The 2018 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 March 2018 in Melbourne, Victoria. The race was contested over fifty-eight laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race marked the eighty-second race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix--which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928--and the twenty-third time the event was held at the Albert Park circuit.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was the defending race winner. Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole--his seventh pole position in Australia, a record for the event--while Vettel successfully defended his race win, the forty-eighth of his career.
Video 2018 Australian Grand Prix
Report
Background
The race marked the competitive début of the "halo" cockpit protection device after eighteen months of rigorous testing.
Tyres
Tyre supplier Pirelli provided teams with the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft compounds.
Drag reduction system
In the week before the Grand Prix, race officials confirmed the inclusion of a third drag reduction system (DRS) zone. The detection point for the third zone was positioned on the approach to the Turn 11-12 chicane with the activation point on the exit to Turn 12. The existing DRS zones were unchanged from previous years, with one positioned on the main straight and the second on the straight between Turns 2 and 3.
Qualifying
In his first run in the third part of qualifying Valtteri Bottas crashed and damaged his gearbox. As a result he received a five place grid penalty and started fifteenth. Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole, Kimi Räikkönen qualified second, Sebastian Vettel qualified third. Ricciardo qualified fifth but started eighth. Verstappen, Magnussen, Grosjean started fourth, fifth and sixth. Hülkenberg started seventh, while Sainz and Alonso started ninth and tenth.
Race
After the start the top three stayed in the same order they started while Verstappen lost a place to Magnussen at the start. Sergey Sirotkin was the first retirement of the race when on lap 4 he retired due to a brake failure caused by overheating. On lap 9, Verstappen spun at turn one while chasing Magnussen and dropped down to eighth. Hamilton led Räikkönen, Vettel, Magnussen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg, Verstappen, Sainz and Alonso. They stayed in that order until the first round of pit stops. On lap 18 Räikkönen pitted for softs. On lap 19 Hamilton pitted for softs to cover Räikkönen and emerged on track ahead of him. Verstappen pitted on lap 20. Magnussen pitted at the end of lap 21, but retired the next lap due to the cross-threaded wheel-nut being fitted loosely. On lap 24, Grosjean retired at turn 2 from seventh after pitting with the same problem as his team mate Magnussen resulting in a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) being called out. On lap 26 Vettel pitted under the VSC and emerged ahead of Hamilton and Räikkönen. Mercedes miscalculated the required gap between Vettel and Hamilton to prevent a jump under the safety car before Vettel's pit stop due to a software glitch. After the first round of pit stops Vettel led with Hamilton second and Räikkönen in third. Alonso pitted under the VSC to emerge ahead of Verstappen. On lap 27 the full-course Safety Car was called out. The safety car came in at the end of lap 31. This left the top ten Vettel, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Verstappen, Hülkenberg, Bottas, Vandoorne and Sainz. None of the top ten pitted again. Ricciardo hounded Räikkönen for the rest of the race, setting the fastest lap in the process. Alonso resisted the pressure from Verstappen while holding on to fifth place. Vettel took the chequered flag to win the Australian Grand Prix for the second consecutive year, followed by Hamilton and Räikkönen rounding the podium. Ricciardo, Alonso, Verstappen, Hülkenberg, Bottas, Vandoorne and Sainz in that order completed the top ten, with Renault scoring their first double-points-finish since the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix. Ricciardo's 4th placed finish marked his joint best finish at Albert Park, but also the joint best finish for an Australian at the Australian Grand Prix, equalling his 2016 result, and Mark Webber's 4th place in 2012.
Maps 2018 Australian Grand Prix
Classification
Qualifying
- Notes
- ^1 - Daniel Ricciardo received a three-place grid penalty for failing to adequately slow down for a red flag during free practice.
- ^2 - Valtteri Bottas received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Race
Championship standings after the race
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
- 2018 Melbourne 400
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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