Ferrari delivers for F1 as the new era begins
SO THEY DID IT! SEBASTIAN VETTEL AND FERRARI managed to follow up their testing form and defeat Mercedes to win the first grand prix of Formula 1’s new, meatier era.
Ferrari did need a little help from Mercedes – and Max Verstappen – to overturn Lewis Hamilton’s pole-position advantage, but the fact that the team was able to apply pressure and take victory when the opportunity arose is a good sign for the rest of the season. The legendary Italian marque now needs to be aggressive with its development to allow Vettel to consistently challenge the Silver Arrows. Will we get that Hamilton-versus-Vettel title fight at last?
The new F1 cars certainly look better than their predecessors, and it was clear that the drivers could carry a lot more corner speed than in 2016. The pole record fell, though it was perhaps a little surprising that the race lap record of 1m24.125s – set by the incredible Ferrari F2004 of Michael Schumacher 13 years ago – remained well out of reach. Other lap records will probably be more vulnerable, but of greater concern is that it appears overtaking is more diffi cult with these more aero-dependent machines. It’s true to say that Albert Park has never been the circuit most conducive to passing, and we should give it a few more races before drawing conclusions, but there were few wheel-towheel moments last weekend. And Hamilton never looked like passing Verstappen during those crucial laps following the Mercedes’ tyre stop. Having said that, if there is a genuine title fight between Mercedes and Ferrari, we may just get away with it while Ross Brawn works behind the scenes to fix one of F1’s longest-standing problems.
KEVIN TURNER EDITOR kevin.turner@autosport.com @KRT917
‘REA L’ F1 CARS ROCK AUSTRALIAN GP
FERRARI BEATS MERCEDES!
“Vettel had the quicker car” TOTO WOLFF
But did Hamilton throw it away?
MAR 30 2017 UK £3.90
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW PLUS BTCC 2017 PREVIEW
COVER IMAGE Batchelor, Charniaux/XPB Images
COVER STORY 18 Australian Grand Prix report and analysis PIT+PADDOCK 4 Fi h Column: Nigel Roebuck 6 Sauber defends Wehrlein’s GP absence 8 Gerhard Berger on his new DTM role 11 Rally Finland considers chicanes 13 Montoya back in IndyCar saddle 15 In the F1 paddock: Damien Smith 17 Feedback: your letters REPORT 36 Moto GP: Vinales wins on Yamaha debut
BTCC SEASON PREVIEW 44 Turkington and BMW back together 50 Stories to watch from this year’s grid 54 From the BTCC archive: Knockhill 1994 RACE CENTRE 56 Australian Supercars; VLN; NASCAR Cup;
Super TC2000 CLUB AUTOSPORT 69 Sowery in BRDC F3 title attack with Lanan 70 Karl Jones to race RS500 at Classic 72 Carlin and Rush join forces in historics 73 Humble Pye: the voice of club racing 74 National reports: Silverstone; Kirkistown;
Brands Hatch; Snetterton; Oulton Park 80 BTCC support-package preview FINISHING STRAIGHT 86 What’s on this week 88 From the archive: 1970 Belgian GP 90 Have-a-go-hero: Stephane Sarrazin
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MARCH 30 2017
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