2017 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Race – Report
After months of speculation about the new cars and regulations, today was the day that we would see how the cars would react at the opening-race of the season – the 2017 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
The season has definitely started with a bang and the Scuderia Ferrari team really does look strong – bringing the car home and with Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel taking the first win of the season.
It’s still early days but it looks like we’re going to have a great battle this season and below – we have all the reaction in our race report of the 2017 Australian Grand Prix.
Scuderia Ferrari – 2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Report
Sebastian Vettel – 1st
“This is one of the many steps and we have to enjoy what we do!”
“It’s been a great day for us – the team has been working so hard at the track as much as back at the factory – it’s a great feeling!”
“Grazie Mille – You can’t say much more. The last months have been really intense and it’s been tough to get into the rhythm. It’s just the beginning and there’s still a lot of work going on.”
“This is one of many steps and we have to enjoy what we do – it’s great to see people smiling and now we have to reset and go to China and try and do another good job.”
Kimi Raikkonen – 4th
“We know what we have to do to make the car better.”
“In the first stint we struggled a little bit with the Ultrasoft tyres – once we switched to the soft compound, the car started to behave really nicely.”
“It was not the most exciting race for me, most of the time I was fuel saving but when I was pushing the car it was fast and it’s got a really good feeling.”
“Fourth place is a bit disappointing but we scored some points and Seb’s win is a great result for the whole team.”
“We learned a lot from this weekend and we start from here, with a good packaging and we pretty much know what we have to do to make the car better.”
Maurizio Arrivabene – Team Principal, Ferrari
“This win reflects all the hard work which we have put in over the past few months.”
“A Good result today that could have been a great one it we’d managed to get Kimi on the podium too.”
“When we launched the SF70H – we referred to it as “Our Ferrari” and indeed – today’s win reflects all the effort and hard work which we have put in over the past few months, both in Maranello and at the track.”
“As for Sebastian, he did a really good job as did the whole team in fact. It’s a real shame that Kimi struggled in the early stages to get into the right rhythm and our car went very well on track.”
“It was well balanced and consistent in terms of performance and the tyres meant that we were able to adopt an aggressive strategy.”
“This is only the first race of the Championship and there are still 19 to go – we must maintain a high level of concentration at every Grand Prix, avoiding distractions and already – from today, we are looking forward to the next Grand Prix in China.”
Mattia Binotto – Chief Technical Officer, Ferrari
“We must continue to push as hard as possible on development.”
“Happy? Yes – definitely! It’s a track that you reap the rewards of your collective efforts over the winter and it was a busy period during which everyone doubled their energy and effort.”
“We still have 19 challenges ahead of us and today’s race shows how the slightest thing can make all the difference between being in the front or being behind.”
“We must continue to push hard as possible on development – Seb did an excellent job while Kimi definitely had a more complicated race, partly because he started a bit further back on the grid.”
“He managed to hold onto his position and finish the lap times in the final part of the race – showing everyone what he’s capable of.”
Mercedes – 2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Report
Lewis Hamilton – 2nd
“This shows we have a real race on our hands this season.”
“A big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari – I know this win has been a long time coming for them. This shows that we’ve got a real race on our hands this season and it’s a challenge that we will relish.”
“It’s going to be great for the fans – we had a really good start which is fantastic and it’s always nice to get a good getaway.”
“I was struggling with grip from the get-go and Sebastian was able to always answer me in terms of lap time and just go quicker!”
“I struggled for grip to the point where I needed to come in plus – the gap was closing up and I was sliding around a lot.”
“We made the call to pit because otherwise – Sebastian would have come past me anyway.”
Valtteri Bottas – 3rd
“As a team we did a really good job – but Ferrari were quicker today!”
“There are always things that could have gone better on the day but it’s a good starting point for my journey driving for Mercedes.”
“I think as a team we did a really good job with the car we had but Ferrari were quicker today – there’s no doubt about that.”
“They’ve obviously done a great job over the winter and from my side, the main issue was the first stint. I felt like I was always sliding around on the Ultrasoft Tyre – missing both front and rear grip and especially after 10 laps.”
“That wasn’t easy – once we got on the Soft Tyres, I had a great feeling with the car and it was behaving really nicely – it felt nice and it’s just a shame because it was just a bit too late.”
“Overall, this race wasn’t a disaster – it’s good to start the podia with a new team and every position is important for the Championship.”
Toto Wolff – Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“From the early stages it was clear that Sebastian was very quick.”
“Some races you win and some race you lose. When the days come where another team has done a better job – you just need to accept that with humility and recognise their performance.”
“Today, Sebastian and Ferrari were well-deserved winners. From the early stages of the race, it was clear that Sebastian was very quick because Lewis wash;t able to pull away – Sebastian came into the window where the undercut was possible and we had the feeling, at that point, that the tyres were not lasting.”
“Ferrari played it very well – they had the quicker car today.”
“I must compliment Valtteri too – he showed really good pace, made no mistakes through the whole weekend and got his first podium with the team in his first race – now, the job for us is to learn from the lessons and develop in every area.”
James Allison – Technical Director
“We’ll be determined to come back stronger in China.”
“If it wasn’t clear already in qualifying then it’s certainly clear now that this is going to be a season with very small margins!”
“We got a good getaway from the flag but credit to Ferrari today – they had a very quick car and we just weren’t good enough to stick with them.”
“We won’t be panicking though – this is a long season and we scored some very good points with both cars today – we’ll be determined to come back stronger in China and make sure those small margins go our way the next time.”
