Turning the tables, Vettel wins the opening round of F1 2017

Without the advantage of winning pole, the speed and stability of the SF70H helped Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) excellently defeat his opponent Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) to come first on the Albert Park race track, Australia, on Sunday afternoon.

Vettel's victory was considered a surprise. Photo: AFP

The victory that opened the new era of F1 was also the first race win for Vettel and Ferrari since the Singapore GP in 2015. The long thirst made Ferrari's victory taste even more intense when fans witnessed the SF70H not being inferior to Mercedes' W08 in terms of speed and stability in the official race.

Despite having the lead and holding on to it after the start, Hamilton gradually fell behind as the Ferrari car had good, consistent speed over the long run and better tyre grip. Vettel’s SF70H’s constant pursuit left Mercedes on edge and forced to find a way to avoid being overtaken.

Hamilton's W08 was called to the pits earlier than expected to avoid being jumped by Vettel. However, Mercedes' move proved ineffective as the German comfortably accelerated to the front. Meanwhile, the British star fell behind prodigy Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by nearly 2 seconds and took a long time to overcome his tough opponent.

Hamilton had the lead but could not maintain it to turn it into victory. Photo: AFP

However, it is clear that Mercedes' choice was inevitable because the W08's tires wore out faster than its opponent. If Hamilton did not pit early on lap 17, the possibility of his opponent jumping over Hamilton by pitting early was very high. Meanwhile, with Verstappen blocking his way, Hamilton, despite being urged by the instructors, was forced to admit: "I don't know how you guys told me to pass?"

Vettel didn’t stop for his first pit stop until lap 23. When he returned to the track, the German was right in front of Verstappen and Hamilton. The Mercedes Briton had already lost the lead to his rival. The SF70H then broke away, leaving Hamilton still struggling behind the RB13.

Hamilton only managed to overtake his rival when the Dutchman made his first pit stop on lap 25. By then, the gap between Vettel and Hamilton was already over 3 seconds. The gap then widened to 6 seconds in just a few laps. Realizing that the SF70H was out of Hamilton’s reach and the W08 was wearing down its tyres faster, Mercedes were forced to ask the home driver to slow down to protect his engine.

Vettel was delighted with the smooth start.

Mercedes' actions made the 11-second gap between Vettel and Hamilton at the end of the race completely understandable. After completing 57 laps of Albert Park in 1 hour 24 minutes 11.670 seconds, Vettel confirmed that Ferrari was back and capable of challenging for the world championship. The Italian team had not won the opening race of the season in 7 years.

The SF70H’s power was already predicted, as it consistently outperformed the W08 in pre-season testing. Even though Ferrari were behind Mercedes in testing and qualifying at Albert Park, Ferrari still made the German team cautious in their statements. The Italian team’s performance at the season opener further justified Mercedes’ wariness.

Accidents occurred early in the first race of 2017.

Despite the victory at the Australian GP, ​​Vettel remained calm: “There is still a long way to go in the season. It is only March, I know everyone is excited but we have a lot of work ahead.”

Meanwhile, despite paying the price for his early pit stop strategy, Hamilton defended his stewards’ decision: “Our pre-race plan was to pit for the first time on lap 19. In fact, when I pitted for the first time at the end of lap 17, the tyres on my car were almost completely unusable. The situation left us with no other viable option.”

Australian Grand Prix Results

*Fastest-lap: 1 minute 26.538 seconds set by Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) on lap 56.

According to VNE