view as a driver?
“Our competitors – Mercedes and Red Bull – used one type of tyre for their race distance simulations, which is something you can’t do in a Grand Prix. This has an impact on the strategies and ultimately on the result”.
Speaking about tyre management: could blistering be a real issue?
“I think it’s quite normal that, after the first few days of testing, every team tries to get the tyre supplier to go in the direction that suits their car best. We think Pirelli has done a good job with their compound selection”.
Are you looking forward to the first race of the season?
“I can’t wait to be in Australia, because once we get on track there, we will all be driving and racing under the same conditions. And, as I said before, I have confidence in our car”.