Google+ Jack Leslie F1: 2015 Australian Grand Prix Weekend Report

13 March 2015

2015 Australian Grand Prix Weekend Report

The 2015 Formula 1 season officially kicked off at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
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After months of waiting and an inconclusive winter of testing, we finally got a first glimpse of the potential competitive order.

The Australian Grand Prix marked Manor Marussia F1's return to the sport. It was also Sebastian Vettel's first race weekend at Ferrari and saw Max Verstappen smash the youngest driver record, making his debut at the age of just 17. 

FP1
It was a busy start to the first session of the F1 2015 season, with Verstappen, Vettel, Carlos Sainz Jr and Kimi Raikkonen being the first to take to the track. Nico Rosberg set the opening timed lap with a 1:31.319.
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The German quickly lowered his best time to a 1:29.557, with Vettel and Raikkonen going second and third for Ferrari, two seconds off the pace.

Lewis Hamilton moved up to second place mid-way through the session, going 0.029 seconds slower than his team-mate. Rosberg ended first practice fastest, with Hamilton remaining second. 

Valtteri Bottas jumped to third, over one second behind the Mercedes duo, with Carlos Sainz Jr and Vettel completing the top five. Verstappen, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Pastor Maldonado and Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.

McLaren's session was cut short due to a small power unit issue, while only 15 drivers set a time. Romain Grosjean completed just four laps. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson failed to emerge from the pits as Sauber's court case with Giedo van der Garde continued to rumble on. Both Manor drivers failed to appear as the team completed checks.

FP2
Practice two got off to a slow start. Nasr and Ericsson were the first to emerge from the pit lane and take to the Albert Park Circuit, having sat out of the opening session due to Sauber's court case. 
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Ricciardo and Massa were forced to skip practice two due to an engine change and a water leak respectively. Kevin Magnussen went off at Turn 6, hitting the wall 20 minutes into the session and bringing out the red flag. 

However, it quickly resumed. Raikkonen briefly held the top spot before Vettel displaced him, with both drivers running on the soft tyre. Ericsson's running was hampered by a rear suspension failure with 50 minutes remaining. 

Mercedes returned to the front when Rosberg and Hamilton emerged on the option Pirelli compound. The former put in a 1:27.697 and ended the session fastest, with his team-mate one tenth further back. Vettel and Raikkonen were third and fourth, with Bottas, Daniil Kvyat, Sainz Jr, Maldonado, Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

FP3

Bottas was the first to emerge onto the track for the final practice session, followed by Maldonado and Vettel. With van der Garde giving up his rights to race in Australia for Sauber, the team switched focus to the rest of the weekend. Nasr and Ericsson set the opening timed laps.
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Sainz Jr quickly hit the front, before being displaced by Verstappen and Grosjean. Rosberg moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:29.364, just prior to the yellow flags emerging on the pit straight after Ricciardo stopped on the pit straight. 

Hamilton then went fastest with a 1:29.128. Qualifying runs on the soft compound saw the order change considerably in the final minutes of the session. However, Hamilton remained at the top of the timesheets with a 1:27.867, ending practice three quickest.

Vettel finished seven tenths further back in second place, with Rosberg third following a poor lap on the option tyre. Bottas and Massa completed the top five for Williams, with Raikkonen, Grosjean, Maldonado, Sainz Jr and Nasr rounding out the top 10. Magnussen and Button could only manage 16th and 17th, with Manor failing to run.

Qualifying
Q1
The slowest five drivers were eliminated from the fight for pole position in the opening segment of qualifying. The session got off to a quiet start, with Sainz Jr and Maldonado being the first out on track.
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Just as Q1 started, it was confirmed that Manor Marussia would not be taking part, despite the team's best efforts. Sainz Jr put in the opening timed lap, a 1:33.094 on the medium tyre. 

Vettel and Raikkonen then moved to the front on the soft Pirelli compound. Despite still being on the harder tyre, Hamilton and Rosberg went first and second, with the former putting in a 1:28.586. 

The Mercedes duo remained fastest, but there was plenty of movement behind in the final minutes of the session. Massa, Verstappen and Vettel completed the top five. Grosjean, Sainz Jr, Bottas, Hulkenberg and Raikkonen rounded out the top 10. With Manor not running, the other three drivers knocked out in Q1 were Ericsson, Button and Magnussen.

Q2
Five drivers were also eliminated from the second qualifying session, which got off to a quiet start. Nasr, the sole Sauber in Q2, was the first to take to the circuit. 
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The Brazilian also set the opening lap time, a 1:29.614 on the soft tyre. Hamilton went fastest by quite some margin, setting a 1:26.894, with Rosberg then going two tenths slower. 

