Australian Grand Prix 2015: The Top 10 Readers’ Results!

The inaugural race of the 2015 season was won by Lewis Hamilton ahead of Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. The rest of the top 10 included, in order, Felipe Massa, Felipe Nasr, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, Marcus Ericsson, Carlos Sainz Jr, and Sergio Perez.

Let’s see what the 154 voters have decided…

1. Lewis Hamilton

1st in qualifications

1st in race

A pole with a half-second lead over his teammate, a race where he never seemed in danger: the reigning World Champion started the 2015 season better than in 2014 with this effortless victory in Melbourne.

2. Felipe Nasr

11th in qualifying

5th in the race

At the door of Q3 on Saturday and in the top 5 on Sunday, the young Brazilian’s debut was nearly perfect, both for him and his team, amidst last week’s judicial turmoil. After a very good start, albeit a tough one, Nasr held his ground against Ricciardo, only yielding to Räikkönen’s Ferrari.

3. Sebastian Vettel

4th in qualifications

3rd in the race

First podium for a first race in red: Vettel wasted no time in giving reasons for satisfaction to a Scuderia more spirited than in 2014, even though the gap remains significant with the Silver Arrows. The German took advantage of Massa’s pit stop to overtake him and then managed a lead of 3 to 4 seconds.

4. Nico Rosberg

2nd in qualifications

2nd in race

So close, yet so far. These words summarize the weekend of the 2014 vice-champion, behind his untouchable teammate whom he could never catch up to, even when going all out, as he himself declared during the race.

5. Felipe Massa

3rd in qualifications

4th in the race

Qualified at the last moment ahead of the two Ferraris, the Paulista could not make it onto the podium during the race, partly due to an early pit stop which placed him behind a slowing Ricciardo. Meanwhile, Vettel increased his pace to overtake him thanks to an undercut and managed his lead thereafter.

6. Kimi Räikkönen

5th in qualifying

Abandon in race (wheel not securely fastened)

A painful start – squeezed by Vettel and hit by Sainz and Nasr – and a difficult first pit stop weakened the race for the Finn, who was nevertheless on his way to fourth position, before suffering a new setback in the pits with a loose wheel.

7. Carlos Sainz Jr

8th in qualifying

9th in race

After a successful qualifying session, the Spaniard was calmly headed for a top 7 finish, but a pit stop that lasted an eternity due to a stubborn left-rear tire caused him to plummet in the standings, before he ultimately clawed his way back into the top 10.

8. Jenson Button

17th in qualifications

11th in the race

56 laps completed in one go: that’s what nobody expected from a McLaren MP4-30 with a Honda engine for this Australian Grand Prix. And yet the 2009 World Champion managed it and even held off the Mercedes-powered Force India of Pérez for a long time. He just missed out on the points.

9. Daniel Ricciardo

7th in qualifications

6th in the race

The home GPs follow one another but are not alike: surprisingly second before disqualification last year, Ricciardo couldn’t do better than a sixth place this season. His RB11 couldn’t outperform Nasr’s Sauber-Ferrari, at least as fast as the Red Bull-Renault.

10. Nico Hülkenberg

14th in qualifying

7th in the race

Without making a noise, the German comfortably slipped into the top 10 of this race and never moved from there, despite a car that seems less than sprightly at the start of the season.