Race Results 2018 Australian F1 Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel - Lewis Hamilton - Kimi Raikkonen on the podium winners at Australian GP F1/2018

Event: Australian Grand Prix
Track: Albert Park Circuit

Weather: 23,9°C dry & sunny
Tarmac: 39,2°C dry
Humidity: 38,5%

Sebastian Vettel won the first grand prix of 2018 in Australia. It was his 48th F1 victory, podium no. 100 of his Formula 1 career and his 3rd win in Melbourne.

The Australian Grand Prix started without any incident. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) lost his 4th place to Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in the first corner.

In the 5th lap Williams driver and rookie Sergey Sirotkin retired his car due to a brake problem in the FW41. Marcus Ericsson had to come back to the pit, because his Sauber lost it's power steering that was caused by an hydraulic problem and also retired.

Verstappen was chasing down Magnussen but overheated his rear tires on that and spun in the first corner of lap 10. This spin costed him 2 places. His team mate Daniel Riccardo who started on 8th place also passed him on that moment.

The Toro Rosso fitted with the Honda engine this year pitted in lap 15 with engine problems. Kimi Raikkonen was the first car that pitted just to get fresh tires. He got soft Pirelli tires on his Ferrari SF71H and resumed his race.

Lewis Hamilton pitted the next lap and also got soft tires on his Mercedes W09. Sebastian Vettel pitted in lap 26 and got back on the track in front of a surprised Lewis Hamilton. The British drivers asked on the radio: "What happend? Did I make a mistake?"

Vettel was lucky to be able to pit in a virtual safety car period that was triggered by the retired VF-18 Haas car of Romain Grosjean who had a lose front left wheel after his first pit stop. A lap before the Haas car of Kevin Magnussen retired with exactly the same problem after his pit stop. Both Haas drivers had done great and were driving in the top 6.

The virtual safety car period was changed in a normal safety car period and in lap 32 the safety car drove into the pit. All drivers now were racing again and British driver Hamilton was giving it all to try and pass the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. It was a chase down to the finish line and both drivers were flat out! Vettel was able to maintain the gap between Hamilton above the 1 sec DRS distance. It also helped that Hamilton made a small error in corner 9 and ended up next to the track.

Hamilton's had to stop his attack because his rear tires were overheating and was nursing the car to the finish. Vettel won the first race of 2018, just like he did last year.

See the 2018 Australian F1 GP pictures
See current 2018 F1 Championship Standings
See current 2018 F1 Calendar

See All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
See All Time F1 Driver Records
See All Time F1 Teams Rankings

F1 classification 2018 Australian GP

P	No	Driver	Team	Time	Laps	Grid	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	01:29:33.283	58	3	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	01:29:38.319	58	1	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	01:29:39.592	58	2	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	01:29:40.352	58	8	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	01:30:01.169	58	10	10
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	01:30:02.228	58	4	8
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	01:30:05.954	58	7	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	01:30:07.622	58	15	4
9	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	01:30:08.204	58	11	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	01:30:19.005	58	9	1
11	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	01:30:20.100	58	12	0
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	01:30:33.561	58	14	0
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	01:30:49.042	58	18	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	01:30:51.571	58	13	0
15	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	01:29:55.759	57	16	0
DNF	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Wheel nut	24	6	0
DNF	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	Wheel nut	22	5	0
DNF	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	Power unit	13	20	0
DNF	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Hydraulics	5	9	0
DNF	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	Brakes	4	19	0

Fastest lap:  1:25.945 min by Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB14) on lap 54 @222.128 km/h
Highest speed: 319,7 km/h by Nico Hulkenberg (Renault RS18)

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