The 2017 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 26 March 2017 in Melbourne. The race was contested over fifty-seven laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race marked the 82nd race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix – which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928 – and the 22nd time the event was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The reigning World Champion Nico Rosberg was the winner of the 2016 race, but he did not defend his win as he retired from the sport after the 2016 season.[5][6]
| 2017 Australian Grand Prix | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 1 of 20 in the 2017 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | ||||
| Date | 26 March 2017 | |||
| Official name | 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix[1][2] | |||
| Location | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | |||
| Course length | 5.303 km (3.295 miles) | |||
| Distance | 57 laps, 302.271 km (187.822 miles) | |||
| Scheduled distance | 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.117 miles) | |||
| Weather |
Partly cloudy 24 °C (75 °F) air temperature 31–36 °C (88–97 °F) track temperature 2 m/s (4.5 mph; 7.2 km/h) wind from the northwest[3] | |||
| Attendance | 296,600[4] | |||
| Pole position | ||||
| Driver | Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:22.188 | |||
| Fastest lap | ||||
| Driver |
 Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:26.538 on lap 56 | |||
| Podium | ||||
| First | Ferrari | |||
| Second | Mercedes | |||
| Third | Mercedes | |||
|
Lap leaders | ||||
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole, matching Ayrton Senna's record of six pole positions in Australia.[7] Sebastian Vettel won the race, which was his and Ferrari's first win since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix.[8] Hamilton finished second, with Valtteri Bottas completing the podium in third on his début for Mercedes.[9]
The race was also Ferrari's first win in Australia since the 2007 edition.
Report
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2019) |
Background
editCircuit modifications
editWith the technical regulations undergoing a revision for the 2017 season,[10] the FIA requested that every circuit on the calendar undergo revisions to update safety features.[11] Organisers of the race introduced Tecpro barriers to the run-off areas at the fastest points of the circuit, and re-profiled tyre barriers.[12]
Driver changes
editBefore the beginning of the third free practice session, Sauber announced that Pascal Wehrlein would not start the race. Wehrlein had sustained a back injury in an accident at the Race of Champions during the winter pre-season. Although Wehrlein was certified as fit to take part in the Grand Prix ahead of the first practice session, he withdrew as a precaution, citing the increased physical demands of the 2017 specification of cars and the lack of sustained running during pre-season testing as compromising his ability to complete a full race distance. He was replaced by Antonio Giovinazzi for the third session, qualifying and the race.[13]
Lance Stroll made his Formula One début with Williams.[14] Giovinazzi and Stroll were the only rookies in the field, with Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren starting his first full season in the sport after a one-off appearance at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix and Esteban Ocon at Force India starting his first full season in the sport after starting the last 9 races of the 2016 season.[15]
Tyres
editPirelli supplied the teams with ultrasoft, supersoft and soft tyres. Usually, teams are allowed to choose an individual selection of thirteen different sets for every driver. However, due to the selection deadline falling before the pre-season test when teams were first able to drive with the new compounds, Pirelli allocated every driver the same sets. These were seven sets of ultrasoft, four sets of supersoft and two sets of soft tyres.[16]
Qualifying
edit| Pos. | Car no. |
Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
| 1 | 44 | Mercedes | 1:24.191 | 1:23.251 | 1:22.188 | 1 | |
| 2 | 5 | Ferrari | 1:25.210 | 1:23.401 | 1:22.456 | 2 | |
| 3 | 77 | Mercedes | 1:24.514 | 1:23.215 | 1:22.481 | 3 | |
| 4 | 7 | Ferrari | 1:24.352 | 1:23.376 | 1:23.033 | 4 | |
| 5 | 33 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:24.482 | 1:24.092 | 1:23.485 | 5 | |
| 6 | 8 | Haas-Ferrari | 1:25.419 | 1:24.718 | 1:24.074 | 6 | |
| 7 | 19 | Williams-Mercedes | 1:25.099 | 1:24.597 | 1:24.443 | 7 | |
| 8 | 55 | Toro Rosso | 1:25.542 | 1:24.997 | 1:24.487 | 8 | |
| 9 | 26 | Toro Rosso | 1:25.970 | 1:24.864 | 1:24.512 | 9 | |
| 10 | 3 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:25.383 | 1:23.989 | No time | 151 | |
| 11 | 11 | Force India-Mercedes | 1:25.064 | 1:25.081 | 10 | ||
| 12 | 27 | Renault | 1:24.975 | 1:25.091 | 11 | ||
| 13 | 14 | McLaren-Honda | 1:25.872 | 1:25.425 | 12 | ||
| 14 | 31 | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.009 | 1:25.568 | 13 | ||
| 15 | 9 | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.236 | 1:26.465 | 14 | ||
| 16 | 36 | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.419 | 16 | |||
| 17 | 20 | Haas-Ferrari | 1:26.847 | 17 | |||
| 18 | 2 | McLaren-Honda | 1:26.858 | 18 | |||
| 19 | 18 | Williams-Mercedes | 1:27.143 | 201 | |||
| 20 | 30 | Renault | 1:28.244 | 19 | |||
| 107% time: 1:30.084 | |||||||
| Source:[7] | |||||||
- Notes
- ^1 – Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll received five-place grid penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes.[17][18]
Race
editSebastian Vettel claimed his first win since 2015 after beating both the Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, in a straight fight, Hamilton was not helped after he was held up for several laps behind Max Verstappen, the latter revealing he completed the race without a drinks bottle after the Red Bull team forgot to fit it in the car.[19] Daniel Ricciardo's car failed on the way to the grid, eventually he joined the race on the 2nd lap but then retired on lap 26, he said afterwards he was sent out "to have some fun".[20]
Race classification
edit- Notes
- ^1 – Daniel Ricciardo started the race from pit lane after his car stopped on the way to the grid and could not be restarted in time for the formation lap.
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "2017 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "Albert Park - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ "GP Australien in Melbourne / Rennen". Motorsport-total.com (in German). Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "F1 reveals overall rise in 2017 attendance". Gpupdate.net. 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017.
- ^ Esler, William (20 March 2016). "2016 Australian GP: Nico Rosberg wins after Ferrari strategy error". skysports.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ "Nico Rosberg retires: World champion quits Formula 1 five days after title win". British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ^ a b "2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ a b "2017 Australian Grand Prix Race – Provisional Classification". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 26 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017.
- ^ "Sebastian Vettel wins season-opening Melbourne Grand Prix – as it happened". Guardian. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
- ^ "F1 rules: elimination qualifying confirmed for Australia, 2017 cars "five seconds faster"". James Allen on F1. James Allen. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ "FIA requests upgrades to F1 circuits for 2017". speedcafe.com. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
- ^ Howard, Tom (29 January 2017). "Albert Park prepares for circuit revisions". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Pascal Wehrlein not to start at the Australian Grand Prix". Sauber F1 Team. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ "F1 Australian GP: Can Lance Stroll match these game changing F1 debuts?". Crash.net. 22 March 2017. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ^ Gibson, Sean (22 February 2017). "F1 2017: Race calendar and rule changes explained ahead of new season". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ^ "Pirelli announce tyre choices for Bahrain and Russia". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Mitchell, Scott (26 March 2017). "Australian GP: Daniel Ricciardo grid penalty after gearbox change". Autosport.com. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan (25 March 2017). "Stroll hit with gearbox change grid penalty into Australian GP". Autosport.com. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ "Red Bull ran Verstappen's car without a drinks bottle in Australia · RaceFans". RaceFans. 7 April 2017.
- ^ "Vettel beats Hamilton to win opener". BBC Sport.
- ^ a b "Australia 2017 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
External links
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