Bottas delivers crushing Melbourne victory as Ferraris fade
Bottas delivers crushing Melbourne victory as Ferraris fade
Valtteri Bottas secured a dominant victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix 25 seconds clear of team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton, while Max Verstappen finished ahead of both Ferraris to secure the first podium for a Honda-powered car since 2008.
Despite being pipped to pole position by Hamilton, Bottas was the more aggressive off the line and squeezed into the lead heading into turn one.
Bottas set a blistering pace in the early phase of the race, setting the fastest lap of the race in each of the opening 10 laps as he opened up a lead of almost four seconds over his world champion team-mate.
While Hamilton stopped on lap 16 to cover the Ferrari of Vettel who had pitted a lap earlier, Bottas extended his stint for a further seven laps, pushing the gap over his team-mate to just over 10 seconds.
Bottas hails 'best ever race' in AustraliaRead more
Updated Formula 1 standingsRead more
Hamilton appeared to have no answer for Bottas’ red-hot pace in the second half of the race, voicing concerns over his car’s rear-tyre life as he fell further back from the lead and questioned the team’s decision to pit him early.
With Bottas holding a comfortable lead entering the final few laps, the Finn upped his pace yet further to grab an extra point for the fastest lap of the race after earlier telling his race engineer: “I want 26 points today”.
Bottas crossed the line almost 21 seconds clear of his team-mate to deliver without a doubt the finest win of his F1 career to date, and a clear statement that he won’t play second fiddle at Mercedes this year as he bids to secure his future with the team.
Verstappen scored the first podium for a Honda-powered car since the 2008 British GP as Red Bull began their partnership with the Japanese manufacturer with third place, but crucially ahead of the two Ferraris.
Verstappen started the race from fifth on the grid, but showed strong pace in the opening half of the race to keep Vettel ahead in check. On lap 31, Verstappen used DRS to close on the German on the approach down to turn three and made the move stick around the outside with a stunning move.
From there on, Vettel faded badly and Ferrari debutant Charles Leclerc was able to cut the gap significantly to his team-mate in the closing stages before seemingly being told to hold station as the Ferraris finished just a second apart in fourth and fifth.
It was a bitterly disappointing start to the season for Ferrari who finished 57s behind race-winner Bottas as Vettel was heard to ask his engineer: “Why are we so slow?” in the closing stages of the race.
BOTTAS: "I don't know what just happened... I don't know what to say! It was definitely my best race ever. I felt so good and the car was so good" #AusGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/FUsLl3vArN
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 17, 2019
Kevin Magnussen banked a solid points haul for Haas with sixth place, but it was a mixed day for the team as Romain Grosjean retired with a front-left wheel issue after the pair had started from sixth and seventh on the grid.
Nico Hulkenberg was the sole Renault car to finish after converting his 11th place grid slot to an excellent seventh place finish in the race. Team-mate and home hero Daniel Ricciardo suffered a nightmare debut for his new team after losing his front wing at the start before being forced to retire later on with damage.
Kimi Raikkonen scored points on his debut for the Alfa Romeo team with eighth place, ahead of Racing Point debutant Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso returnee Daniil Kvyat who held off Red Bull's Pierre Gasly.
F1’s youngest ever British driver, Lando Norris, ended up outside of the points after starting eighth. It was a disappointing start to the year for McLaren who also lost new signing Carlos Sainz through a fiery MGU-K failure early in the race.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Audi agree STAR driver contract as Mercedes driver tipped for new F1 seat THIS season - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Ferrari show off new-look drivers following HUGE announcement
- Yesterday 22:57
McLaren leading fight for HUGE cash injection
- Yesterday 21:57
Newey set to announce STUNNING Red Bull departure
- Yesterday 17:57
Newey Red Bull exit wish CONFIRMED as F1 guru's reasons revealed
- Yesterday 20:57
F1 legend reveals 'FLOOD' of death threats after controversial decision
- Yesterday 19:57
Related news
Perez 'regrets' Red Bull qualifying strategy as stewards meeting looms
Protests set to continue as FIA fail to answer questions
Driver-fan interactions cancelled in Australia
Renault reveal their 2020 colours
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860