All the pre-season hype and chatter has at last led to this; Formula One returns for another season of high-speed drama and intense rivalries, starting off today with the Australian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race from 4pm AEDT.
A new season begins at the 5.3km Albert Park semi-street circuit, where 58-laps will be contested to determine the winner of the Australian Grand Prix.
As per tyre regulations, Pirelli have brought three compounds of their dry-tyre range being the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft – with the drivers required to use at least two of the three varieties during the race.
New for Formula One in 2018 is the restriction for teams on power-unit usage, with a mere three permitted to be used before grid penalties begin to be applied.
This’ll also be the first race that the Halo head protection device will be in use, with its implementation already having triggered a change in the positioning of the start lights for better visibility.
Lewis Hamilton marched to an imperious sixth pole position during qualifying, putting daylight between himself and Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, who himself was only a hundredth ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Title protagonists Hamilton and Vettel both share two wins apiece at this venue, with Kimi Räikkönen the only other driver with multiple wins here. The Finn’s last win in Formula One in fact came in Australia back in 2013.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo will start his home race from eighth on the grid, having copped that three-place grid penalty for driving slowly under red flag conditions during the second practice session earlier in the weekend.
Ricciardo’s demotion will put the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in a handy position at the start, being elevated up to fifth and sixth.
Dry conditions are expected for the race, after the deluge early on Saturday having prompted fears for a wet race. Though regardless of rain or not, there is always a high probability of Safety Car intervention at this race.
The midfield scrum always provides flavour to the races and with the likes of Renault, McLaren, Force India and Haas closer to each other this season – there could be plenty of hustling going on in the top ten positions.
Though at the front, with the pace shown from Mercedes AMG and Hamilton – it is difficult to look past them to start off the new year on a winning note.
The mega 21-race season gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix, so tune in for live blog coverage on The Roar from 4pm as we welcome in another year of Formula One.
woodart
Guest
so, how many passes on the track for the lead???? passes in the pits ....anoraks territory
Mark Young
Roar Guru
You got that right... Hanging for that like you wouldn't belive mate.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That then wraps up this live blog for The Roar of the Australian Grand Prix. I hope you enjoyed that race, because it certainly was a cracker. A pleasure to again cover the race for The Roar from the circuit itself and until the next blog for Bahrain, have a great evening and catch you all next time!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thanks for tuning in Mark as always. Hopefully you can catch a few more blogs this season, if you can't watch the races themselves. A shame that F1 TV Pro won't be available here just yet.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 25 -- Sebastian Vettel 18 -- Lewis Hamilton 15 -- Kimi Räikkönen 12 -- Daniel Ricciardo 10 -- Fernando Alonso 8 --- Max Verstappen 6 --- Nico Hulkenberg 4 --- Valtteri Bottas 2 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 1 --- Carlos Sainz 0 --- Sergio Perez 0 --- Esteban Ocon 0 --- Charles Leclerc 0 --- Lance Stroll 0 --- Brendon Hartley 0 --- Romain Grosjean 0 --- Kevin Magnussen 0 --- Pierre Gasly 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 40 -- Scuderia Ferrari 22 -- Mercedes AMG 20 -- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 12 -- McLaren Renault 7 --- Renault Sport 0 --- Force India Mercedes 0 --- Williams Mercedes 0 --- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 0 --- Haas Ferrari
anon
Roar Pro
I don't know why the British commentary are lamenting the VSC. Hamilton blew it by meandering about in the first stint. The team had to get on the radio to tell him to get into the 1:27's which he immediately did. Instead of building a lead he chose just to cruise around and maintain a gap. At the end he was basically 7-8 tenths a lap quicker than Vettel despite having older tyres.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A strategic masterstroke has seen Sebastian Vettel make it back-to-back wins at the Australian Grand Prix, as the Ferrari driver secured the lead from title rival Lewis Hamilton during a safety car intervention. The curse of pole position struck Hamilton again in Melbourne, despite having made the start he needed to lead the sister Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen away at the start. Vettel slotted into third before a safety car intervention changed the fortunes of the race. Lap 26 saw the virtual safety car initiated, as both Haas cars which had been running an impressive fifth and sixth came to a halt simultaneously with loose wheels, following their pit-stops. Vettel waited to take his one and only stop for soft tyres, and on Lap 27 retained the lead of the race after taking service, whilst Hamilton was relegated to second having had to reduce his speed under the safety car conditions. From there, not even a late charge from the reigning world champion was enough to stop the Ferrari from opening his account in 2018 on a winning note. Räikkönen ensured a double-podium finish for the Scuderia, consolidating third despite a hearty challenge from Daniel Ricciardo, who after starting eighth with a penalty ended up fourth and with the fastest lap of the race. Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen endured a scrappy race and ended up sixth behind a buoyed Fernando Alonso, who enjoyed McLaren’s first outing with Renault power, after another challenging pre-season. Points were also scored by Stoffel Vandoorne in ninth, which put McLaren fourth in the constructor’s standings following the first race. Valtteri Bottas couldn’t quite make the comeback he would have wanted from fifteenth, having been relegated with a gearbox penalty following his qualifying crash. Eighth position behind the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg was all that could be managed for the Finn in the sister Mercedes AMG. Best of the rookies on debut was Charles Leclerc who had a clean race to thirteenth, whilst his Sauber teammate Marcus Ericsson was an early casualty with a mechanical related issue. Out of the race early also, was the other rookie in Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, whose maiden race came to a grinding halt on only the sixth lap of the race. Toro Rosso’s first race with Honda also saw a familiar outcome, with the engine of Pierre Gasly going up in smoke, whilst Brendon Hartley finished last and a lap down. The championship will resume in a fortnight’s time in the Gulf nation of Bahrain.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Great work today Jawad Enjoy the remainder of the season, I may not check in frequently as I don't have Foxtel or a VPN, but I am heading to the TAB tomorrow to place a wager on Lewis to be a 5 time world champion.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 58-LAP AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 1 S. Vettel 2 L. Hamilton 3 K. Räikkönen 4 D. Ricciardo 5 F. Alonso 6 M. Verstappen 7 N. Hulkenberg 8 V. Bottas 9 S. Vandoorne 10 C. Sainz 11 S. Perez 12 E. Ocon 13 C. Leclerc 14 L. Stroll 15 B. Hartley RET R. Grosjean RET K. Magnussen RET P. Gasly RET M. Ericsson RET S. Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lewis Hamilton survives a late tyre drop off to finish second. Kimi Räikkönen makes it a double visit to the podium for Ferrari. And a mega effort from Daniel Ricciardo, who just misses out on third after starting the race from eighth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 58/58: All or nothing from Ricciardo, can he make the move?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 58/58: FINAL LAP 5.7 between Vettel and Hamilton. 1.7 between Hamilton and Räikkönen. 0.9 between Räikkönen and Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/58: 2 LAPS TO GO Ricciardo now within DRS range of Kimi, but it might be too late to make a move.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/58: 3 LAPS TO GO Alonso looks to have the measure of Verstappen too, despite the 0.9 second gap to the Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 55/58: Ricciardo sets the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:25.945. He is still 1.2 seconds behind Kimi though. Vettel now has the gap to Hamilton up to 4.3 seconds. Game, set and match?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Glad to say I don't miss watching the race on 10.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 54/58: The gap is out to 3 seconds now! That'll be the end of Hamilton's charge then, as Vettel pulls away.