F1: Rosberg Wins The Australian Grand Prix
$RACE
Sunday, Nico Rosberg won the Australian Formula One Grand Prix for the 2nd time
The MercedesAMG Team driver emerged victorious in a dramatic race at Albert Park Sunday hilighted by a life threatening accident for 2-time world Champion Fernando Alonso in his McLaren.
Mr. Rosberg’s teammate and Lewis Hamilton, who started on the pole, was 8 secs behind in 2nd place for the 5th consecutive 1-2 finish for the MercedesAMG Team dating back to last season, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel rounded out the podium, coming 3rd.
Native son, Daniel Ricciardo had his best Australian Grand Prix finish in 4th for Red Bull, finishing 24 secs behind Mr. Rosberg, and 30 secs ahead of 5th-placed Felipe Massa in a Williams.
The new Haas Team became the 1st team to score points on its F1 debut since Toyota in Y 2002 when Romain Grosjean finished 6th, while Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, came 7th, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas finished 8th, and Toro Rosso teammates Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen rounded out the Top 10 points positions.
It was an extraordinary opening to the Grand Prix season with, the spectacular crash aside, pole sitter Lewis Hamilton suffering an terrible start and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari catching fire.
Mr. Vettel looked to have the race under control before the dramatic shunt between McLaren’s Alonso and Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez on lap 18.
Mr. Alonso emerged fit after the 250km/h+ crash (it sure looked life threatening live), clipping the left rear wheel of Mr. Gutierrez car and somersaulting into a nearby run-out gravel trap.
Both drivers walked away from the wreckage, which caused the race to be Red-flagged while trackside Marshals cleared the debris.
Team Mercedes played a masterstroke in the pits while the race was stopped, fitting durable medium-compound tires to Mr. Rosberg and team-mate Hamilton after the pair had made poor starts, as Mr. Vettel stormed past both Mercedes cars into the 1st turn and leading the race at the time of the Alonso/Gutierrez crash.
Ferrari’s tactic to fit supersoft tires to Mr. Vettel’s car at the Red flag frame was a race winning mistake, as he was forced to pit a 3rd time for fresher rubber with 22 laps remaining. He closed on Hamilton for 2nd in the closing laps, but ran wide at the 2nd to last corner with 2 laps remaining putting him to 3rd place.
Mr. Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen ran strong in the early, but was forced to retire with fire breathin from the airbox of his Ferrari on Lap 22 after a turbo failure.
Mr. Ricciardo’s teammate Daniil Kvyat had a sad Australian race for the 2nd year running, his car suffered an electrical failure on the formation lap to the grid.
The win is Mr. Rosberg’s 4th straight dating back to last year, and his 15th career victory.
| Leaderboard – Final Top 10 | Points | Time/Lag | Avg. mph | |
| 1 |
 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes |
25 | 1:48:15.565 | 167.525 |
| 2 |
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes |
18 | +8.060 Sec | 167.318 |
| 3 |
Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari |
15 | +9.643 Sec | 167.277 |
| 4 |
Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull |
12 | +24.330 Sec | 166.9 |
| 5 |
Felipe Massa – Williams |
10 | +58.979 Sec | 166.018 |
|
6
|
Romain Grosjean – Haas |
8
|
+1:12.081 Sec
|
165.687
|
|
7
|
Nico Hulkenberg – Force India |
6
|
+1:14.199 Sec
|
165.633
|
|
8
|
Valtteri Bottas – Williams |
4
|
+1:15.153 Sec
|
165.609
|
|
9
|
Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso |
2
|
+1:15.680 Sec
|
165.596
|
|
10
|
Max Verstappen – Toro Rosso |
1
|
+1:16.833 Sec
|
165.567
|
F1 rule developments
- The Formula One teams announced they wanted the controversial new qualifying system scrapped after 1 race following a backlash from every team and driver.
- The FIA announced they had eased radio restrictions, meaning teams can make strategy calls during the race.
F1 2016 Race Calendar
20 March: Melbourne, Australia
3 April: Bahrain, Bahrain
17 April: Shanghai, China
1 May: Sochi, Russia
15 May: Barcelona, Spain
29 May: Monte Carlo, Monaco
12 June: Montreal, Canada
19 June: Baku, Azerbaijan*
3 July: Spielberg, Austria
10 July: Silverstone, United Kingdom
24 July: Budapest, Hungary
31 July: Hockenheim, Germany
28 August: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
4 September: Monza, Italy
18 September: Singapore
2 October: Sepang, Malaysia
9 October: Suzuka, Japan
23 October: Austin, USA**
30 October: Mexico City, Mexico
13 November: Sao Paulo, Brazil
27 November: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Have a terrific week.
Paul Ebeling
HeffX-LTN
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