The Mercedes duo, Vettel and Bottas remained in the pits for the final few minutes of the session. Hamilton ended Q2 at the top of the timesheets, with Rosberg, Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen next up. 

Massa, Grosjean, Sainz, Ricciardo and Maldonado also made it through to the top 10 shoot-out. Despite late improvements, Nasr, Verstappen, Kvyat, Hulkenberg and Perez were all eliminated from the session.

Q3
The final segment of qualifying decided the top 10 positions on the Australian Grand Prix grid. Bottas was the first to exit the pit lane and take to the track. He was followed out by Maldonado and Ricciardo.
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Maldonado set the opening time with a 1:29.480. He was quickly displaced by Raikkonen, with Hamilton then going 2.4 seconds faster with a 1:26.419. Rosberg went off at the penultimate corner and aborted his opening attempt.

The German could only manage second place, while Hamilton extended his advantage to score his second consecutive pole position at the Albert Park Circuit. Massa moved up to third, with Vettel fourth and Raikkonen fifth.

A mistake at the exit of the final corner meant Bottas dropped to sixth. Ricciardo was seventh, with Sainz Jr qualifying eighth for his F1 debut. Grosjean and Maldonado completed the top 10.

For full qualifying results, go here.

The Race
Under sunny skies in Melbourne, the F1 2015 season sparked into life in Australia. Hamilton started from pole position, ahead of Rosberg. Could the German take the fight to his team-mate? 

After injuring his back during qualifying, Bottas was deemed unfit to race by the FIA. Only 15 cars started the race, after Magnussen and Kvyat both stopped on their way to the grid with reliability issues.
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The revs rose, the lights went out and the Australian Grand Prix got underway. Off the line, Hamilton had a strong start and entered Turn 1 in the lead. The two Ferrari drivers got very close, causing Raikkonen and Sainz Jr to touch.

Raikkonen slowed, which bunched up the field. Nasr was squeezed between the Finn and Maldonado, with the Lotus driver being pitched into the Turn 2 barrier. The Safety Car was deployed to clear the damaged E23. Ericsson and Grosjean pitted at the end of the opening tour, with the latter's car being pushed into the garage and retiring.

The Safety Car returned to the pit lane at the end of lap three. Nasr moved ahead of Sainz Jr at the opening corner and the rookie then dropped behind Ricciardo. Hamilton's lead was 1.2 seconds by the end of the first lap at full racing speed.

Despite the aggressive restart, Nasr quickly fell into the clutches of Ricciardo and Sainz Jr. Raikkonen displaced the Toro Rosso rookie and set about passing 2014's star driver. At the back of the pack, Button and Perez ran side-by-side through the Turn 11 and 12 chicane, with the McLaren driver remaining ahead.
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The two then made contact at Turn 3, with Perez suffering minor damage. Raikkonen was the first to make a scheduled pit stop at the end of lap 16. It was a slow stop thanks to a delay on the left-rear tyre. 

Massa, driving the only Williams in the race, and Hulkenberg pitted at the end of lap 21. He emerged behind Ricciardo, but the Aussie took to the pits two laps later. Vettel and Sainz Jr changed onto the medium compound tyre at the end of lap 24, with the former emerging ahead of Massa. 

The reigning world champion was the first Mercedes driver to stop at the end of the next tour. Rosberg pitted on lap 26, with Hamilton retaining his comfortable lead. Following a very long opening stint, Verstappen stopped for a set of the softs at the end of lap 32 but he was forced to retire with a power unit problem just moments later.

Raikkonen pitted for the second and final time at the end of lap 40, switching to the medium tyre. However, like Verstappen, he didn't last long. The 2007 world champion slowed and pulled off at Turn 4, after the left-rear was not fitted properly. 
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Hamilton extended his lead to 2.2 seconds with 11 laps remaining. He traded fastest times with Rosberg in the closing stages. Further back, Ericsson displaced Sainz Jr for eighth place. The 2014 championship winner had it all under control, crossing the line to win the first race of the 2015 season.

It was his second Australian Grand Prix victory and 34th of his career. Rosberg kept him honest to finish as runner-up, with Vettel completing the podium on his debut for Ferrari. Massa was fourth for Williams, with Felipe Nasr in fifth in his maiden F1 race.

Ricciardo finished his home race in sixth, with Hulkenberg a distant seventh. Ericsson and Sainz Jr were eighth and ninth respectively, with the latter making it two of 2015's three rookies in the top 10. Perez was the final driver to score a point, with Button being classified 11th, two laps down.

For full Australian Grand Prix results, go here.

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