Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel claimed his second win at Albert Park in a row after a well-timed Virtual Safety Car period allowed him to leapfrog Mercedes Lewis Hamilton in his pit stop to win the opening race of the 2018 F1 season in Australia. It was Vettel’s 48th career victory.
Kimi Raikkonen also raced out of his skin for the Scuderia and placed third after qualifying second, while Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a strong end to the weekend and finished in fourth after starting at eighth on the grid.
Fernando Alonso making the most of their new Renault engine to claim fifth.
“We are getting there,” said Vettel. “We still have some more work to do but we are getting there.”
Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grnd Prix- Race Result
POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME | PTS |
1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 58 | 1:29:33.283 | 25 |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 58 | +5.036s | 18 |
3 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FERRARI | 58 | +6.309s | 15 |
4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER | 58 | +7.069s | 12 |
5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | MCLAREN RENAULT | 58 | +27.886s | 10 |
6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER | 58 | +28.945s | 8 |
7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | RENAULT | 58 | +32.671s | 6 |
8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 58 | +34.339s | 4 |
9 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | MCLAREN RENAULT | 58 | +34.921s | 2 |
10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | RENAULT | 58 | +45.722s | 1 |