Ferrari and Vettel close to a good result in Melbourne
The Scuderia Ferrari could have made a strong impact for the first race of the season. After a good start, Sebastian Vettel led the Australian Grand Prix for 32 laps. But a less inspired tire strategy forced him to give way to the Mercedes. Kimi Räikkönen is once again plagued by troubles!
After Qualifying left us wanting more, we were eager to know the true competitiveness level of the SF16-H, especially against the benchmark team Mercedes.
This Australian Grand Prix will remain promising for the Italian team. Qualified third and fourth respectively, Vettel and Räikkönen took advantage of the clutch issues of the two Mercedes to leap to the front in the first corner. The former Red Bull driver obviously enjoyed this moment:
“I did indeed make a good start: I was happy to have gotten a better start than the two cars in front of me. It reminded me of that start in Hungary last year! It was good to see that Kimi started well too: we were able to set the pace of the race.”
Once in command, the hardest part remained: resisting the assaults from the Greys! Which Sebastian Vettel did for a good part of the race, particularly against Rosberg following the first pit stop on the fourteenth lap of the race.
However, the interruption caused by the collision between Alonso and Gutierrez broke the fine momentum of Scuderia Ferrari.
“The flag did not help us, but to be honest, the most important thing is that Fernando and Esteban are safe and sound. It was the right decision to stop the race given the debris on the track.”
This moment was decisive: the adopted strategy then failed the engineers. While both Mercedes took the opportunity to switch to medium tires, Vettel and Räikkönen stayed on super-soft tires. In the end, this choice proved to be a losing one, as Vettel had to pit again on the 35th lap. Fitted with soft tires, the German gradually came back on Lewis Hamilton. Very close to overtaking the reigning World Champion, he ultimately gave way due to a mistake in the penultimate corner, two laps from the end.
In his very vivid style, he confided to this publication that he was “even able to do the lawnmower at the end while trying to catch up!”
The outcome of this Sunday for Vettel is therefore generally positive, as he finishes third like last year.
“It goes without saying, expectations were high with our strong 2015 season, we need to keep bridging the gap that still separates us from Mercedes. In general, it was a good race. But of course, we wanted to be even better positioned today!”
The podium! #AusGP #redseason #Seb5 pic.twitter.com/Lb68tJIs49
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 20, 2016
But just like last year, Kimi Räikkönen faced a reliability issue. This time, it was the engine block that failed: all fired up, “Iceman” had to retire on the twenty-third lap while he was holding third place behind Vettel and Rosberg. The Finn still wanted to focus on the positives from his day:
“We had a good first part of the race today. After the winter testing, we knew we could do great things. The car handles well, it’s fast, I have a good feeling with it.”
“Yesterday’s day was not representative of our value with these particular Qualifications.”
Winner in 2013, Räikkönen has not had success at Albert Park since. “Unfortunately, I lost engine power and had to retire. It’s really bad news for the whole team. We need to finish the races.”
Passing by the journalists, Maurizio Arrivabene summarized the words of his two drivers:
“Our rhythm before the break was good, but we can’t use this as an excuse.” Regarding this victory that was within their grasp, he stated: “It clearly shows that you should never count your chickens before they’re hatched!”
The boss of Ferrari therefore keeps his feet on the ground for the rest of the season:
“Today’s race must serve as a lesson for us to push even harder, with humility and application, starting from the next race in Bahrain.”
