Free practice

The new season of Formula 1 has traditionally opened at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Despite the preparations and all sorts of tests, the starting stage still remains a kind of puncture, during which teams continue to identify weak points in their cars. Thus, during the free practice, many riders encountered problems that had to be quickly corrected before the Saturday qualification.

The mechanics of Red Bull decided to replace the chassis on the car of their leader Max Verstappen. The exact cause was not mentioned, but it was said about the possibility of leaks in the fuel tank or problems with electrical wiring. Difficulties did not pass by his former team-mate, and now Renault pilot Daniel Riccardo. The Australian was late for the second training session due to seat belt problems. The athlete himself admitted that he did not know the cause of the malfunction, and also assured his fans that he had not grown stout.

Leaders did not go without breakdowns either. So, Ferrari rookie Charles Leclaire quite confidently conducted the first practice and showed the third time, and in the second he became only the ninth. In the course of one of the laps, the car Monegasque spun, after which the training was completed for him.

His team-mate Sebastian Vettel also did not avoid problems, but overall he performed quite smoothly. In the first and third practices, he showed the second time, and in the second - the fifth. In this case, the first place was firmly occupied by his main rival - the champion of the last two years, Lewis Hamilton. The driver of the Mercedes three times in a row showed the best time and immediately set out his claim to victory.

Daniil Kvyat also conducted training runs successfully. Russian pilot Toro Rosso twice managed to get into the top ten, showing the seventh and eighth time, respectively. In addition, he was three times ahead of his team-mate Alexander Albon, which is a good indicator for him. It's no secret that the main competition takes place between teammates.

Qualification

True, on Saturday, Daniel was unable to repeat their results in training. The Russian showed only 15th time and could not qualify for the third segment. This was also not possible for his teammate, but he nevertheless turned out to be higher than Kvyat in the final protocol. Albon surpassed it by 0.133 seconds and ranked two positions higher.

At the same time, the Russian pilot Toro Rosso was pleased with his performance in qualifying, but noted that he experienced some difficulties in the second segment.

“We were at a very high level during the training and in the first segment of qualification. In the second, something went wrong. Plus Sebastian (Vettel. - RT ) flew off the track in front of me. I had to dodge, which led to a loss of time. Not complaining, he really did everything in his power to get away from the trajectory. But it didn’t work out too well, ”Quata Motorsport quotes.

The main loser qualification was Robert Kubica. Returning to Formula 1 after a serious injury, the Pole showed the worst time, more than 5.5 seconds behind the leader. In the tenth turn, his car touched the wall and dismounted the wheel. In this case, the failure began to pursue the Williams rider during the third free practice, when he touched the wall of the pit lane.

The best time again showed Lewis Hamilton. The five-time Formula One champion again brilliantly passed the track and won the pole position for the sixth year in a row. Only 0.112 seconds gave him a partner in Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, and the rest lost to the Briton quite a lot. So, Vettel became the third behind more than 0.7 seconds. Behind him settled Verstappen from Red Bull and Leclaire.

“Awesome day! After the tests, we did not know for sure what positions we were in, but we hoped to maintain the lead. All the team members worked at the limit, both at the base and at the track. Valtteri performed well today, we had a fierce battle. Now I have as many poles in Australia as Michael Schumacher had in Suzuka and Ayrton Senna in Imola? Incredibly, I did not know about it, ”- quotes Hamilton Sky Sports.

Race

As often happens in Formula 1, most of the key events of the race took place already in the starting segment. The first few hundred meters included the fateful overtaking by Bottas of his team-mate Hamilton, as well as the accident involving Riccardo. The Aussie tried to dodge the cars of his rivals, but in the end still lost the front wing. It is noteworthy that in the end the cause of the breakdown was not a collision with one of the opponents, but a bump on the grass. As a result, the Aussie managed to drive only 28 laps, after which he was forced to go the distance.

However, the first track left the car Renault running Carlos Sainz - Jr. The Spaniard was on the 14th position when his car suddenly began to smoke. The pilot managed to get to the boxes, but could not continue the race. Soon, among the main losers of the Australian Grand Prix was the Frenchman Romain Grosjean. The reason for the descent of the racer "Haas" steel problems with the wheel.

On this breakdown ended, and the attention of the audience focused on the fight for the position. One of the fiercest was held in the middle of the peloton, where the pilot of the former Force India, and now Racing Point Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasli of Red Bull, fought for places from the ninth to the 11th

At the same time, the rivalry between the last two athletes was of a super-fundamental nature, because it was the Frenchman who replaced the Russians in Toro Rosso and, in fact, deleted him from the “Queen of motorsport” for a year. Subsequently, Quat returned to the farm club Red Bull, and went out to increase to the main team.

The confrontation of three pilots entered the active phase on the 38th lap. First Kvyat tried to attack Stroll, but flew into the gravel. At this point, after the pit stop, the Gasley returned, facing the Russian. Between Daniel and Pierre turned the struggle, which ended in favor of the rider Toro Rosso. In the third turn, he walked around his counterpart and broke the tenth position.

In the remaining time, he went out many times trying to attack Quyat and regain his cherished place with glasses, but failed. Russian confidently spent the race and retained the tenth line. Daniel himself made more than one attempt to bypass Stroll, but in the end he was content with one point.

“It was very nice to keep the race behind a faster car. I needed to concentrate heavily on what was going on behind me, but it’s great to finish the race in the spectacle zone, ”said Quat after the race.

Another interesting battle unfolded for the third line. Place on the pedestal contested Verstappen and Vettel, but success eventually accompanied the Dutchman. In the first half of the race, Sebastian kept to Bottas and Hamilton, but in the second half he slowed down considerably. In an attempt to understand the reasons, he tried to contact his mechanics, but they could not give him an answer. Max, on the contrary, after the pit stop showed excellent speed performance and eventually walked around the German. However, to develop success he failed. The pilot Red Bull stayed a few seconds from Lews, but could not get around it.

It is noteworthy that the third place Verstappen interrupted 11-year series of failures Honda. The fact is that the race cars with engines of this manufacturer were not on the podium with the 2008 British Grand Prix.

The victory went to Bottas. Finnish pilot confidently spent the race and more than 20 seconds ahead of his closest competitor and part-time partner Hamilton. In addition, the driver of Mercedes recorded at his own expense the fastest lap, which according to the new rules gave him an additional point in the overall standings. Thus, for his fourth victory at the Grand Prix in his career, he received 26 points.

"This is my best race in Formula 1." I did not even understand what happened. The start was very good. I controlled everything. The car was incredible good. Pure pleasure, ”admitted Bottas.