Ferrari driver acknowledges making most of the virtual safety car after poor start to stun Mercedes' Hamilton and clinch season-opening Australian GP
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the podium after winning the Australian GP in Melbourne yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel took advantage of a timely virtual safety car to snatch victory from Lewis Hamilton in yesterday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver crossed the line 5 seconds ahead of his Mercedes rival who, determined to regain the lead, piled the pressure on the German before backing off in the dying stages with his tyres losing grip. Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was third.
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Vettel's fortuitous win, the 48th of his career and third at Melbourne's Albert Park, allowed the 30-year-old to collect the maximum 25 points on offer and take the early lead in the overall championship standings. Hamilton is second seven points adrift, with Raikkonen third a further three points behind.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton
"We got a bit lucky with the safety car," Vettel, who on the podium. "My start didn't really work, I lost my connection to Lewis and Kimi, I was struggling with my tyres, I was praying for a safety car!" Hamilton had gone into the race favourite to open his bid for a fifth world title with victory after seizing pole position by a commanding margin on Saturday. He kept the lead at the start and looked to be comfortably in control of the race ahead of Raikkonen, who remained second, and Vettel in third.
Ferrari brought Raikkonen into the pits for his one and only stop on the 18th of 58 laps. With the the Finn on fresher rubber making him potentially faster, Mercedes chose to pit Hamilton on the very next lap to cover off any threat posed by the Ferrari.
Vettel, who had been running third, chose to stay out and inherited a lead which he would have certainly lost in normal race conditions. But the race turned on the 25th lap when Romain Grosjean's Haas ground to a halt at the side of the track, triggering the virtual safety car. With cars on track obliged to drive slowly under virtual safety car conditions minimising time lost in the pits, Vettel took his opportunity dived in for his stop and came out ahead of Hamilton. He kept the lead through a subsequent full safety car period and soaked up the pressure piled on him by his Mercedes rival.
"Congratulations to Sebastian," said Hamilton. "We have to go back to the drawing board. We had pace, but it's so hard to overtake here." Red Bull home hero Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, having started eighth due to a three-place grid penalty. He hustled Raikkonen for the final podium spot but was unable to get close enough to the Ferrari to mount a move.
Fernando Alonso fended off Max Verstappen to take fifth for McLaren in the Woking-based team's first race after ditching former engine suppliers Honda for Renault.
Nico Hulkenberg was seventh in the works Renault ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who had started 15th after crashing his Mercedes in qualifying. Stoffel Vandoorne made it two McLarens in the points with his ninth placed finish. Carlos Sainz battled nausea to bring home the final point for Renault in tenth.
The Haas outfit were unable to convert their best ever qualifying result into a strong haul of points with both cars failing to finish. Grosjean's team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who was running as high as fourth, stopped shortly after emerging from the pits only two laps before the Frenchman's own untimely demise.
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