2017 Australian GP: Vettel outwits Mercedes as Ferrari win

Sebastian Vettel won the opening round of the 2017 season for Ferrari. At the 2017 Australian GP he finished ahead of polesitter Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who was contesting his first race for Mercedes. The race was won during the pit stop phase: Hamilton came in early for fresh tyres, rejoined behind a Red Bull and could not get past it. Vettel stayed out longer and took the lead as a result. At the flag he was just under ten seconds clear of Hamilton. Before this, Ferrari had not won a race since the 2015 Singapore GP.

A new era began at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in 2017. Under the revised regulations, the cars were wider and faster. Hamilton defended first place at the start and led the opening 16 laps. Vettel followed closely, with Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull behind them.

Hamilton could not pull away. According to Motor Sport Magazine, his lead on lap 13 was just 1.8 seconds. After that his ultrasoft tyres overheated, and Vettel closed to within 1.3 seconds by lap 16.

In the midfield, one driver stood out above all: rookie Lance Stroll climbed from 20th to 14th on the opening lap, according to formula1.com. On the same lap, Kevin Magnussen of the Haas F1 Team and Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber collided. Magnussen had to pit straight away.

Mercedes brought Hamilton in after lap 17, switching him from ultrasofts to the soft compound. The aim was to pre-empt a possible undercut, but the plan backfired. Hamilton rejoined behind Verstappen. The Red Bull had not yet pitted and was running on old tyres. Despite his fresher rubber, Hamilton could not get by. Three laps after his stop he was only fifth, according to our data.

Motor Sport Magazine cited two reasons. Overtaking at Albert Park has always been difficult, and the DRS zone is short. On top of that came the new cars: they generated more turbulent air, so a challenger could barely get close enough.

Ferrari, meanwhile, kept Vettel out. He led from lap 17 and did not pit until lap 23. He rejoined ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton. The drivers who had yet to stop then led briefly: Bottas on laps 23 and 24, Räikkönen on lap 25. From lap 26 Vettel was back in front. According to Motor Sport Magazine, he had a lead of around six seconds when Verstappen finally pitted on lap 25.

Hamilton never got close to Vettel after that. formula1.com reported suspected floor damage and brief power fluctuations on his Mercedes. Vettel won by 9.975 seconds, while Bottas finished third in his first race for Mercedes. After the race, Hamilton said Mercedes had simply lacked pace on the ultrasofts in the high temperatures.

Seven cars failed to finish. For the home crowd it was a bitter day:

• Romain Grosjean (Haas): He had started sixth and retired after 13 laps with a water leak.
• Jolyon Palmer (Renault): He retired after 15 laps with brake problems that, according to formula1.com, had been troubling him for some time.
• Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): He retired after 21 laps, officially with a hydraulics issue.
• Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): For the local hero, things were already going wrong before the start. According to formula1.com, a sensor fault left his car stuck in sixth gear. He had to take a pit lane start and only joined the race on lap 2. His race ended after 25 laps, officially with a power unit failure. Wikipedia gives the fuel cell as the cause.
• Lance Stroll (Williams): His first Formula 1 race ended after 40 laps with brake problems.
• Kevin Magnussen (Haas): He carried on after the first-lap collision until suspension damage stopped him after 46 laps.
• Fernando Alonso (McLaren): In the uncompetitive McLaren-Honda he held tenth place for a long time. Late in the race, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg passed him at the same corner. He retired after 50 laps. The official reason was vibrations, while reports point to suspension or floor damage.

Winners:

• Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari: After a winless 2016, they claimed their first victory since Singapore 2015. It was Ferrari's first win in Australia since 2007 and Vettel's 43rd Grand Prix win. Räikkönen, in fourth, set the fastest lap of the race.
• Felipe Massa (Williams): He went from seventh on the grid to sixth place, the best result behind the top teams.
• Force India: Sergio Pérez and Ocon each gained three places and took seven points for seventh and tenth.
• Toro Rosso: Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat finished eighth and ninth. Kvyat was one of only a few drivers to pit twice.
• Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber): He stepped in at short notice for Pascal Wehrlein, who had injured his back at the Race of Champions. Giovinazzi was in the car from third free practice onwards. On his debut he moved up from 16th to 12th.
• Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren): He gained five positions, more than any other driver, but only finished 13th, two laps down.

Losers:

• Romain Grosjean: He lost 14 places. Sixth in qualifying, he had a good shot at points but retired early.
• Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes: They had pole position and the fastest car in qualifying. Even so, the pit stop cost them the win.
• Daniel Ricciardo: He started from the pit lane and retired. At his home race, it was a day to forget.

The win put Vettel top of the 2017 standings with 25 points, ahead of Hamilton (18), Bottas (15), Räikkönen (12) and Verstappen (10). Ferrari also led the constructors' championship with 37 points, ahead of Mercedes (33) and Red Bull (10). Williams had 8 points, Force India 7 and Toro Rosso 6. Renault, Sauber, McLaren and Haas did not score.

The race was more than just a win in the opening round. According to Motor Sport Magazine, it was the first time in the hybrid era that a rival had beaten Mercedes on pure pace. The 2015 win in Singapore did not count, because Mercedes had problems of their own there. After three years of Mercedes dominance, Melbourne pointed to a genuine title race between two teams: Vettel with Ferrari against Hamilton with Mercedes.

The race also exposed a weakness of the new cars, though. Even on clearly fresher tyres, Hamilton could not get past Verstappen. Overtaking had become even harder with the wider cars, and that is exactly what decided the win.