Sauber – 2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Report
Marcus Ericsson – DNF
“I was fighting hard and got hit at Turn 3”
“It’s a very disappointing race for me – I did not have a good start but then I was fighting hard in the first couple of corners on lap one and unfortunately in Turn 3 – I got hit from behind and this caused a lot of damage to the right side as well as to the floor of the car.”
“From that moment on, it was all about finishing the race.”
“Later on – I had to stop the car on track due to a hydraulic failure caused by the incident on lap 1.”
Antonio Giovinazzi – 12th
“I would like to thank the Sauber F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari for this opportunity.”
“It was a good race and I’m very happy with my performance today. My main objective was to gain more experience and collect mileage in the car.”
“I will sit together with my engineers to analyse areas where I can improve.”
“I would just like to thank the Sauber F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari again for this opportunity – it was an amazing race weekend for me.”
Monisha Kaltenborn – Team Principal, Sauber
“Antonio showed his performance potential.”
“A very impressive performance from Antonio during his first Formula One race – he showed his potential as well as why the car is capable of.”
“The lap times were quite satisfying.”
“Marcus’ race was ruined after the start in Turn 3 – the situation there was clear-cut and it’s so incomprehensible why the stewards didn’t react to the incident.”
Sahara Force India – 2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Report
Sergio Perez – 7th
“Driving these cars is so much fun!”
“I am very pleased with the result and I don’t believe that there is anything we could have done better today.”
“Seventh place was the most we could achieve and the team had to make all the right calls to get this result. We had the correct strategy and we managed the tyres well to bring home the points.”
“We still had a few big moves on Kvyat and Sainz – although it wasn’t easy to overtake but once we were in clean air, I felt that I was in a very strong position.”
“Driving these cars is so much fun, you can push a lot harder than in the past and I was doing my fastest laps towards the end of the race.”
“We know that we still need to improve this car and there is more performance to come but this is a positive start to our season and we can be happy this evening.”
Esteban Ocon – 10th
“I found a gap in the last few laps and took my chance!”
“Scoring my first point in Melbourne is a very nice reward after what has been a tough weekend.”
“I spent almost the entire race fighting against Fernando (Alonso) because we were side-by-side for the first lap of the race.”
“He was able to stay ahead and I had to chase him for the rest of the afternoon – it was a hard fight because Fernando is a tough opponent and it was so difficult to get close and overtake.”
“Eventually, I found a gap in the last few laps and took my chance going into turn one and it was a very big moment for my race as it took me into the points.”
“I am happy with the result and I have learned a huge amount from the first race weekend with the team – I hope this is the first point of many this season.”
Robert Fernley – Deputy Team Principal, Sahara Force India
“We know that there is more performance to come.”
“To come away from the first race of the year with 7 points is a fantastic reward for all the hard work over the winter and this weekend.”
“Sergio’s race was a typical battling performance as he made some opportunistic move on both Toro Rosso cars which proved crucial for his end result.”
“Esteban also delivered a fantastic drive and everyone within the team was delighted to see him score his first point in Formula One.”
“We know there is more performance to come but we’ve started with our best food forward and we will head to Shanghai determined to build on these results.”
McLaren – 2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Report
Fernando Alonso – DNF
“Our car is obviously not very competitive – I probably had my very best race day!”
“In terms of driving, I probably had one of my very best races today – I was able to drive the car at my maximum and I felt confident and enjoyed driving the car throughout the race – I was able to push.”
“With such little degradation from this year’s tyres – it was enjoyable to be in the cockpit again however the enjoyment is less for us because we are not fighting at the front.”
“Our car is obviously not very competitive at the moment so being able to keep the car in the points was a little surprising.”
“Towards the end of the race, I had a problem that prevented me from finishing race and it’s disappointing to see that we’re not ready to fight at the front – we need to quirky make some further improvements.”
Stoffel Vandoorne – 13th
“I deserve a slice of birthday cake this evening!”
“I had a very tricky race. At my pit-stop I had to perform a full power-cycle of the car to reset it which cost me both time and position.”
“I then lost the dashboard readout for a while.”
“Throughout the race, I was very busy on the steering wheel and making a lot of changed to the car’s settings in order to bring the car home.”
“Nevertheless, after the testing in Barcelona we didn’t really expect to finish the race so this is a bit of a milestone.”
“We definitely don’t have enough pace to compete with the cars ahead of us so we need an extra big push for China in a fortnight’s time.”
“I think I probably deserve a slice of birthday cake this evening!”
Eric Boullier – McLaren-Honda Racing Director
“The 2017 Australian Grand Prix won’t be remembered as one of McLaren-Honda’s finest hours and indeed there are precious few reasons for us to be cheerful here in Melbourne this evening.”
“However, I want to pay tribute to both our drivers – they both performed superbly albeit in very different ways.”
“Fernando’s car suffered a damaged left-front brake duct early on but he nonetheless drover a prodigiously impressive race.”
“Tantalisingly close to the end of the race, however – with the damage on the car it turned into a terminal problem. That was bitterly disappointing end to a wonderfully spirited drive.”
“Stoffel had a dreadful afternoon – losing his dashboard function early on in the race which caused having to count the gear changes both up and down in the absence of the usual on-dash digital readout.”
“He soldiered to the finish and although his afternoon was difficult – the fact that he went the distance was a consolation of sorts.”
“From here we will return to Woking and Sakura where our development work will continue with relentless intensity with regard to chassis and power-unit alike in an effort ti improve the MCL32 for the Shanghai-Bahrain double-header in a fortnight’s time.”
Lots more coming soon!
xxx
great race!
Author
Yes – it was! 🙂 x